Becca's Path To Self-Acceptance & Hair Health

"Hi Karen, I just wanted to say thank you so much for being brave enough to start GWD!! I received my towel a few days ago and have used it today for the first time and I literally love everything about it ❤️

It can’t be easy having your own business, but you’ve genuinely created an amazing product that when you use can tell you’ve really thought about the customer.

Normally standard towels make my hair look so dull after washing, regardless of how much conditioner I use!! It is also so comfy - can’t wait to get more for myself and friends/family."

A couple of months ago I received this message from a customer, Becca, via Instagram, It led me to ask Becca if she would like to share her hair journey, and she has very kindly written this blog post about it...

Embracing my differences isn’t something that came easily to my younger self, including the colour of my hair.

Mum and dad both had the most gorgeous dark brown hair but bang, I came out with the brightest, thickest red hair.

The milkman joke was ironic as ours was in fact a redhead too!

Wherever I went as a child people would always comment, mainly older ladies grabbing at me in the supermarket saying “what lovely unusual hair she has!” But for my younger self it was a constant reminder that I was different.

It wasn’t until secondary school that I really began to feel like I stuck out like a sore thumb. I spent a long time begging my mum to let me dye my hair just so I could blend in with everyone else. After what felt like a lifetime of trying to convince her she finally gave in.

I dyed my hair jet black and plastered on as much foundation and fake tan as possible to cover my freckles and pale complexion. Oddly, my new look really suited me and people were shocked when I told them my natural colour.

After almost 10 years with black hair, I started to think about the damage I was causing - my roots needing touching up every two weeks. I think as I got older I also started to question what’s so bad about being natural and embracing my authentic self?

I took a massive plunge and decided I wanted to strip all the dye back so I booked an appointment at a very well known salon in Soho, London with a view to undoing the last 10 years.

I knew that removing years of box dye build-up in the darkest colour possible would be a massive challenge for any hair professional. But I was also excited for the change, and was reassured by the colourist that it would work, and I would get the result I wanted.

However, it turned out that it was a way bigger job than the senior colourist, or salon, thought and they ended up bleaching my hair to within an inch of its life. The result was hair more damaged than when I started and I spent months trying to repair the patchy bleach job.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, my hair started to fall out. After finally accepting my natural colouring it was probably the most traumatic thing that could have happened.

I spent hours researching what to do next, and thousands of pounds trying to save the remaining hair I had. After seeing a trichologist it was clear that no amount of hair masks and special shampoos would work as the inner cortex of my hair was fried and it would continue to fall out.

Two years later my hair is finally 100% natural and healthy, and I bloody love it!!

Haircare is now extremely important to me and I’d like to share the products that have helped me on my journey back to health hair.

-A good quality shampoo and conditioner—something I think people often overlook. I love the ranges from Wella Professional, Kerastase and Redken.

-Wide tooth combs instead of aggressive brushes!

-A scalp massager to improve scalp health and increase blood flow to the area which can aid growth.

-Limiting heat styling, and always using protection—I swear by my Dyson airwrap.

-Vitamins to improve hair health from the inside out.

-Silk pillowcase and scrunchies to avoid breakage.

-And now my Good Wash Day towel. A towel that looks after my wet hair the way it deserves has been missing from my routine and I now realise how important it is. I could never use a bog standard towel again!

The moral of my story is to embrace what makes you different and invest in looking after yourself, including your gorgeous hair.