When I was younger my mom used to perm my hair. I remember having to wait until the product would start to burn on my head to ensure that my roots and edges would remain bone straight. When I was younger I didn’t really know the difference between natural hair and permed hair. I thought that since my hair was growing out of my scalp it was mine and therefore natural. As I got older I started to become unsatisfied with the bone straight look and the fried ends and the heat damage. Although I loved the length of my hair it started driving me crazy. Every two weeks I would have my mom blow-dry and straighten my hair and every 4 weeks I would go to the Dominican salon.
One day I went to my grandmother’s house and my aunt had cut off her hair and said she was going natural. She said she was tired of her straight hair; it was damaged and didn’t look healthy at all. She caught my interest but I still wanted my straight hair. Before I left my grandmother’s house, my aunt and uncle made a bet and said, “I bet you can’t go natural.” Since that day, I have not put any perm in my hair; I was up for the challenge. For me, it was being able to prove them wrong and show them that I was about to go a long time without a perm.
Since the end of my senior year in high school I have been transitioning. The beginning of my freshman year in college I have had my hair in box braids for the first two months, I noticed the amount of shedding and breakage I had. Enough had been enough. I then decided to cut my hair into a bob to shorten the amount of time I had to transition. I stopped using my blow drier and flat iron all together for a few months then I blow-dried my hair once in a blue moon. I began to watch YouTube tutorials faithfully, trying to look for styles and figure out my hair type.
Over the past weekend, I was bored and decided to cut off the rest of the damaged/permed ends and let my hair flourish. After posting the hair I did chop off on my SnapChat, I got many messages saying, “Why did you cut your hair?” “Are you serious?” “I didn’t allow you to do such a thing.” I was baffled by the messages I was getting. I responded to each one saying, “I’m doing this for me and no one else.” It didn’t matter as long as I accepted myself. My hair does not define who I am. What’s beautiful is intelligence, ambition, a sense of humor. At the end of the day, it’s just hair and hair will always grow back.
Wearing my hair in its natural state, my hair is the healthiest it has ever been in awhile. I’ve watched it grow tremendously through my transition phase. I chopped the rest of the perm off this past weekend and I feel free. My head feels lighter and fuller. I cannot wait for my hair to flourish even more now. Natural hair is easier for me to manage than straight hair because I don’t have to worry about my hair getting wet. There are so many at home remedies for your hair that you can make yourself than to buy products from the store. I can wear it in a fro, a bun, or even protective styles like braids and Marley twists. Being natural is the best decision I have made in my entire life.