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!
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