Did you know that our hair, skin, and nails are made from the same substance called Keratin?  That’s why popular supplements that advertise nail growth, also tend to grow our hair and make our skin more supple. Some people enjoy super long hair while others prefer having shorter hair that’s maybe a little more manageable. That remains the same for people’s preferences for nail length. Some love extra long nails that are brightly designed while others tend to opt for shorter lengths with softer designs. Keeping well shaped, clean nails and healthy hair is just one aspect of having good hygiene. These actions don't just help us to look good, but also helps our self confidence so we feel the best that we can about our appearance. 

Popular society and social media will show that plenty of people prefer the 30 inch bust down middle parts and the extra, extra long nails with super elaborate and bold designs. However, with so much expression, we have to take special care that we aren’t allowing these optional additions to define who we are. While we can adorn ourselves with the best grade human hair and the latest and greatest nail product, we have to remember that those items don’t represent us in our natural form. Relying on these things to boost our confidence is only a short term solution that will rear its ugly head sooner rather than later. 

For me personally, I’m my happiest when I know my hair is in a healthy state, no matter the length. I’ve gone from having long, straight hair to a TWA and now I’m sitting comfortably with a decent curly bun. Since my hair is so thick, I have to secure it with a shoelace since traditional hair ties tend to pull my hair way too tight. 

I’ve always been tender headed and hate when my hair gets tangled or caught on things. Even now, sometimes when I’m bending down to grab a pot from under the kitchen cabinet, my hair will slip around a drawer knob and I’ll get stuck for a quick second. Nothing hurts more than having your hair get stuck in a comb with inadequately sized teeth. It feels like something is literally pulling your scalp. 

I do a decent job of caring for my hair, but I’m by no means perfect. I definitely don’t detangle as often or as thoroughly as I should, and I don’t twist my hair up before bed. Instead, I just put my satin bonnet over the top and rest easy. I used to wash my hair once a week, but now I’ve increased it to twice a week and I’ve seen a difference in how soft my hair stays since it’s receiving additional moisture. Speaking of the dreaded wash day, I’ve recently changed the time of day that I wash my hair from late at night to in the mornings before I go to work, and boy has that made the most difference in my hair’s health. 

Benefits of Washing Hair in the Mornings

While I definitely prefer washing my hair late at night when I’m being lazy, washing in the mornings when I can move around and let my hair air dry is much better. When I washed it at night, I would always run into the following problems. 

1. Since it was right before I went to bed, I would always be “too tired” to wash my hair and would use that as an excuse to push it off to another day. I would have a plan to wash my hair on a particular night, but as soon as I got in the shower, I lost all motivation and decided to just forget it. 
   
   

2. On the nights when I actually felt energized enough to tame my mane, I would spend a lot of time taking The Everything Shower. I would wash, deep condition, and detangle my hair, shave, exfoliate, bathe my body, and wash my face all in one go. Safe to say, my body was pruny since I enjoy taking scalding hot showers. Long term, these 45 minute showers just weren’t feasible. 

   
   

3. My pillows would always be soaking wet since I didn’t dry my hair with a blow dryer and diffuser attachment. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night just to flip my pillow over because it was so drenched. It even got so bad that at one point I think it was making me sick because my head was staying wet for hours on end. 

After switching to a morning wash routine, I can say my hair feels more moisturized and less dry since I’m allowing the products to work their magic throughout the day instead of just getting absorbed by my pillow. It dries much quicker and I don’t have as many tangled ends either. Overall, it’s worth getting up 15 minutes or so earlier to knock that biweekly maintenance task off my list. 

Now when it comes down to my nails, I’ve never been one to keep particularly long nails since I’m a nail biter. I can let them grow out to a certain length, but if there’s one day when I’m particularly stressed, I’m going to end up chewing them all down into nubs. I also have bad luck with retaining length so when one accidentally breaks, usually the others will start breaking too. 

When I was in college, I would consistently get my nails done every two weeks with SNS. I stayed away from the acrylic tips since I was trying to stick to a budget and didn’t want to run up a check in the nail salon. I’ve included some pictures of the various colors and designs I’ve had over the years. My favorite set of all time were the long, red talons because they were my natural nail length. There weren’t any tips added, just the reinforcement of the SNS to keep them sturdy. I haven’t been able to grow my nails that long since then, but I truly don’t think I could handle having nails that length again. I do way too much typing to be clicking and clacking with super long nails. 

I have been taking a biotin supplement just to strengthen and help both my nails and hair grow. One day, I would love for my hair to reach my lower back in length. That might be a stretch right now, but it gets thicker and retains more length with each growth cycle. 

If you enjoyed this episode, let me know by giving this video a thumbs up, leaving a comment, and subscribing to my channel. See you in the next episode! 

Signed, 

Jessica Marie