The Process

Hey, people! Since I want to share my entire natural haircare journey with you, this post will focus on how I went natural. I do have almost 4 years of stories to share so you're in for a ride! But I promise to break them up and still keep things interesting!

So, after telling my stylist that I wanted to go natural I had to decide how I wanted to go natural. Did I want to grow out my relaxer or chop off all of my relaxed hair and start over? My stylist suggested I cut it all off...but if you know me you know I wasn't having that! I decided to grow my hair out. This process took a year. But for that year, in an effort to reduce breakage and making sure my head didn't look crazy with half natural/half permed hair, I wore braids and sew-ins.

In September 2007, I finally decided to wear "my hair". It was a really traumatic experience for me. I only had a few strands of processed hair left, which my stylist cut off, she styled my hair, and VOILA! I was officially natural! To be honest, I wasn't that excited about it... I HATED the way she styled my hair. At first, it looked good. She braided it, put me under the dryer, and when my hair was dry took the braids out. It had this wavy, funky look to it. Then...she pulled out the curling iron and proceeded to curl my hair!! When I left, I felt like a big sponge. And to make matters worse, I was going to hang out with a friend (which I tried to get out of since my hair looked crazy)...so I was VERY self-conscious about my look. She made me feel better when I got to her door, but I know I looked a hot mess.

I tried to salvage my hair the next day, and I think I did a pretty good job. But it would be an interesting journey to find a style that suited me just right and one that I felt comfortable wearing...

The Beginning...

About 3 1/2 years ago I decided to go natural; for those of you that don't understand that means I decided to stop getting my hair chemically relaxed. I did this for two main reasons. One, after seeing multiple friends with their natural hair styles I began to wonder what my hair would look like it in its natural state. They had all styles from straight/sleek to curly to fro'd out. I love the versatility that I saw my natural friends having, and I wanted to experience it for myself. The second reason I wanted to go natural was because I saw the damage that getting your hair relaxed on a regular basis could do to your scalp...not on the OUTSIDE but on the INSIDE. I saw a picture of a woman's scalp who had been getting relaxers for 20 years. It was VERY black and looked unhealthy. This picture was next to a woman who had not had relaxers in a number of years; her scalp was a healthy, pink color. After I saw that picture, and two of my linesisters at the Atlanta Classic in 2006, I officially stopped getting my hair relaxed.
Needless to say, this has been a tumultuous journey, from finding what products to use, finding styles for my hair, and finding a stylist who knows how to do natural hair, but I'm still on it! This blog will serve as a way for me to share my feelings and stories of dealing with my natural hair and as a way for all of us natural girls to share our resources and suggestions. This can also serve as motivation or a swift kick for those girls who are thinking about going natural and need some encouragement, guidance, etc. So, happy reading, and stay truly napptural...