Transitioning made simple!

Alright, so you have made the decision to begin your life anew, to start on an adventure, to to...  to Go Natural!

Here are the steps to follow as you start you new journey:

Step 1: Really decide that you want to do away with chemicals stripping and destroying your hair.  No more relaxers!

Step 2: This step occurs immediately after deciding to stop relaxing. You are now in transition. These first few weeks are easy, you’re just loving your silky straight hair, it’s when you start to feel those naps grow that you begin to panic! Don’t! There are ways to deal with those kinks.

Step 3: This step depends on how long you go before you get a touch up, but once you notice that it’s becoming obvious that you have two hair textures going on and you want to know what to do. Well you have two options, cut it off or try some different hair styles to hide the dual hair textures.

·        I am all for big chopping, usually after 6 months. This is because the longer you wait the more likely you run the risk of allowing your already damaged hair to reach your healthy new growth. That is something you do not want to happen, so that is why many people go for the big chop, but you don’t have to.

·        You decide to just deal with your hair as is and trim as you go so the change is not that noticeable. That is fine, just make sure that you moisturize and use sulfate free/ paraben free products. Be careful about using weave and try to find a natural hair stylist near you because few main stream stylist are used to working with natural hair.

Step four: You have done the big chop or have grown your hair out to a point you feel comfortable and then finally have cut off the relaxed hair. Congrats!!!! You are now a Naturalista! Celebrate and take in the moment because its life altering and from this point on you and the world will look at you differently!

It’s around this time that you once again question your judgement and wonder if you are crazy, but you’re not. You are living a new life, a healthy life, a Creamy Crack free life!

Next time I will go into more of what products to use and what to look for in the products you choose. Being Natural doesn’t have to be expensive, but it definitely can be. I will give you a few ideas on how to make sure your new life doesn’t break the bank.

Naturally yours,

Monica

Quick Post

So the way I plan on working this thing is by posting a main topic post each week, but durning the week I may find something that I just need to post about, tha I will call Quick Post. This weeks Quick Post will be about Water! No matter the stage, water is your best friend. Here are just a few tips that help me keep my hair tangle and damage free:

1. Use a wide tooth comb on your hair any time you are working with it.
2. Water Water Water is key when trying to do anything to your hair so keep a squirt bottle. It will be your best friend!
3. If you don't use a detangler or leave-in conditioner you better start cause they help with softness and manageability
4. Replace grease with oils such as Shea Butter or Coconut oil. These are vital to help keep you hair ends and scalp health. A little goes along way, so don't over do it.

These are only tips and things that I do to help keep my hair up, it is up to you to figure out how it works best for you. There is no simple equation to your hair, half the fun is playing around with different things to see what products work best. Remember: You are embarking or have already started on a life altering experiance, so keep it up. Don't fall in rut and stop caring for your hair ot just throw something over it and call it a day. The better you care for your hair the better your hair will work for you!

More to come: Info on Hair types, products, split ends, styles, and healthy eating. Please leave a comment if anything I have posted has been helpful, or if you have any questions and especially if you have tips to help others with your type of hair. Thanks for reading!

Hello My Name is Monica....

And I have been Creamy Crack free for 3 years now. I began this journey as an experiment to see what my hair would look like natural. I waited 6 months and then did the big chop. Along the way to The Big Chop I researched and talked to other woman I knew who were natural. I didn't want to be just another girl going natural, like it was the cool thing to do. Deep down I really wanted to see myself in a new light. I said that if it didn't look right I was going to slap some relaxer in my head so fast my head would spin, but once my mind was made up to go natural I knew that I was never going back.

            I remember cutting my hair like it was yesterday. The mingling of fear and excitement had me a little light headed as I cut off the straight processed hair and revealed the curly, kinky hair underneath. I was amazed at how I looked. Since I was a girl my hair had always been shoulder length. I have associated my beauty with my hair and when I cut it off who was I now? Was I still beautiful? At the time the enormity of what I had done did not hit me until I came to see how the world looked at me. I can’t say that my friends and family were unsupportive, but they weren’t supportive either. I was asked why I did it and then there would be the awkward stare, finally a lack luster ‘as long as you’re happy’. I felt bad and questioned my choice. Sometimes I shed a tear because I felt I had lost some piece of me. Then I talked more to my cousin, who had gone natural two years before me and my spirit was renewed. It was like a part of me on the inside had come out and through my transition period I grew a greater strength and security in myself. I loved me short hair and all and if someone didn’t like it oh well! Having my cousin in my corner let me know that I was not alone, that I was still the same person I had just moved on to the next chapter in my life and I was not looking back.
           

What most people don’t realize is that it’s not just about cutting your hair off; going natural is a life style. You have to treat your hair totally different than when you relaxed it. Since the inception of Madam C.J. Walkers Relaxer black woman have taught their daughters how to damage and stripe their hair in order to adhere to a certain standard of beauty.

“But Natural hair is hard to manage and do! It’s just easier to do relaxed hair.”
This is true, but it is it healthier? We have sacrificed hair health for easy-to-do damaged hair! There is no disputing that relaxing your hair is damaging, it just is, but we don’t have to any longer.

 Everywhere I look I see another woman who has gone natural. Whether they have been natural for 6 months or 6 years there’s always one question that women ask, “What do you use on your hair?” It boggles my mind that no matter how long a woman has been natural they are always looking for a good product to use on their hair. I am then reminded that advertisers on mainstream TV don’t tell us how to take care of natural hair, just how to straighten it. I am seeing an increase in commercials with black women with natural hair, and now more and more product lines have added natural products to their production. Black women with non-processed hair is on the rise and I want to use this blog as a way to spread what knowledge I gain so that way we can teach our young children how to take care of their hair without adding a harsh chemical to it that weakens and damages it.

Thanks for reading and I hope that you find future posts helpful!

Disclaimer: This blog is, in no way, meant to put down, discriminate, or judge women who choose to relax their hair. The things said here are meant to support and uplift women who are thinking about, going through transition, or are trying to deal with their natural hair. When you think about it as a life style it’s a lot easier to manage!