I was Natural from the day I came out of the womb until grade 7 (twelve years old). It all started once I hit grade 6 I wanted to perm my hair soooooooooooo bad, especially since everyone was doing it. I was raised by my grandmother who was not having that, not one bit! So for my elementary school graduation there were no straightened hair do. It was like a regular school day with big plaits and hair ribbons and a few tiny plaits in front for a bang.
The saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” really resonated with me after getting my first perm, back in 1996 at the tender age of 12. From there on I HATED perming because of the burning sensation during the process and the hair burns (scabs) after, and then a week goes by and there is hair all over the bathroom floor. I hated perming my hair so much that I would stretch it to 2 perms a year. And once my hair wasn’t maintaining any length I remember my then hair stylist would blame me for the hair loss because I was not perming as often as I should have. (huh? really?)
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So I stopped perming at the age of 19 in 2003 during my first year of University. Since then and now almost 7 years later, I have done EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to my hair:
♥I texturized it twice (2004 & 2007)
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♥I got heat damage from flat ironing (2008)
♥ I put Hydrogen Peroxide to lighten my hair (Nov. 08)
♥ I’ve done 3 BC (BIG CHOP) – 03, 06 & 08 & 2 DT (Drastic Trims)
♥ I’ve done every hairstyle you can think of – straw set, corn rows, braids, twist outs, wigs, weaves, water curls etc.
It wasn’t until the end of 2008, after much distress, I got fed up and turned to the internet, read books and articles and I educated myself about Natural Hair. On Dec. 19, 2008 I did, what I considered to be my last BIG CHOP. It was more than just cutting off stringy damaged hair it was liberating and uplifting. To watch me cut my hair all off click on the links below:
So I began my natural hair journey again this time with a healthy, well informed start. If you are thinking of going Natural I recommend that you do a BIG CHOP… the feeling that you get after is just out of this world. Everything around me started to fall into place, more importantly I was forced to love and accept myself just as I am. iHEARTmyhair.
