Why I Went Natural?

My natural hair has been my pride and joy for almost 7 years. It’s funny because a lot of people don’t remember me or have never seen my hair in its relaxed state. I also never shared my story on why I went natural. So here it goes!!

Picture this, summer of 2013 in Atlanta (in my Sophia from Golden Girls voice). I just graduated from grad school and was scared out of my mind about my next step into adulthood. When a big change happens in my life, I always change my hair. For example, when I graduated from college, I had a short haircut circa Rihanna in 2009.

I’ve had a relaxer for most of my life. However, I have “fond” memories of holding my ear while my grandmother pressed my hair with a hot comb in her kitchen. Sigh…the good ol’ days!! I eventually had a relaxer after my mother dreaded styling my thick mane. Years passed and I enjoyed my straight, silky hair that I would shake it like those Dark and Lovely commercials.

It wasn’t until near the end of grad school when I realized my hair was badly damaged. I went to Dominican salons every 6 weeks for a relaxer and every other week in between. Some of you are aware of the excessive heat Dominican salons use to achieve the bone straight look. The more I went to the salon, the more breakage I experienced. Totally fed up with the process of a relaxer burning my scalp and the cloud of smoke circling my hair from the blowing drying and straightening, I decided to go back to the hair my mother once didn’t like to style.

After transitioning for 6 months, I became impatient (shocker lol), cut my relaxed ends, and was left with a mini fro. Seven years later after A LOT of trial and error and even cutting my hair again, I’m still in love with my hair. I’ve never been so proud to walk with confidence while rocking my type 4 fro. A friend asked me would I do the process all over again and my response was “in a heartbeat!!”

Thanks for stopping by!! 🙂