My HAIRstory

For as long as I can remember, I have been using that creamy crack to permanently straighten my hair. In fact, up until my tenure at Howard University, I had no idea that there was any other way for a Black woman to do her hair. I assumed that it was a right of passage to Black womanhood, that every 4-8 weeks all Black women traveled to their respective stylists and got a relaxer. Now, of course I saw many women with gorgeous curls and 'fros, but at the time I just assumed that it was a mere styling choice...some sort of a set after their hair was relaxed. Yea, I know, I was rather naive...and possibly in denial.

Even after I was made aware that women chose to wear their natural texture (what a novel idea that was to me at the time lol), I just had it in my mind that it was not for me. At the time, I loved my flowy hair. I loved how it moved when I moved, how it blew in the wind, and how it felt like silk when I ran my fingers through it. My only complaint was that I wished that it was just a tad thicker. But that wasn't anything that strategic layering cut couldn't change.

My layered hair in my sophomore year.

I mean yea, my hair never grew past my shoulders, but it was all my hair, and I was totally proud of that fact. (At the time, I was completely anti-weave. I still prefer to not cover my hair with a wig or add extensions to my hair, but I think it looks fabulous on other people.) I was still going to a stylist every two weeks and only curling/flat ironing my hair about once a week on low heat, so my hair was healthy...at least my definition of healthy at the time. It wasn't until I slowed up on my trips to the beauty salon, and started curling and flat ironing my hair more frequently that I started to see problems...*ehem* and damage *ehem*...really surface. 

By the time I graduated, my hair began to break off some kind of horribly...especially in the front. My hair appeared thinner than ever. It lost the shine and bounce that I loved so much, and even worse, it felt horrible too. I knew I needed a change, and after seeing just one picture, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. 

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One day, I was flipping through Essence magazine when I came across this gorgeous head of kinky, coily curls. I had been toying with the idea of letting my natural texture shine for a while, but seeing this photo took me over the edge. And just like that, my obsession with natural hair began. 

My first sign of curls at 4 months post relaxer. I snipped some of the relaxed ends off in the back just to see what it would look like. This was the result!

My last relaxer was on May 15, 2010. Every 4-6 weeks since that day (the usual time range in which I would get a touch up), I trimmed the ends of my hair. At the moment, my plan is to continue trimming my ends regularly until May 15, 2011, when I will cut off the remaining relaxed ends. I don't consider this a harsh deadline for myself. When that day comes, if I feel ready to release myself of the relaxed ends, I will. If not, then I will simply continue to transition until I feel ready. Either way, I'm just taking my time and enjoying the ride on my natural hair journey.


{Side Bar} Updated pics of my hair 8 month post relaxer hair to come in a future post!