Sooo, I thought it would be important to share my Pre-Journey story.
Phase 1: The PUFF Era
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| Back in the day Hair Bobbles where the best! |
I was like most little girls with my hair type, HUGE puffs, fun clips, hair bubbles, bows, scrunchies - I had a BOX dedicated to hair accessories. Of course, I experienced mommy and aunty pulling my kinky hair with the fine toothed comb; I experienced the grease, the flat iron, the hot comb, just everything lol. Sometimes my older sister would cornrow my hair too.
Phase 2: Home Grown Hair
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| Remember this anyone? Used to come with a free glow-in-the dark comb too! |
When I was 10, my mom decided I was growing up, and that I'd look cute and mature with relaxed hair. So, in fifth grade, I got my first relaxer. And many of you know how the story goes as a child with boxed relaxers every two months. Mom would apply the relaxer, it would burn, she'd wash it out, then would come the over head dryer, blow dryer and flat iron. (we'll talk about the dangers of direct heat on hair later). I have to say, mom did a good job - my hair was a little longer than shoulder length by the time I was 13 years old.
Phase 3: The Hair Salon Era/Transition Attempt 1
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| The dreaded hours under the overhead dryers on Saturday mornings! |
This is when I began to become displeased with my hair. I started to go to the hair salon when I was a sophomore (around that time) in high school, because I thought that it would be "healthier" than when I did it at home. Looking back, that wasn't the case. My hair was over-processed as a result of relaxers, was damaged as a result of too much direct heat, and that led to a stagnation in growth. By the time I was a senior, I got really frustrated and started to experiment. I started researching natural hair. I had always thought my new growth felt nice so I started to let it grow. I even started using flexirods. However I couldn't let go of my relaxer, so instead of transitioning I stretched* my hair.
Phase 4: College!!! And Transition Attempt 2
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| My Hair on November 6, 2010 - Transition life was REAL lol |
Okay, College really tripped up my hair care routine. My college campus is about 7 hours (driving) away from home. So I didn't have my hair stylist anymore, which for me, was a problem. The area where I go to school is very suburban, so a hair/beauty store was not near by. Also, the hair salons near by are EXPENSIVE. I would only pay those prices one time lol. Where I live I only pay $55 for a relaxer, and so paying 3x that amount sounded ridiculous to me. Freshman year was transition attempt two. I would wait 10 or more weeks to relax my hair, then I would relax my hair myself. If not, I would let my mom do it like when I was little. Transition attempt two came to an end because my mom and I had numerous debates about whether or not I should relax my hair. All the commentary about "naps," "good hair," "looking professional," or looking "nappy," or "unkept" came up. So again, I gave in to the relaxer.
Phase 5: Successful Transition and the Hair Journey
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| A woman of strength and personal empowerment is who I strive to be! |
Summer after Freshman year I had enough of the back and forth. I wanted my natural curls and that was it. Summer was the best time to transition because I was able to take the time to care for my hair: doing protective styles (we'll discuss later) adding moisture and NOT using heat. I started Sophomore year and I was well on my way. By December I was sick of dealing with the two hair textures (relaxed and 4b/c) so, I went to my dorm room and did the BIG CHOP! It was December 10th 2010 to be exact. I was SOOO scared, I wore a hat out my room! I had a TWA (teeny weeny afro) and I didn't know if my friends would think it was ugly. To my relief - it was well received! Since then, I haven't looked back. It's been a great 9 1/2 months of being natural! :)
Be Big & Beautiful!
xoxo
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| Solange Knowles & her son :) |
Be Big & Beautiful!
xoxo
