my hair journey has been turpsy turfy, I had regular hair until one morning, my principal woke up and ordered the whole school (of almost 5000 girls) to cut our hair! that was in JSS2, and I rocked a lowcut till SS3, when I started my ajankolokolo and gradually worked my way to my shoulder length hair- until something possessed me to cut my hair in 2008. I have never admired people with short hair, I lied with short hair against my will for 6 years.
My hair when i cut it in 2008
Neways, my hair had become so damaged and I was hiding it under wigs for the past couple of months. towards the time that everybody got the natural hair craze, I still wasn't fazed. My best friend, roommate, close friends, everyone around me went natural. Couldn't understand my closest friends though. One has the long even magazine type hair, the other has a full Matt of relaxed hair, but they both went natural. so much so that there was nobody to help me put my relaxer in. My LOML even went extra, she became a natural Nazi. You know those ones right? They refuse to put any processed thing in their hair.
What I've learnt in the past couple of days
1. natural hair is not for everybody - especially broke people!
2. there's a whole new set of terminology you have to learn: TWA, shrinkage, co-wash, curl pattern - there should be a dictionary for this stuff!
3. the products! Whether you like it or not, there are tons of products that people "recommend", and as a rule, they don't come cheap.
4. You thought you knew all about oils? Watch out for a totally new horizon that opens up- coconut oil, jojoba oil, carrot something oil, etc
5. the YouTube obsession. You will be amazed at the repertoire of resources available on YouTube. Hair regimens, hair products, dealing with shrinkage, hair styles etc.
6. Who knew there was a natural hair chart? not me! o well, lemme go find out what "number" i am. i thought we only did those things for xxprexxions?
So my naturalistas, am I missing anything?
pS: I said "potentially stupid" cos what if this natural something doesn't work out? I fit gum the hair back? O well, thes always my faithful set of weaves sha.
6 comments:
Once again, i repeat, i can't believe you went through with it.
With regards to natural hair being an expensive venture, i don't quite agree. Right now all i use is shea butter and coconut oil, which are quite cheap, plus shea moisture products at target cost $10 on average if and when i decide to buy products. Plus eliminating shampoos from my life has also cut costs, so......
Me i just want to see how long you can keep this up for. I'll start the countdown now.
You're going natural because of damage? Pele. It might not all be about the relaxer though, just a thought.
Anyway...Don't fall for the hype.
Hair typing (3a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j...) is hype.
Holy grail products are HYPE! What works for one person may not necessarily work for you.
Product junky-ism is real. Stay away from the bss (Beauty supply store)! And youtube, after you have ascertained the basics.
Figure out a basic regimen and stick with it. Conditioner is your best friend. The cheaper the better in my opinion. Herbal Essence Hello Hydration is my best friend for life. I've also used the organix line which was alright. Suave coconut is a cost effective option if you go the co-was route.
The trick to sticking at it is making your routine as simple as possible. The minuteit gets involved, it starts to seem like work and you're back to square one.
Like I said, figure out a routine that works for you and your good.
Enjoy and good luck!
CUO has said what I had in mind as I read. I am currently leaving my hair unrelaxed, (I don't like saying natural cos my relaxed hair is natural too) and it's not so expensive and don't be sucked in by all the hype out there. Unless you want to sha...
Hmmn. Ok. Goodluck. I can not do it.
Hmmm you are on your own on this matter oh LOL
Are you in Naija? The local variants of some of these products ie shea butter, coconut oil etc may work and save you money....
Just saying!
To put is better is goes the line would be more appropriate if it goes like this: good, long shiny hair is not just for everybody. :)
Post a Comment