...ThE gReAt HaIr JoUrNeY...

Thursday, September 1, 2011

one of my most fondest childhood memories...
climbing into my moms lap so she could wash..dry...and press my hair (with a old school hot comb...you know...the one you heat up on the stove!)

Since i was a little girl, that was the bi-weekly routine.
Usually happening on a Saturday morning after the trip to the grocery store...and sometimes before bedtime...so my curls would be crisp for church the next morning.
I would get my hair done by mom mother until i reached junior high...then i was big enough to go to the beauty shop (and obviously too big to climb into her lap and get it done by her...and because my hair was so thick and long it took a lot time to do my hair at this point).
I would sit for HOURS in the beauty shop...trying to block out the ritual gossip about Ms. Jenkins and what her son T-Ray did this week...
I would Sit in the the beauty shop chair only to get a wash...dry...and press (and if i was lucky some nice curls)

Growing up, my mom said that we did not need a perm.
She would state...if we wanted a perm we would be able to get one when we are old enough to afford it and to get one regularly to make sure our hair looked right.
And i will say...am i soooo glad that she did that!

I moved to college....and with me came a plug in hot come, and a nice hair dryer.
Well it was only until my sophomore year that i discovered the flat iron...which was a faster hair straightening routine...and gave me a better result to the shiny straight hair that i was trying to achieve.

It was last summer. I started a pretty intense workout routine (i officially started the "G.R.G.T" (get it right, get it tight...yes like the David banner song...LoL) boot camp.
Well with me working out 5 days a week...this made me have to apply heat to my hair twice as much to get rid of the naps that my sweat had produced.

Towards the middle of the summer i noticed that the increase in the use of my flat iron resulted in my bra strap length hair to start to break, get weaken, and shorter...and not be as nice as it was. So i knew i had to do something to change.

So that is when i resulted to you tube and "natural" hair blogs.
And i am so glad that i did!!
I learned the proper way to wash...dry...and style my hair (in protective styles which my hair is in 90% of the time) and also do cute/unique styles for special occasion (which i am still learning how to do!) I also learned proper maintenance routines and good things to use on my hair daily (which was not in my previous hair care routine.) This opened my eyes to all the wrong things that i was doing hence why my hair quickly went down hill!

me getting ready to cut my hair in march for the first time...lots of split ends and damaged ends :-(  (i cut 2-3 inches off all over my head! i seriously cried)

The past 20 something years i WAS NOT taking care of my hair like i should have! No wonder it was breaking off. So i made a vow...i wanted to embark on a life journey (well i started off making the goal for a year...but i hope to carry it on life long since it has been working so well for me!)....

A journey to be better spiritually....physically....and to improve the health of not only my well being, but of my hair as well.

And a year later...i would have to say that i have done all of the above.
Wearing my hair in its natural state (VERY CURLY...and of course nappy...LoL) has made me dig deep and create a better appreciation of me...and what God has made me out to be.  This journey had allowed me to become better spiritually....mentally....physically....and in all other aspects of my life.  in my early years (i would say high school through the time i graduated from college) i was made fun of so many times for having natural hair.  If i got paid $5 for every time someone tried to convince me to get a perm...i would be able to pay my car note for a few months! So to hide my natural naps and kinks i would just wash and flat iron my hair so i would not have to deal with explaining my hair situation to ppl who just did not understand why i did not desire to get a perm.

I am so happy that i decided to stay in my state of mind...and not do anything crazy to my hair (because so many ppl tried to get me to...and there were times i almost gave in because i just did not know how to do my hair) Now it makes me some what giggle now that i see some of the main ppl who teased me trying to "go natural" now.  I think it is a HUGE craze right now...not sure if it will go away or just get worse...but i am proud to say that i have been natural all my life! It is just sad it too me so long to embrace my curls and naps and to be 100% happy with them.

I am still on this journey....but today....i can look in the mirror...and smile. I can be happy of the woman that i have become and the things that i have achieved over the past year.
So with these goals being crossed off of my list...it guess it is time to sit down and create some new ones :-)

 a hair style that i don't wear too often...i just had the underwater shoot and did not have time to re-twist it (like the pic above) so i did a wash and go...

 i put heat on my hair for the first time in a year yesterday to get ready for the photo shoot...

 then i flat ironed it (for the first time in a year) and braided it to get a braid out...it looked amazing for the photo shoot!!

 pictures from the past photo shoots to come soon! just waiting for them to get edited :-)