A year ago this week, I decided to stop relaxing my hair. I’m very conscious of the time that’s passed but in a way it also doesn’t feel like a year. It’s hard to imagine that just a little over a year ago, I was still in the “I can’t leave the house without my hair relaxed/weaved/braided” frame of mind. Natural hair wasn’t even on my radar at that point. But when I last retouched my hair and the hairdresser turned me around to look myself in the mirror, the idea had been planted. The next day, I woke up and told Kev I’m going to stop relaxing my hair.
At that time, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. I just knew my hair was not happy and was tired so I had to do something new. The only thing that made me stick to my decision was that if I had spent so much time and energy in making my relaxed hair look great, and learn how to care for it, surely I can do the same for my own. naturally grown hair. Surely. And that’s what I did, and continue to do. Now, a year down the line of not relaxing, my hair has grown to 5-6″. It wasn’t easy but it was exciting! I loved researching and discovering this whole new world of online naturals that I never knew existed. Without the internet, and the women on it sharing their knowledge and experiences, I would have been entrenched in some really bad hair practices. The first of which is probably combing my hair while dry.
So far, I’ve gotten frustrated but never have I thought of my hair so hard and unmanageable that I NEED to relax it to make it easier. I just thought, I need to give it more time. I need to give myself more time, hopefully one day I’ll get so used to it. And that point came a few weeks ago, that it’s become second nature now to twist my hair before bed, spritz in the mornings and evenings, wash and comb once a week. That’s it. I now FINALLY understand what peeps are talking about when they say “listen to your hair”. I can tell now, with all the dense curls I have sitting on my head, that it’s dry. It can be oily but it’s not moisturised. There’s a subtle difference and I notice it now. I know if I dare go to bed without twisting it, I’ll be shedding 3x as much hair when detangling day comes.
This month has been chilled. I’ve been trying to let my fro rest before putting another protective style in. I haven’t taken many photos this month, mainly because I’ve been in such a rush in the mornings but also because I haven’t really been doing anything new. Ummm, except for that nightmare of an experimentation with the banana DC. Damn, lol. But last week I decided to leave my fro be the entire week, no styling. So I can give my edges a break. I love pulling my sides back, putting it in a puff etc. but I think my edges can only handle so much so I may have to do that sometimes. Which is cool cos it’s still summer and I’m loving my summer style with my fro. It just compliments it.
So a year down the line, I’m glad for that day in the salon. Because if it wasn’t for that disaster, I wouldn’t be natural now, sporting a healthy, thick ass mass of hair on my head. I’m still as excited as ever to see it grow higher, into an inconvenient fro 😀
Here’s to another year!
