It has been two years since I decided to shave all my hair, and things have changed a lot from that day. So, why not share all the experiences in my beauty blog, with the purpose to help people that are struggling with hair transitioning or feel insecure about their natural curls. But being honest, the temptation to relax my hair at some point was always around.
FIRST.
From my youngest days, my mom and I, always use to gravitate between natural and relaxed hair, ending at least going more on the relaxed hair side. We never ever had any issues with our hair routines and general rules like:
- Relaxing the hair every two or three months, using moisturizing, repairing, and nutritious hair products, along with avoiding the excess use of flat irons and hair driers.
- Know which products will work for our hair, and control carefully the use of hair dyes (avoid dyeing the hair until one or two weeks after the relaxing process).
BUT THEN…WHY THE BIG CHOP?
Even if it wasn’t the first time I had a radical haircut, this time was different. I ended up cutting off my entire hair...shaving it, I never ever shaved my head: NEVER, but I guess that there is always a first time, and somehow it has been positive. I did it,
and I have no regrets, even if at first, I didn’t like to watch myself in the
mirror directly, frightening everybody at the same time for my radical decision, now everything is different.
If I think carefully about it, at that moment in my
life I was dealing with a lot of things, and I needed a change (inside and
outside), so I took the scissors and the razor, and I decided to shave my entire head. (Please do not imitate me, if you want to change your hairstyle, think calmly about it, and if that is your wish, go to the hairdresser).
The first thing I noticed was my hairless scalp, which
was and is more sensitive than the skin on my face, making me realize
something very important: Have I really been taking care of my hair correctly?
I never had problems when my mother took care of my hair when I was little, on
the contrary, I use to have it up to the middle of my back in abundance.
However, I felt that already in my adulthood, things were no longer the same.
My mother has natural afro hair that is very soft and
easy to manage, which also does not require much nutrition and hydration.
However, my hair is thick, frizzy, and wild (like my dad’s hair), to the point
it has set off countless combs specially designed for afro hair. Becoming at the same time another reason for my mother to periodically straighten my hair, making it easy for her to control and treat my hair successfully (and I don’t have any regrets,
since she did a very nice job taking care of my hair, in her own way, without any cracks, burns, or weakness).
As I grew older my body and hair were changing too,
needing different treatments and routines that are away from my mother’s
beauty rituals. Therefore, my mother’s multivitamin shampoo no longer worked
for my hair, so I needed to start looking for my own products.
Having had a straightened hair most of my life, I only knew that I needed products that would prevent breakage, helping me strengthen my hair. This is why ended up choosing any type of hair repairing products lines, without looking at the ingredient list, or consulting various types of opinions on the internet (particularly from the afro/curly hair community)…..BAD, VERY BAD, to the point I ended up learning by trial and error, to understand how to properly take care of my straightened hair.
What does this mean? Whichever path you choose, you will have to know how to care for and maintain your hair. Straightened hair also requires a lot of care, and to avoid making big mistakes, luckily there exists a large and very active black community that talks about it, sharing information and personal experiences about this topic, like: Jennifer Cynthia, StyleDomination, Hairlicious Inc, Cassandra Olivia, Dawan Pearson, Ju Poppin, or JohnGeorge.
GOING NATURAL FROM ZERO!
Once shaved, there is no way to go back anymore, so I
just let everything flow, without thinking much about my hair, leaving it free,
letting it grow strong, full, and natural. Being at the same time, the perfect
stage to learn the general rules of Afro hair care, immersing myself
in a different world, and one of the things that I can confirm is that transitioning to natural Afro hair, can be difficult and uncomfortable at first,
however, that feeling is reduced when you start educating yourself about your
hair type reading blogs, watching videos, and following accounts on social
network mainly related to the care of afro and curly hair, such as: Efik Zara,
The Gloved Natural, Star Puppy, Leila Washington-Fusion of Cultures, Afrocenchix,
My Natural Hair Blog, Frolicious, or Afro Lovely.
The first thing I learned was the importance of protecting my hair, and the importance of it, especially at night, before going to sleep, to avoid knots the next day. Along with that, the importance of product formulas and ingredients, discovering that my afro hair needs and loves 100% pure natural oils, rich in fatty acids, like castor oil, argan oil, vitamin E oil, concentrated olive oil, or avocado oil. By the way, I learned too how to use 100% pure coconut oil, as well as its real benefits.
But the most shocking part was the importance and comfort of hair protective styles, and how to enjoy different types of hairstyles and colors without damaging my hair: no cut, no excess of heat from hair driers and hair irons, no bleach or dye, just wigs & extensions (properly used). So, every two weeks or every month, I can freely change my hairstyle without any danger.
FINAL CONCLUSION.
I actually embrace and love my 4C natural hair, even
if sometimes I feel like straightening my hair (jokes! The bottle of hair
relaxer has been proudly in my closet for months/years, without arousing any
desire to use it).
My only current wish is for my hair to grow long, strong, and beautiful, once again reaching the middle of my back, even more….full of health and vitality… forever.
Absolutely love this post and your story, is beautiful to embrace your natural self. I have curly hair myself and remember my mother used to relax my hair as well even though my hair wasn't that coarse.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing that from my readers! I still learning, and testing new products, discovering and re-discovering products, for me, and to share my experience, as a way to maybe help somebody who can need It.
DeleteDeep thanks for your comment.