About three years ago I was introduced to the world of black hair care by my dear and lovely cousin, Stefanie. But back then, my focus had nothing to do with growing healthy hair, my primary focus was on growing hair as long as I could possibly manage. I remember browsing the LHC (longhaircareforum.com) and seeing beautiful ebony colored women with beautiful long, healthy hair. And I determined in my mind to have that hair; to prove to the world that black women of every hue could grow beautiful long, healthy hair.
So my junior year in high school I tried stretching my relaxers. I started only getting a relaxer at the beginning of the school year and then again right before prom. I was okay with controlling and managing my nappy roots in the "in-between" time. But I really didn't see much growth and I definitely didn't see any changes in the "quality" of my hair. All I saw was breakage. *sad face* And this sad tale continue until I graduated from high school.
Right after graduation I decided to reappear in the virtual world of black hair care tips, after viewing a Youtube video by Jia (youtube.com/jiatv | twitter.com/missjia). I was mesmerized by Jia's hair story; which was very simple. She was 100% natural and her hair was divine. She swore by using Jamaican black castor oil and MTG. And I then swore by purchasing those products to achieve my own glorious mane. It was also then that I scoured through hundreds of Youtube videos featuring more ebony ladies with beautiful hair. I longed to take the courageous steps they took to achieve their wonderful heads of hair. However, my vanity took the best of me and after paying $160 for the hair and installation of my transitioning style micro braids, I took the micros out, relaxed my hair, and glue-in some tracks.
I wore the tracks for a while before deciding to go for the sew-in route of it all. It was also then that I said, "Screw this!" and officially started my transitioning journey. This was in October of 2009 and I'm happy to say I've been faithfully transitioning my hair from relaxed to natural. And at first it was hard! No lies included. I didn't know what I was doing. Luckily I kept my hair braided for the majority of the school year because, honestly, if I hadn't it probably would have broken all off.
It wasn't until earlier this summer that I started treating my hair with a little TLC. And it has done tremendously so far. It's conditioned, strong, thick; I love it!
My regimen isn't one that is set in stone. I do, however, make sure that I wash my hair and DC (deep condition) it once a week. I then apply oil to my scalp, shea butter on my hair, and spritz my hair with a water/glycerin mix. I really don't apply much heat to my hair. At the beginning of the summer I wore my hair straight for about three weeks; so I was doing blow-outs and dry wrapping my hair. But I got tired of doing that and I read that when transitioning you should try to make your relaxed ends match your natural texture of hair instead of straightening your new growth to match your ends. So, since then I've been wearing twist-outs primarily. And I've gotten a lot compliments on my hair. Matter of fact I've gotten compliment from so many black men regarding my hair. They love it!
I will be returning to school in about a month. And because I'm on the debate team at school I have to wear my hair straight, almost every weekend. So instead of trying to straighten my own hair and facing the chance of encountering permanent heat damage, I plan to buy some virgin indian hair and get a sew-in with a net. I would just buy "regular" hair but I think it's more feasible to buy indian hair seeing as it last so long and it's easy to blend natural hair with indian hair because of its coarser/thicker texture. I also plan on maintaining my routine of deep condition and keeping my natural hair very well moisturized inside the braids. I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to do this and still maintain the straight cute style of the sew-in but I'm also very excited to be able to have my hair in a protective style for so long. I know I'll love the growth outcome!
Transitioning to natural for me is not only a political statement to show the world you don't have to be multiracial and have what society deems as "good hair" to have long healthy hair. (You can grow naturally kinky, coarse hair long!) It's also a personal decision for me in my step to be at my healthiest. I plan on having 100% natural BSL (bra strap length) hair by the time I graduate from college. I'm taking the stand of a lot black women are deciding to take. It's a stand to show the world and society that black women are beautiful in our natural states. It's a stand to show our daughters and younger generations that you don't have to relax your hair if you don't want to. It's a stand showing the corporate world that you can have coarse, thick, kinky hair and still be competent and adequate enough to be successful in whatever capacity you choose. I, amongst the many other black going who are either transitioning or already natural, am liberating myself from the social stigmas placed on us and declaring we're taking our hairs back! And the saying is definitely true: NAPPY IS HAPPY!
Nappturally Yours,
Jai Byrd
P.S. Please share your natural journey with me! And I'll be sure to keep your posted on mine... Let's continue on together, feel me? =)
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
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