The struggle is real... hair shrinkage

Hair is so funny and looking over my teen pictures I realized I actually did have one that clearly shows the extend of hair shrinkage I experience. Some people have broken it all down with percentages and whatnot but I have no idea all I know is that when my hair gets wet in it's natural state it looks very very short. The hours it takes to untangle and straighten it are what led me to first keeping it cut very low after I stopped relaxing it and then getting dreds when I decided to grow it out.  exhibit A:

My hair is the same length and worn loose in both pictures,  the main difference being in the picture at the beach I had been in the water. The picture on the right was taken at some point after I'd pressed my hair but on a different day.

This effect is why so many black girls are constantly at war with any hint of humidity and cursing rain. I have a lot of memories of having my hair pressed in the mornings only to have it revert by afternoon due to profuse sweating or unexpected rain and going to the pool or beach was a rare treat since it created more work for my mother.  Getting my hair done was an all day event that neither of us looked forward to with me being tender headed and having a thick head of hair. Even with that my mother was not a proponent of chemicals for young girls for which I am grateful. Unlike most of my contemporaries I only had a relaxer for 5 yrs and my hair in my child and teen years was thick and healthy.