Wait...you're black and you wash your hair daily?

Source: Black Girl with Long Hair

I just wanted to quickly share this sorta funny experience with you all. It always seems like I have the most interesting conversations on the metro going to work in the morning. And most recently they've been random conversations about hair with random strangers. Yesterday on the train this friendly, older, white woman who was sitting across from me told me that she loved my hair. Of course I thanked her for her compliment (even though to me it was a real basic braid out that I usually sport daily) but she kept telling me how beautiful it was and how she wished she'd see more people wearing that "uniquetexture."  I choose to ignore the fact that about 5 other women on the train was also sporting natural dos....She asked me what I did to get my hair to "look like that" and we got into a pretty long conversation on products and routine. I told her I wash my hair about every week, and let me tell you she was FLABBERGASTED! You would probably think she was surprised by how infrequently that is, since a lot of women with straighter hair tend to wash their hair either every day or every other. But she was actually surprised at how often I washed it. She even asked if I was sure that it was healthy for me. Even when I told her that I only usually shampoo once or twice a month and co wash other times, she was generally concerned for the excess amount of water that usually hits my strands.

I told her that my hair needs A LOT of moisture for it's continued health and the best way to get that moisture was with water. And that the frequency of washing is specific and varies for each person. But she told me that she had always learned that black hair could only be washed about once month or our hair would fall out.

It got me thinking of all of the myths we have about all types of hair. And how the majority of these teachings are passed down through our families. But yeah, I just wanted to share that encounter with you guys. At this rate I'm sure I'll have more train convos to share with you in the future lol.