As I was looking through the pictures posted by the people I follow on Instagram (my latest obsession), I have discovered more and more beautiful women with long natural hair showing off their curls. These lovely women have really gorgeous hair and it made me ask myself, "why not?". It's their hair and it's meant to be beautiful.
Since cutting my relaxed ends, I have discovered that I have been able to overcome many different personal hurdles that have to do with how I look. I am a lot more comfortable in my own skin and I'm not afraid of what others think. I can wear my hair curly, straight, pinned up, flat twisted, corn rowed, braided up etc with some sweat pants and not really be bothered as long as I felt comfortable with myself. This doesn't mean that I strive to look rough or unkempt; I just appreciated being comfy in my own skin. I believe my decision to go natural was not fully conscious like most people make it seem. I basically was done with my hair breaking off in large chunks. My hair story is as thus:
Being born and raised in Nigeria, my hair was chemically straightened right from Primary School. I was one of those girls with the long hair and the pink barbie backpack. As much as I loved my hair, wash days and relaxer touch up days were hell but hey, everyone had straight hair so I thought that was normal.
My mum took care of my hair and it continued to grow beautifully until I turned ten and had to move to boarding school. At school, we were required to wear our hair short and by short I mean "cut it all off" type of short. Reason? "It was a low maintenance hairstyle and it made everyone look uniform". I hated those days because I believed that I looked like a boy but I really had not choice. I looked forward to the holidays when I could get the little hair that I had grown over the course of 3-4 months relaxed or braided. After my high school graduation, I went bizarre with the braids, relaxers etc. I was never really a fan of weaves or wigs.
I moved to the US a few months after graduation and had to adjust to everything. This included dealing with my hair on my own as my mum had always been my personal stylist hahaha... I went to the salon a couple of times but then I became broke and began looking for alternatives. I wore my hair curly at times using texturizers but most of the time, I had it straight or braided. I remember once, I was running very late for an event but I needed to take my braids out. I successfully took the braids out and jumped in the shower without combing out the knots. That obviously did not end well. I had to rip out chunks of hair that evening because my hair matted badly. Ugh horror hair story. I shouldn't have been trusted to handle my hair then as I had no idea of what I was doing.
As time went on, I little to no time for my hair as school got more difficult and stressful. I was also really busy so sitting for hours on end at the salon was not something I had the time or money for. I believed my hair was fine as long as it was clean, moisturized and in a ponytail. Simple life right?! Yea, and I loved it that way until the dreaded began to happen again. Large chunks of my hair started breaking off when I washed or even combed it. I freaked out but did not know how to stop it from happening. I stopped relaxing in March 2011 hoping to go back once my hair grew some more.
I guess that was my transitioning stage... I did not have a clue of what to do so I turned to the internet for help. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information on there but I found it very helpful. I started watching youtube videos and learned how to style my hair while transitioning. I loved the styles I came up with and got so many compliments.
And then, the time came in April, 2012 when I cut off all of the relaxed ends off. I would have transitioned a little longer but my ends annoyed the crap out of me. They looked stringy and lifeless as compared to my new growth.
My hair has grown a lot more and I absolutely love the way it looks. I have learned so much also and I don't think I would ever go back to the relaxer. Growing my natural hair has helped me more conscious about my health and well being. I have learned to love and care for myself and I have seen huge changes. This has become a lifestyle change for me and not just some escape from my breaking hair.
Much love!
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going" - Jim Ryan
Since cutting my relaxed ends, I have discovered that I have been able to overcome many different personal hurdles that have to do with how I look. I am a lot more comfortable in my own skin and I'm not afraid of what others think. I can wear my hair curly, straight, pinned up, flat twisted, corn rowed, braided up etc with some sweat pants and not really be bothered as long as I felt comfortable with myself. This doesn't mean that I strive to look rough or unkempt; I just appreciated being comfy in my own skin. I believe my decision to go natural was not fully conscious like most people make it seem. I basically was done with my hair breaking off in large chunks. My hair story is as thus:
Being born and raised in Nigeria, my hair was chemically straightened right from Primary School. I was one of those girls with the long hair and the pink barbie backpack. As much as I loved my hair, wash days and relaxer touch up days were hell but hey, everyone had straight hair so I thought that was normal.
My mum took care of my hair and it continued to grow beautifully until I turned ten and had to move to boarding school. At school, we were required to wear our hair short and by short I mean "cut it all off" type of short. Reason? "It was a low maintenance hairstyle and it made everyone look uniform". I hated those days because I believed that I looked like a boy but I really had not choice. I looked forward to the holidays when I could get the little hair that I had grown over the course of 3-4 months relaxed or braided. After my high school graduation, I went bizarre with the braids, relaxers etc. I was never really a fan of weaves or wigs.
I moved to the US a few months after graduation and had to adjust to everything. This included dealing with my hair on my own as my mum had always been my personal stylist hahaha... I went to the salon a couple of times but then I became broke and began looking for alternatives. I wore my hair curly at times using texturizers but most of the time, I had it straight or braided. I remember once, I was running very late for an event but I needed to take my braids out. I successfully took the braids out and jumped in the shower without combing out the knots. That obviously did not end well. I had to rip out chunks of hair that evening because my hair matted badly. Ugh horror hair story. I shouldn't have been trusted to handle my hair then as I had no idea of what I was doing.
As time went on, I little to no time for my hair as school got more difficult and stressful. I was also really busy so sitting for hours on end at the salon was not something I had the time or money for. I believed my hair was fine as long as it was clean, moisturized and in a ponytail. Simple life right?! Yea, and I loved it that way until the dreaded began to happen again. Large chunks of my hair started breaking off when I washed or even combed it. I freaked out but did not know how to stop it from happening. I stopped relaxing in March 2011 hoping to go back once my hair grew some more.
I guess that was my transitioning stage... I did not have a clue of what to do so I turned to the internet for help. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information on there but I found it very helpful. I started watching youtube videos and learned how to style my hair while transitioning. I loved the styles I came up with and got so many compliments.
And then, the time came in April, 2012 when I cut off all of the relaxed ends off. I would have transitioned a little longer but my ends annoyed the crap out of me. They looked stringy and lifeless as compared to my new growth.
My hair has grown a lot more and I absolutely love the way it looks. I have learned so much also and I don't think I would ever go back to the relaxer. Growing my natural hair has helped me more conscious about my health and well being. I have learned to love and care for myself and I have seen huge changes. This has become a lifestyle change for me and not just some escape from my breaking hair.
Much love!
"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going" - Jim Ryan
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