I have been natural for about 7 years now. I made this decision after some convincing from my mom (who went natural 1 year before me) and my personal feelings of being fed up with my relaxer.
From the beginning...Well I was born with a head full of extremely thick hair. When I was a little girl my mother and I used to literally fight over combing my hair. Everytime I saw the comb I would run. Because we were not educated on how to care for natural hair, my hair was always dry, tangled and unmanageable. For this reason, my mother put a relaxer in my hair when I was just 6 years old.
When I got my first relaxer, I thought I was all that. I would sit in front of the mirror and shake my hair like a white girl. Unfortunately, my hair began to break off because my hairdresser at the time was not the best. I went to another hair dresser and she started taking care of my relaxed hair. It finally began to grow back. Because my hair was so thick, I had to use a Super Relaxer in order to get it really straight. When I left the hairdresser, my hair would be bone straight up until the time that I washed it, then it would just look like a bad press. I had to get a relaxer very often because my hair grew very fast and I couldn't let those roots get nappy or show them "nigga naps" (as the kids called it) in my kitchen. This process continued until after my first year of college when I finally had enough.
When I graduated from high school, my hair was pretty long and healthy thanks to my hair dresser at the time. However, when I got to college, I could not find someone good to do my hair. My hair started breaking again. My mother encouraged me to go natural. When I got back home for summer break, I decided that I would cut off all of my permed hair. I had never had short hair, let alone, short natural hair before so I was very scared. My mother and my friends encouraged me and I finally made the big cut. It was probably alot easier to mentally transition into natural hair since I attended a HBCU where there were many natural sistas around.
From the beginning...Well I was born with a head full of extremely thick hair. When I was a little girl my mother and I used to literally fight over combing my hair. Everytime I saw the comb I would run. Because we were not educated on how to care for natural hair, my hair was always dry, tangled and unmanageable. For this reason, my mother put a relaxer in my hair when I was just 6 years old.
When I got my first relaxer, I thought I was all that. I would sit in front of the mirror and shake my hair like a white girl. Unfortunately, my hair began to break off because my hairdresser at the time was not the best. I went to another hair dresser and she started taking care of my relaxed hair. It finally began to grow back. Because my hair was so thick, I had to use a Super Relaxer in order to get it really straight. When I left the hairdresser, my hair would be bone straight up until the time that I washed it, then it would just look like a bad press. I had to get a relaxer very often because my hair grew very fast and I couldn't let those roots get nappy or show them "nigga naps" (as the kids called it) in my kitchen. This process continued until after my first year of college when I finally had enough.
When I graduated from high school, my hair was pretty long and healthy thanks to my hair dresser at the time. However, when I got to college, I could not find someone good to do my hair. My hair started breaking again. My mother encouraged me to go natural. When I got back home for summer break, I decided that I would cut off all of my permed hair. I had never had short hair, let alone, short natural hair before so I was very scared. My mother and my friends encouraged me and I finally made the big cut. It was probably alot easier to mentally transition into natural hair since I attended a HBCU where there were many natural sistas around.
I continued to grow my hair over the past 7 years. Even though I had better learned to care for my hair it was still extremely thick and difficult to comb especially since it was so long. I continuously wore my hair in two strand twists, washed it and combed it out, and it was back in two strand twists. I loved it when my hair was twisted; I didn't have to comb it or do much of anything to it in the morning. I would just get up and go. I eventually decided that I really would not mind combing my hair ever again. My mom told me that I should probably consider locs. I researched the different types and decided that sisterlocks would be the best for me.
Permed Hair Pic:
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