I get ALOT of questions, head pats, touching lol and etc. about my natural hair but I never got the chance to explain. I am going to talk about my natural hair journey and why I decided to go natural! Here goes!
Back in September 2010 (still in my relaxer days), my little sister told me about the relaxer, Hawaiian Silky and said that it was really good for HER hair. It was also a LYE relaxer. At the time, I was going back and forth with African Pride and Olive Oil(when I had the funds) because both work exceptionally well on my hair. So being that Hawaiian silky worked well on HER hair, I thought hey why not try. My relaxed hair was fine. It was growing from the time I cut it and I rarely used heat on my hair because I usually did a nice flat iron or roller set once a week to avoid much heat usage. First attempt with Hawaiian Silky: One side was covered but as I was doing the other side of my head, the covered side was burning out of control. So I immediately washed it out. So one side was relaxed while the other was still nappy. I waited for 5 to 6 weeks to try again. Second attempt:
Back in September 2010 (still in my relaxer days), my little sister told me about the relaxer, Hawaiian Silky and said that it was really good for HER hair. It was also a LYE relaxer. At the time, I was going back and forth with African Pride and Olive Oil(when I had the funds) because both work exceptionally well on my hair. So being that Hawaiian silky worked well on HER hair, I thought hey why not try. My relaxed hair was fine. It was growing from the time I cut it and I rarely used heat on my hair because I usually did a nice flat iron or roller set once a week to avoid much heat usage. First attempt with Hawaiian Silky: One side was covered but as I was doing the other side of my head, the covered side was burning out of control. So I immediately washed it out. So one side was relaxed while the other was still nappy. I waited for 5 to 6 weeks to try again. Second attempt: So I decided to start on the side I didn’t cover to get those naps under control. But once again as I was doing the other side, it was burning out of control. So I washed it out once again with my other side looking crazy. I was sad because I didn’t want to wait to try again and then the same thing happens again. Furthermore, I didn’t want to go back to my old relaxers because they were NO LYE relaxers and that was not going to be pretty.
If it’s one thing that I do love about me is my hair and I will do anything to make sure that it is in top notch condition since that is one the things people see on you when they see you. It was life decision of going bald or going natural. And at that point, I just wanted to start over BUT NOT GO NATURAL! So Thanksgiving weekend of that year, I decided to try a cut. I ended up going to the Dominicans and getting a razor cut bob and a blowout. I liked it for the most part. It was something different and at least most of the relaxer was cut off.
But then I hated having short hair so I decided to wear weave. I kid you not, I wore weave for so long I didn’t realize that I had gone months without a relaxer lol. Of course, in between, I took it out and washed my real hair but I slapped that bad boy right back in.
So when my “year since my last cut” came (December 2011), I took my weave out and realized that my new growth had exceeded my relaxed hair. I was amazed at the curls I had and how soft my hair was! I didn’t know how to feel or what to do. So before I decided to put another weave back in my hair, I played with my hair to see what cool things I can do with this new texture in my hair. I was still lost so I asked my older sister and she gave me tips and guided me to YouTube. So I spent endless nights googling and Youtubing natural hair stuff to find out was this for me or should I just get a relaxer. But it sunk inside of me that I went this long without a relaxer so why should I turn back? So I cut the rest of my relaxer off and my hair was past my shoulders. I was so giggity! But I decided to cut just a little of the ends and played with my hair for months. From that point on, I became a part of Team Natural.
My regimen was real basic for the time being: Shea butter, Ecostyler (Olive Oil) water, Castor oil (&& Jamaican black as well), regular shampoo and conditioner I had. SO I wasn’t doing anything extraordinary because I was still getting used to it. But I started finding growth stuff like biotin, Monistat, cayenne pepper, hair growth shampoos/conditions. I wanted my hair to grow fast so I could have big hair like everyone else. But that was not the case lol.
To this day, I am 2 years and 2 months natural and couldn’t be any happier!
I capitalized HER in my story because I want to say that what may work for someone else may not work for you. Just because Hawaiian Silky worked on my sister’s hair did not mean it was going to work on mine. But I look back now and I am glad that I did because sometimes God will send you through a tribulation to show you what’s for you and not for you. That is why it pays to listen to his voice the first time lol. I know people ask me or ask other popular natural hair gurus (which I admire myself) what do they use or etc. Sometimes just because it works for one person may not work for you. Everybody’s hair is different. Your hair texture is basically from genetics and your family line. But how you take care of it will produce and retain that length and moisture that we all desire to have. But it doesn’t hurt to try and see what changes you might see.
I don’t do much to my hair but my current regimen is pretty much the same as stated above but I have included kinky curly: Knot today leave in/detangler, Shea moisture: shea butter masque, hibiscus and Coconut moisture mist, and AS I AM: coconut co wash. (I’ll discuss my daily wash routine in another blog :)) At first I was a product junky but now I enjoy the stuff I use and still see growth and moisture. So no I didn’t join team natural to be a part of the trend or to represent it but seriously it was either get a perm and go bald or grow it out.
So I’m thankful that I put my pride to the side and made that change because now I take great care of my hair as well as myself like I’m a baby or something and I love the fact that I can embrace the hair that God blessed me with and not feel any type of remorse or guilt about it. It irks my nerves how people say that natural isn’t for everybody and it’s ugly but I don’t give negativity the time of day anymore nor pay them no mind because a natural person’s hair is in wayyy better condition than a relaxed person any day whether it looks like it or not. I am more confident about myself and my hair and I love trying new things! Plus, I love getting compliments every day from strangers on the streets or at the stores. It makes my day! 🙂
So if you know you’re not ready or confident enough to make that change or just want to do it to say you’re team natural, don’t do it because there are going to be days where you want to give up, you’re going to hate your texture, feed into the negativity or you’re going to continuously compare your hair to others and etc. DONT GIVE UP AND DONT GIVE IN! HANG IN THERE! THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!! BE PATIENT and treat your hair like its a newborn baby. Hair doesn’t grow overnight so be patient with it. Drink a lot of water or take your vitamins that helps it grow and helps your body and all that good stuff. Although I don’t consider my experience a journey, more like a life decision lol, I hope this helps someone to continue their journey and don’t worry about what the negative dummies have to say because it really is a beautiful thing to experience and you’ll feel so beautiful and comfortable in your OWN skin. I know I do. Toodles.
Love the high bun from this angle.