My Natural Hair Journey

My Journey began roughly 6 years ago. I had just left traditional college and entered a technical one for cosmetology. The first thing I noticed was that all of the instructors had natural hair. One in particular had a beautiful curly fro. Her hair had gone gray, so it was mostly threaded with silver, and it was just luscious. These instructors as well as some classmates, along with the things I began to learn about relaxers and other chemicals we put in our hair were my inspiration for going natural.

I stopped relaxing my hair, which at this point was about shoulder length, and began straightening the roots out or stretching them. Eventually the two different textures of my hair (at this point a little below my shoulders) became too difficult for me to handle alone, and I started getting it professionally straightened and trimmed every two weeks. In order to afford this routine, I got a second job as a shampoo girl in the salon so instead of paying 60.00 to get my hair done I paid 20.00. At this point my hair was growing wonderfully. I had about 4 to 5 inches of natural hair and about the same amount of relaxed hair.

(After wash, puff)

Then, my now husband went off to boot camp and I was left alone for three months to take care of our 1 year old. On top of that I had car trouble and I could no longer work at the salon because of its distance from my house. This is where my journey stopped short and I fell off. Since I hadn't really been taking care of my hair on it's own up to this point, I was at a loss as to what to do with it. Every thing I tried failed. My straightening wasn't as good as my stylist's had been and in the Georgia hot and humid months, my hair didn't stand up to the weather. I began two strand twisting it and setting it on rods, this worked for a while but then I became bored with that and, looking for a dramatic change, I cut off the permed ends and was left with a head of thick unmanageable hair. I broke down and permed my hair.

(Twist out)

At the time, I was no longer in school and I didn't know how to take care of my natural hair. It was a difficult time period, I was an emotional wreck and unfortunately I took all that our on my hair. By the time I saw my boyfriend at the end of his boot camp tour, my hair was a mess of mass proportions.

For the next few months I worked on getting my hair back to some form of semblance. It was hard, considering the choppy job I had done on it. Then came the end of the year and I got married and moved to Hawaii soon after. When I arrived in Hawaii, the first thing I noticed was that the climate was wonderful. Little humidity, always a breeze. I thought to myself, now this would be the perfect place to grow out my hair. And I did. We arrived in Hawaii in January and I cut my hair super short, I let the permed tips of my hair grow out and then cut them off and I had a short cropped, curly fro that I loved. From there I kept up with my hair, trying different products and different techniques. When it got long enough, I straightened it, and when I wanted something different I finger coiled it.

I absolutely loved my natural hair, and decided that I wasn't ever going back. Now, there were times when a bad hair week would strike and I'd eye the perm boxes in Wal-mart, but my strength was greater this go round, as I had taken this journey with my hair this time as opposed to letting someone else do all the hard work for me. I pushed through those slumps and learned my hair, and continue to learn it. I try different styles, techniques and products and I make my own mixes. To this point, it's been 3 years and 7 months since I began the second half of my journey and my hair now reaches the middle of my back, a little below bra length.

(Straightened hair, with newly cut bang)

On this journey I've learned a lot about myself and the way I view me. There is a sense of self fulfillment that comes with taking care of my natural hair, and I've been told by my husband that it shines through. The compliments I get on my hair, and the questions from other black women asking me about what it is like to have no relaxer, how did I do it? Hearing them tell me that they want to do it but are too scared of what their natural hair will be like. Being able to tell them my journey and relate my own fears to the ones they are having. All of this only reaffirms my decision to go natural. It was a trip of ups and downs, and I reached my wits ends many times along the way, but the outcome was worth it. I love my natural hair.

Click here for an update of my hair journey.