My happy nappy!
I would have never thought in a million years that I would ever wear my hair au naturelle. I wore wigs, weaves and perms. I was almost ashamed of the way my hair looked and felt in its natural state that I did everything I could to cover it up. The first time I did my big chop was about 3 years ago due to damage caused by relaxer. I could not wait for it to grow long enough for me to put the “creamy crack” right back into my hair. In the meantime I wore hats and scarves to hide my “nappy hair”, it was torture! As soon as my hair got to neck length, I bought a box of relaxer and relaxed my hair all over again. This time I was determined to keep my hair healthy, and I did.
Now when I think about it however, I realize how ignorant I was. But who is to blame? Certainly not me, society made me ignorant, I was only going with the flow. I learned the hard way though, and thank goodness for that.
For most of us, it is our mothers who introduced us to relaxers, but in their defense, they didn’t know any better, they were only doing it thinking it was “good” for us, that it would make our hair more manageable. There was not enough knowledge out there about our kind of hair, so I am not mad at my mother (I love you mum!) The one thing I absolutely still thank my mom for however is the fact that she warned me about using cosmetics at an early age, I still remember her words, “I don’t want you to look like me when you get to my age, I wish my mother had warned me” Those words have stuck with me all these years. My mother and the girls she grew up with, in search for beauty, used harsh facial creams that have long been banned on their faces.These creams had adverse effects on their skin, giving them blotchy complexions. The only thing I used to fight acne as a teenager was good old calamine lotion. So I know that her heart was in a good place when she gave me my first perm.
Fast forward 21st Century (or is it 22nd?) We are so much more educated about the effects of the chemicals used to make relaxers, we are fully aware that relaxers only “kill” our hair. We are learning to embrace our kinks and curls and even loving them (I know I love mine). I love my natural sisters, and I hope that even more relaxed sisters will join us. Do not be fooled however, taking care of natural hair is not easy, it takes time, patience, products and strategy- but it’s all worth it when you watch your hair grow healthy and long. So what are you waiting for? Get that pair of scissors and do the big chop already, cross over to the dark side (Insert evil laugh here)
What’s your hair story?
