Speech 213 blog 7

Ever since I decided to go natural I learned so much about hair and what potential my hair had. When I was relaxed I didn’t know barely anything about taking care of my hair. I knew to get a relaxer every couple of months, wash condition and deep condition every week, and then flat iron. that was my weekly routine. I didn’t know anything about products, or how black hair grew and what it needed, or anything. I always wanted long hair but it never grew past my shoulders and I always wondered why. All of my other black friends’ hair was short as well. We just all kept weave in our hair and that was a normality for us. Once I went natural I finally understood that Black hair grows just as fast as other races hair, but because it wasn’t socially accepted to wear our hair in it’s natural state most of us resorted to relaxers and that was what was keeping our hair from growing to its full potential. Now I see all of these girls with natural hair and its down their backs. Now my hair is growing faster than it ever has. Sometimes it scares me how fast it grows because it just seems so unreal. I finally learned that my hair needed alot of water and moisture because my hair is naturally dry due to all of the kinks and coils in my hair. I found out that when i ate healthy, exercised, and drank lots of fruits and vegetables that my hair was vibrant. I learned that not putting heat on my hair kept my hair happy. My hair has never been healthier in its life. I also started experimenting with it and been finding so many styles to do with it. I loved it. I honestly wish that I would have gone natural sooner, and never even gotten a relaxer. It also gives me something to be proud of. Some people may think that hair isn’t a big deal and its just hair, but I have never had long healthy hair and now that I finally can and I don’t have to chemically alter it, its a big deal to me. I am finally able to enjoy my natural hair texture that I was born with. And now that I am dealing with it I am finding that straight hair is very very boring. I don’t know what I would do if my hair was straight. The only thing you can really do is wear it down or in a ponytail if you’re lucky and its long enough. Going natural is honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made. 

 

 photo source: www.insaneasylumblog.com

speech 213 blog 6

So when I first did my big chop, it took me a while to get used to my new hair. It was sooo different from when I had a relaxer in my hair. I had to constantly spray water on it and other product or it would dry up really bad and get crunchy and hard. It was only a few inches long. Before I cut my hair I would say my  hair was 9 or 10 inches. After I cut my hair it was about 4, and since it is so tightly coiled it looked much shorter. I had no clue how to style it either. I spent hours on YouTube as well as other natural hair sites to learn how to take care of it. Even though it was very new and different for me, I liked it. Most women describe their big chop as “liberating”. I totally agree. I had really short kinky hair but still had the confidence to rock it. It wasn’t what society says was “beautiful”, and I was okay with that. It was the first time I was actually able to experience my real hair texture. Before this I never knew what my actual texture was like because it had always been relaxed. I found that the front of my  hair had looser spirals. and the back had tighter coils. I found out that most black people (and perhaps other races as well, but I’m not sure) have different hair textures on their head. I found that very interesting. I also received alot of positive feedback from my family and friends. I only had one friend and my mother who didn’t like it that much. I didn’t care though because I loved it so much. Going natural was one of the best decisions I have ever made. 

 

 photo source: Me 🙂

SPC 213 blog #5

Hi there, today I will be talking about what happened after I did the Big Chop. So I already mentioned the feelings that were going through my head after I did this. To some, it may not seem like a big deal. It’s just hair, right? Well for me, it wasn’t. Most of society tells us that beauty equals long luxurious hair. I always personally thought that I was more beautiful with long hair. Now here I was staring at myself in the mirror with a very very short kinky afro. I had never seen myself with my true texture of hair since I was very little, like four years old. I didn’t even know how to begin to take care of it. I looked like a boy. There was nothing I could do to hide or cover it up and there was no turning back. I felt ugly, and I told myself I would give myself a month to like it and get used to it or I was going to get another relaxer. I took pictures of it and sent it to my friends and family. I got mostly good responses, except from my mother. All she said was “oh.” To make it worse, that same night I was driving up to see this guy that I really liked. Last time he seen me I had long pretty wavy extensions in my hair. Now he would have to see me with this short, cottony looking afro and I wasn’t sure how he would react to it. I was so unsure about everything. I was examining my hair in the mirror and was surprised that I actually had some curls. I noticed that I had two different textures from the front and back. And that when stretched out, my hair was only about 3 1/2 to 4 inches. Before I had cut off my hair my hair was about nine inches, so this was a big difference. I had to be at work in an hour, so all I did was spray my hair with a little bit of water put on a beanie hat and walked out the door. Once I got to work, everyone immediately noticed my hair because I had to wear a hair net. Surprisingly, no one was looking at me funny like I thought they might. After working for about an hour, I had totally forgot that I had cut off all of my hair, and I felt really good about it. 

 

photo source: ontheroadtoqueendom.blogspot.com

 

blog #4 SPC 213

Hi, so today of course I am going to blog again about my natural hair journey. So back in January 2012 I decided that I was going to transition until June and then do the Big Chop in June. I figured June because by then I would have 13 months of growth and my hair would be long enough for my liking. In the meantime I was wearing a weave. However, around March I got antsy and was really anxious to finally go natural. I couldn’t wait until June. So finally I asked my friends and family for a vote and they said cut it so that night I got some scissors and cut the weave out of my hair, washed and conditioned it and the next day went to great clips and got my hair cut. When she was finished with my hair it didn’t look anything like I had expected. It was a really short afro that looked dry. I had never seen my  hair like that. I wasn’t sure if I liked it. When I got back to my apartment I carefully looked at my hair. it was only about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long when i pulled it out. I had a weird mixture of feelings about it. I wasn’t sure if I liked it but at the same time I was glad that I did it. A couple of hours later I went to work.

the picture is me on the day that I did the big chop.