Fake it 'til you make it?

No Turning Back

   

     "I'm tired of the creamy crack, now what?" I asked myself this question when I first went natural. Do I big chop? Transition? Well, let's go to the natural hair dictionary to see what exactly these things mean. Transitioning: the process of allowing your natural hair to grow out while still holding on to the perm ends until your natural hair has grown to a certain length pleasing to you. Big chop: the process of cutting all of the damaged areas off of one's hair.

     I remember my junior year of high school, envying every curly girl that walked by while I tried to embrace my damaged relaxed hair (shout out to all of my original Just for Me! relaxer girls!). I had no idea about the natural hair movement that had been on the rise. I was the girl who was faithful to the creamy crack once every three months and lived by the flatiron everyday, yes EVERYDAY. All my life I've had thick hair but could never achieve length. So finally, after 12 years on the creamy crack, I decided to go natural...

 Stop. Put it down. Biology.

     Would you flatiron your skin? No, seriously would you put a 350 degree flatiron to your skin? Straightening your hair is almost as equivalent to straightening your skin. I did not know this until after my hair seemed too far gone. I would even get sew-ins every month to avoid putting heat on my hair (silly me, I was still flat-ironing the leave out) Once I chose to put down the flatiron and ditch the burnt hair smell, I officially began my transitioning process. To avoid heat, I would apply a hair lotion to my hair (my choice was ORS Oil Moisturizing Hair Lotion), thoroughly brush my hair for a good 10 minutes, then wrap my hair applying a satin scarf (to avoid friction). Ya girl was and still is faithful to the satin scarf and satin bonnet.

     I see a lot of naturalist in the natural hair community go anti-shampoo. Personally, I'm a huge fan of shampoo. Shampoo is designed to clarify and cleanse the scalp thoroughly. Although I am an advocate for shampoo, I do realize that overly shampooing the hair can strip the hair completely of not only build up, but also its natural oils that it needs to function and grow. While transitioning, I would shampoo and condition my hair once every two weeks. This is the method that worked for me. A virtual hi-five to all my Crème of Nature shampoo girls out there. Crème of Nature by far has been the best shampoo that I have used in my natural hair journey. Not only does it cleanse my hair of all of the product buildup, it puts all the moisture, if not more, back into my hair. Tip: Don't be afraid of shampoo. Your hair depends on it!

Thank You Humidity, I Always Wanted to be a Lion

    Ahhh, it's the time we've all been waiting for...moving out of the house and off to college! But...no one tells you about the humidity at UNC-Pembroke. When I went to college, I was SURE to pack my flatiron despite my attempt to not use it. I remember walking to class on the first day and not even two minutes walking from my dorm, I would have a lion's mane. Frizz everywhere. That day, I flat-ironed my hair THREE times just during the day. There was no way that I could continue the same method for the rest of the year. By this time, I was 2 years post-relaxer. So...I decided to wear my hair in it's natural state. Talk about anxiety! All I could do is PRAY I didn't come out looking like Samuel L. Jackson in Black Snake Moan.

                                  

    Turns out, like always, God was on my side because my itty bity puff was coming along well...heat damaged, but making it...

                                           

   

    3 months later...

Cut the crap: Brittney Spears 2016

  

    Have you ever just had a rough year? No, seriously, just so rough to the point where everything is spiraling out of control & you need to feel some kind of control? Well...tada! Big chop 2016.

   

    Sometimes, it's okay to force some kind of control over your life. Looking at my big chop in the spiritual realm, I have learned that in this life we come across many people. People who are good for you & people who are bad for you. There were certain things that were bad for my hair causing severe damage to it. Same goes for my spiritual life. Cut the crap out of your life & I'm not just talking about those dead ends, if ya know what I'm saying. Ok?

  

*Disclaimer: I do not own all of the photos presented in this blog. I do not intently commit fraudulence. I just want to simply encourage.(: