My natural hair is something that I had to learn to love and embrace, as most people when they decide to go natural. As a kid, I had a relaxer so when I made the decision to transition and go natural about 6 years ago, it was such a huge change for me. I had absolutely no idea what to do with my hair in its natural state.
As time went on, with the help of my mom and YouTube videos, I eventually learned how to do a couple of styles and was very happy with my hair. Twist outs, flexi rod sets, pineapples, and braid outs were some of my favorites.
However, there was one extremely crippling issue that I had with my hair. Dryness. My hair was almost brittle to the touch because of years of excessive coloring and the fact that I wasn’t taking proper care of my hair. My hair was at a nice length and had nice definition, but it was so unhealthy and finally got to a point where it did not seem to want to grow.
I decided in the beginning of this year to go on a healthy hair journey and to keep a hair journal in order to keep up with what I did to my hair and when I did it. I could tell that there was such a huge difference in my hair as I began to take better care of it. Styles lasted longer, it began to grow, wash day time was cut in half, but there was still one problem. The dryness. So last November I decided to cut a few inches off.
My hair was doing a lot better after this cut, but I still did not have what I desired from it which was moisture retention and better health. So, in August, I decided to cut it all off.
It took a long time for me to actually go through with the big chop, but once I finally did it I was so in love. I was determined to just start over and have a clean slate with my hair. No color, no chemical, just natural.
Of course, none of my friends were on board with the chop and questioned why I would cut off all my “good hair.” However, it was about more than just my hair journey, it was also for my own confidence. I knew that natural hair was usually only accepted if it had length or had a “nice” curl pattern. I wanted to be able to be confident in myself and my hair at any length.
It’s been about 3 months now since I’ve cut my hair and I’m still getting used to the length and figuring out what products work best for my short hair. It’s grown a lot in such a short amount of time so I’m excited to see where I’ll be in another 3 months or even a year.