Guess what? I'm not talking about my man. I'm talking about my perm. As you all, (my faithful 8 followers) know, I'm transitioning from a perm to natural hair. Meaning, no more chemicals to alter the texture of my hair. I titled this post "Officially Missing You" because that is exactly how I'm feeling right now. I am actually missing the texture of my permed hair.
Believe it or not, it's been almost 1 year since my last perm. I can't put my finger on the exact day of my last perm, but it occurred to me the other day that it's been almost a year. My Boo asked me how long it's been, and as I thought about it, I realized that my last perm was around April or May of 09. He has been very supportive of my transition, so my missing the perm has nothing to do with that. I miss it because for the life of me, I cannot get used to the natural texture or feel of my hair. Not only that, but I am honestly tired of having to do my hair every week.
I still read my favorite blogs, Curly Nikki, Newbie Natural Diva, etc., and I love reading all the posts about natural hair, and they really do encourage me. I still watch my Youtube videos for ideas. But I am still missing the perm right now. I am not comparing my hair to others, I know that what was given to me is mine and I can't do anything about it. I'm good with my 4b hair. What is bothering me now is the fact that I can't find a product that will soften my hair, help keep it moisturized or a style that will last longer than a few days.
Don't get me wrong, there are a few pros to not having a perm. Right now they are: no more itchy scalp. I do not miss the days when I would scratch my scalp so badly that it would bleed. No more burning every 6 weeks or less to straighten my hair. I really don't miss running to the shampoo bowl to wash the perm out. And I'm saving money by doing my hair on my own. I only see my stylist when I want to, in order to get it trimmed of the permed edges. But right now, those pros don't out weigh what I'm feeling.
My hair is about 95% natural now. I have some permed edges still, mainly in the front. During this transition, I've basically worn my hair set on perm rods. It's been working, but the more my natural hair grows out, the harder it is for me to stretch those sets. I read how all the other 4b naturals refer to their hair as "curly", and I'm thinking "hmmm, I can't exactly call my hair curly, cuz it aint". My hair doesn't curl unless I manipulate it to curl. Maybe I'm taking it literally, but really my hair is not curly. Not by any stretch of the imagination. My hair right now is dry, very dry, and feels really hard. It actually feels like hair feels when it's over processed. That is very confusing to me because I no longer use chemicals on my hair. I use a deep conditioner every week, and a leave in conditioner to keep it moisterized. I've tried several products that I've read about, and the results have not been that good. Some have helped to a certain extent, but not how I need them to help. If I could carry a bottle of water with me and spray my hair hourly, I would. Maybe I'm experiencing what I've read about called "scab hair". I don't know, I have to do more research on that. But what I can say is that I do not like how my hair feels.
On occassion, if I don't have to leave home, I'll try different styles. I've tried the braid out. That is a no go for me. It just looks frizzy and dry. I've also tried the wash and go. No go. It ends up being very dry, hard, and my hair strinks so badly, that it looks terrible. So I'd always go back to old faithful, the set on perm rods. I don't have the time to do my hair every morning. I'm still trying to figure out how some naturals do that. Especially with 4b hair.
Today, I was at my wits end. I set my hair on Thursday, and today(Monday), it was a horrible dry mess. I needed to find someone who could braid my hair before I picked up the phone to call my stylist for an appointment to get a perm, or before I asked my Boo to cut it all off. The last time I got frustrated and asked him, thankfully, he said no because I was making an emotional decision. Thanks Boo! Because if I had allowed him to cut it all off, I would have been crazy a few hours later. If I make that decision, I want to do it with a sane mind, not out of emotion.
So, because I'm not a quitter, I did the next best thing. I called the African Braiding Galleries to see who could take me as a walkin. Luckily I found one who could. I decided to braid it for a while, just to give me a break from having to style it weekly, and having to touch it and be disappointed on what I feel. My concern now is will the braids and the fact that I can't condition it for moisture make it worse? I surely hope not.
With that said, I'm still on my natural journey. I hope it gets better for me. Because right now, I am truly missing the perm. Any 4b naturals out there that can help, I'm listening!!
Sweet T
Showing posts with label Hair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hair. Show all posts
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, September 7, 2009
Still going......
I'm still in transition from relaxer to natural, I haven't given up on it just yet. But wow! I did not know it would be so much work! I am what I consider to be very low maintenance. With a relaxer I didn't have to wash my hair once a week, and when I did wash it that frequently, it was because my scalp would flake so badly that I didn't have a choice. I could work out, wrap my hair, and be ready to go in the morning. Maybe a little bend here and there with the flat iron or curling iron, but I'd be on my way. Since taking my braids out and deciding to go natural, I've washed my hair once every week, and believe me, that's really stretching my hair style. I could very well wash twice a week, but I just don't have the time nor skill to do that. Because I'm dealing with two different textures of hair, the curls at my natural roots sweat out much faster than the relaxed ends. However, because I still have more relaxer than natural roots, I can still get away with covering the roots with the curls on the end.
