Why I'm including veiling/wrapping in my hair growth, and other summer fashion practicalities.

I've obviously had a lot of time to think about all of the things recently, and one thing that's been on my mind is how to keep my hair protected from the environment while I'm outside, especially for long amounts of time like camping trips. I typically used to put my hair into two cornrows, and just not touch it while I was in the woods if possible, and if not to just brush it out and re-braid it. This was also before I started wearing bonnets to bed, so I wasn't really aware of just how harsh this kind of exposure was on my very fine, very porous hair. This was also pre-chebe, so those highly porous hair cuticles gripped each other a lot more than they do now that they're properly sealed. Keeping cornrows intact for a weekend in the woods isn't as easy as it used to be.

This issue is easier in winter, satin-lined beanies are a dime a dozen, and I mean that almost literally. But in the summer, when I have the power schvitz combo of post spinal cord injury + perimenopause? I need both breathe-ability, and something to hide my soaking wet hair 😅😅 So, I think to myself, "self, you're using an African hair care regimen, they must have a solution for this."

Head wraps, duh. And I happen to have this realization as Sister Minnie's mom is having a big sale on her website, so I ordered some jersey hijabs to start with. And I've spent the weekend watching video tutorials on how to tie them. Holy katoot, I never realized just how versatile a good head wrap can be!

Which is just one thing I like about this already. I believe I now know more ways to style a wrap than I do to style my hair. And I'm pretty good at braiding and styling! So, that's even more looks for my wardrobe. Why else?

1. A simple wrap takes less time than a simple style on my hair, and is less damaging than a baseball cap. Which makes it lower in spoons than a hairstyle on 8am doctor appointment days.

2. I'm not one of those people who can wear a brimmed cap just because, I need to be actively out in the sun or the rain where the brim is useful or it's a sensory issue for me. Wraps are one of the few non-brimmed headwear styles that's out there to choose from.

3. It's one of the easiest ways to incorporate the 2026 brooch trend into a light summer wardrobe.

4. This isn't something I'm really formally including in the Hair Growth Challenge, but I do consider my recent post-spinal cord injury kundalini re-awakening as a part of my hair growth, and have been attending to the spiritual aspects of my hair and hair growth as I attend to the physical aspects, hand in hand. I chose black, white, and plum for my first three colors. Black because it's my neutral - I have a very cool olive tone to my skin, those "clean girls" were killing me there with making their cream and beige and yellow gold jewelry trend so hard. But also because it's a protective color. White because it'll reflect the sunlight off the top of my head, which will be amazing after having black hair my whole life. But also because it's the color of the crown chakra. And plum because it made me gasp when I was scrolling through the color options - talk about a royal crown 👑 It's also really close to violet, the other color frequency associated with the crown chakra. And, well, considering all the spiritual gunk out there right now, and considering how used to spiritual attacks I am, putting a barrier between me and the world that combines physical practicality and spiritual hygiene?

For the record, this is spiritual, not religious - aka you seeing or not seeing my hair has nothing to do with why I would choose to wear a wrap. This is to keep my hair from UV rays, friction from rubbing on my clothes, and bad vibes. So, yes, I will still be posting monthly length checks.

I also took advantage of Second Fool's Spring to shift my closet around from winter to summer, to assess what I have, and what I need. Which is practically a snow summoning ritual, but whatever, I did it anyway. And past me set 2026 me up for success! For instance:

• The pair of muslin bloomers I sewed for my Pirates of the Caribbean inspired pirate wench costume 20 years ago that I found hanging in the way back of the closet.

• The pair of Thai "balloon pants" I bought for spine surgery number one, five years ago now, for the wide, comfy waistband.

• The pair of linen drawstring pants I ordered on off-season clearance last fall, and completely forgot about until today.

• Same story with the brand new package of tank tops in the perfect size I found in a doom pile.

This... might be the first time in awhile that I've been excited about my summer wardrobe! Summer clothes used to be my favorite while I felt frumpy all winter. But my summer wardrobe has been in such a state of flux since 2020 that this is really the first time I've looked forward to enjoying wearing my hot weather wardrobe and feeling good in it since my 30's. It's not my body size, I was a size 20 my entire 30's. It's having light, fashionable clothes again, and places to wear them.

And I had my first eye exam since... before the pandemic today. Early 2019, according to Zenni. So, I'm changing up my eyewear look, too.

The pink lenses are the FL-41 tint for migraines, the avs are at 25%, and the latte shades are 80%. The round black shades have a 50% grey tint. I have all light situations covered.

My life was really dramatically upended when I was 37-38, and since I've always tailored my wardrobe to what I wear my clothes for, e.g. for the office, for meeting tarot clients, for cocktail events or backyard parties, for being outdoors, etc, etc, I was really focused on what I would wear in my 40's as I was working through the identity shifts and shifts in my physical form that I was going through during that time. And here I am three years in still figuring that out 😅😅 But I could not have predicted my body or the crazy fashion shifts of the past six years, either. And we are NOT well enough informed about what peri/menopause does to the 40-something year old body, and how that tends to start informing your clothing choices. The muumuus make sense now.

Let's see if I'm up to regular-ish OOTD content as the weather gets warmer, and I get out more so I put on more than cotton shorts and a tee, freeboobin' it and all. Just remind me to somehow overcome the ADHD time blindness and get ready to go out early enough to take pictures before going out, since my spoons are shot to hell afterwards 😅😅 Or have an accountability buddy to take pictures of me an my 'fit during said outing...