Friday, March 2, 2012

Thinking About Going Natural....


Today is March 3, 2012 and I'm currently 5 months and 6 days post relaxer. I'm doing great so far with my stretch....no major problems yet. My hair has been cooperating with me pretty well lately. Right now I'm wearing my favorite protective style of the moment..box braids! I think the protective styling will get me through my transition if I decide to go natural.

When I have a relaxer, I feel like I don't really get to enjoy my hair as much because I'm always hiding it either in a bun, a wig, or a weave just so that it can grow more. Then my stylist ends up trimming half of my hard work off. Then it's right back at square 1. I figured, why even relax in the first place when I can just blow dry and flat iron to get the same results? I read a very scary article about relaxers and how they're linked to all sorts of health risks. It really opened up my eyes on the types of products that we should be aware of before using it on ourselves.

I've been relaxing my hair since I was 5! I'm 23 now and I think I deserve to know how my natural hair looks now. My hair is very resistant so I really don't know what steps I will take next. I plan on just continuing to get protective styles until I reach a length I'm comfortable with, then chopping the remainder of my relaxed ends off. Hopefully I am able to transition for 2 years, but then again I don't know! My hair has a mind of its own at times. Follow me on my journey!

3 comments:

Shika said...

Good luck with your decision!!

Benita Blocker said...

Consider eliminating the ionic flat iron from your routine. No cheating for at least two months. Just use a big barrel adjustable temperature electric curling iron with marcel closure handle to straighten as needed. It may not deliver the sleekness of the ionic flat iron, but you may find that you love the new body that lasts for days. Also, the hair should become less tempermental and more solid length should be seen. For some reason if any of your ends are too damaged internally from the flat iron. They may break sooner than later. Eventually, though, you should see a huge difference in the health of your hair. Just food for thought since you mentioned flat irons and your hairstylist seemed to consistently trim a significant amount of hair . . . sounds like "flat iron" free time! Natural is good too! Smile.

Tiff said...

I've been on the fence about going natural as well. I love my natural hair (went natural once before), but I would wear my hair straight a lot and I hated putting so much heat on my hair. But once I decide, I want to make sure I commit!