I'm still reading the blogs, and websites dedicated to natural hair, and I've brought my first products. I purchased Herbal Essences totally twisted conditioner and Cantu Shea Butter strengthening treatment. I can't give a review of the totally twisted because honestly, I don't think it helps my hair to curl as I thought it would. However, it smells awesome! I will continue to use it until it's gone. The Cantu Shea Butter makes my hair feel really soft, and makes it manageable. From what I can tell now, it will be a keeper for me. And this product also smells wonderful.
I've been enlisting the help of one of my best friends every week, and luckily she's been a willing participant in making me look presentable to the world during this transition. We've been setting my hair with the perm/jherri curl rods, and it actually come out really cute. The ironic thing is that I'm finally getting a chance to use the jherri curl rods that I begged my mom for. LOL!! Yeah, I cracked myself up with that thought!
I'm still hanging in there. Still trying to get used to my natural texture and fall in love with what God gave me. I haven't given up yet. So to all my newly natural sistas who are out there with me, keep hope alive. We can do this!
Sweet T
I'm still reading the blogs, and websites dedicated to natural hair, and I've brought my first products. I purchased Herbal Essences totally twisted conditioner and Cantu Shea Butter strengthening treatment. I can't give a review of the totally twisted because honestly, I don't think it helps my hair to curl as I thought it would. However, it smells awesome! I will continue to use it until it's gone. The Cantu Shea Butter makes my hair feel really soft, and makes it manageable. From what I can tell now, it will be a keeper for me. And this product also smells wonderful.
I've been enlisting the help of one of my best friends every week, and luckily she's been a willing participant in making me look presentable to the world during this transition. We've been setting my hair with the perm/jherri curl rods, and it actually come out really cute. The ironic thing is that I'm finally getting a chance to use the jherri curl rods that I begged my mom for. LOL!! Yeah, I cracked myself up with that thought!
I'm still hanging in there. Still trying to get used to my natural texture and fall in love with what God gave me. I haven't given up yet. So to all my newly natural sistas who are out there with me, keep hope alive. We can do this!
Sweet T
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Hair Story-All Natural
I've begun a transition in my life that I must say is one of the hardest things I've ever tried. I'm taking my hair to a new level, a level that I hope will revive it, a level that I hope will revive me and give me more confidence, a level that I haven't been to in I don't know how long. I've decided to go ALL NATURAL! Now, those who know me should know that this is a journey that is horrifying for me. Those who don't know me and are reading this are probably like, "So what?" LOL!! Well, let me start from the beginning:
From the time that I can remember, I've always had thick hair. I remember my mom or my grandma braiding it, or putting pony tails all over my head. My favorite hairstyle was when my mom braided it and put beads on the ends. Man I loved that style! I remember for Easter, I'd go to the hairdresser and get a nice hard pressing with some Shirley Temple curls all over my head. When I got a little older, my mom would send me to the hairdresser where I would get my hair pressed straight. I would get one of those old fashioned pressings where you would come out of the salon with shiny straight hair, with the cutest ponytails on the side, and bangs. If I didn't go to the hairdresser, I remember being in my mom's kitchen as she attempted to straighten out my kitchen with the hot comb. My neck would get burned and Lord help my ears. LOL!! But even through all that, my hair was healthy and thick. I think I've always been kind of obsessed with my hair. I remember begging my mom to let me get a Jherri Curl. I thank God and her now that she wouldn't let me get one. She always told me that I was too young, I could get one when I was 16. Well, 16 came and went and so did the Jherri Curl fad. I'm so glad I don't have any pics that can come back to haunt me. LOL!!
I don't know when I got my first relaxer, probably as a teenager. But even then my hair was healthy. I put braids in my hair occasionally, and then get relaxers, then braids again, then back to relaxers. I've worn my hair short, had color, grew it out, cut it again, relaxed it again, and I guess through all of that, my hair just slowly became unhealthy.
As you all know, hair is a woman's crown and glory. We love our hair, it is a part of who we are. We love to change styles and color. We adorn it with bows, clips, headbands, and sometimes we add more hair. Just look at all the hair care products on the market for women. These companies are making a killing! When our hair isn't right, we will hide out in the house until we get it right.
My decision to go natural is tough because, for one, I've had to deal with the negative images of black hair all of my life. I bought in to the nappy hair good hair thing. I am one of those nappy hair girls, my hair would never be classified as "good". Another thing is that my hair is very damaged. It's easy to relax it, or get a nice hair cut and keep it moving. But I'm realizing now that I need to maintain and take care of my hair, not just cover up the damage. That just creates more damage. Lastly, I have very thin hair at the top of my head. I don't know if the damage was caused by all the relaxers or if it was caused by a particular medicine that I was on. I'm not on that medicine any longer, haven't been for a long time, so you would think that the hair would have grown back by now. But it hasn't.
Every day for the past 2 weeks I've been searching the Internet, trying to find ways to make my transition from the relaxer to natural as easy as possible. I was amazed at all the women who blog about their journey to natural, how freeing they all say it is, and how they have begun a love affair with their hair. I love seeing the different styles they create and reading the product reviews. They've given me the courage I need to keep going with this. The one thing they haven't given me the courage to do was the Big Chop or BC as it is affectionately called. I could never cut all the relaxer out. Needless to say, this process has also made me aware that I'm a little more vain than I ever thought I was. :0
I want to thank the women out there in cyber world who are encouraging me to keep going. You don't know how much your posts help a sista like me. Thank you to: Natural Diva, The Coarse Hair Diary, Curly Nikki, and all the others who pour out knowledge in this journey to be natural.
So today, I guess I don't really have a tidbit, or maybe I do......as I find my way to a love affair with my hair, I hope you all out there can find your way too. Be encouraged.
Sweet T
From the time that I can remember, I've always had thick hair. I remember my mom or my grandma braiding it, or putting pony tails all over my head. My favorite hairstyle was when my mom braided it and put beads on the ends. Man I loved that style! I remember for Easter, I'd go to the hairdresser and get a nice hard pressing with some Shirley Temple curls all over my head. When I got a little older, my mom would send me to the hairdresser where I would get my hair pressed straight. I would get one of those old fashioned pressings where you would come out of the salon with shiny straight hair, with the cutest ponytails on the side, and bangs. If I didn't go to the hairdresser, I remember being in my mom's kitchen as she attempted to straighten out my kitchen with the hot comb. My neck would get burned and Lord help my ears. LOL!! But even through all that, my hair was healthy and thick. I think I've always been kind of obsessed with my hair. I remember begging my mom to let me get a Jherri Curl. I thank God and her now that she wouldn't let me get one. She always told me that I was too young, I could get one when I was 16. Well, 16 came and went and so did the Jherri Curl fad. I'm so glad I don't have any pics that can come back to haunt me. LOL!!
I don't know when I got my first relaxer, probably as a teenager. But even then my hair was healthy. I put braids in my hair occasionally, and then get relaxers, then braids again, then back to relaxers. I've worn my hair short, had color, grew it out, cut it again, relaxed it again, and I guess through all of that, my hair just slowly became unhealthy.
As you all know, hair is a woman's crown and glory. We love our hair, it is a part of who we are. We love to change styles and color. We adorn it with bows, clips, headbands, and sometimes we add more hair. Just look at all the hair care products on the market for women. These companies are making a killing! When our hair isn't right, we will hide out in the house until we get it right.
My decision to go natural is tough because, for one, I've had to deal with the negative images of black hair all of my life. I bought in to the nappy hair good hair thing. I am one of those nappy hair girls, my hair would never be classified as "good". Another thing is that my hair is very damaged. It's easy to relax it, or get a nice hair cut and keep it moving. But I'm realizing now that I need to maintain and take care of my hair, not just cover up the damage. That just creates more damage. Lastly, I have very thin hair at the top of my head. I don't know if the damage was caused by all the relaxers or if it was caused by a particular medicine that I was on. I'm not on that medicine any longer, haven't been for a long time, so you would think that the hair would have grown back by now. But it hasn't.
Every day for the past 2 weeks I've been searching the Internet, trying to find ways to make my transition from the relaxer to natural as easy as possible. I was amazed at all the women who blog about their journey to natural, how freeing they all say it is, and how they have begun a love affair with their hair. I love seeing the different styles they create and reading the product reviews. They've given me the courage I need to keep going with this. The one thing they haven't given me the courage to do was the Big Chop or BC as it is affectionately called. I could never cut all the relaxer out. Needless to say, this process has also made me aware that I'm a little more vain than I ever thought I was. :0
I want to thank the women out there in cyber world who are encouraging me to keep going. You don't know how much your posts help a sista like me. Thank you to: Natural Diva, The Coarse Hair Diary, Curly Nikki, and all the others who pour out knowledge in this journey to be natural.
So today, I guess I don't really have a tidbit, or maybe I do......as I find my way to a love affair with my hair, I hope you all out there can find your way too. Be encouraged.
Sweet T
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