The Beginning

I just decided to start this blog to chronicle my journey from relaxed hair to natural hair. I've been relaxing my hair ever since I could remember. I think my mother applied a relaxer to my hair when I was about 3 or 4 years-old. It was around February 2010 when I decided to discard of the weave and go natural. I've done all kinds of styles: braids of types, crochet braids, sewed-in weaves and glued-in weaves. My favorite was crochet braids in which I would crochet curly strands into the cornrows that were on my head. As I got older, going natural was always in the back of my mind, but I never had the guts. It was only now that I have mustered up the moxie to go through with it.

One day, I met a woman at work and her hair looked so smooth and long. I complimented her and she proudly said, "It's natural." I was shocked! She proceed to tell me how she transitioned from relaxed to natural by using all natural ingredients, deeply conditioning her hair and wearing her hair in protective styles. This created a stronger urge for me to go natural even though it was incredibly nerve-racking. My thinking was if I don't have weave in my hair, I would look ugly. Nervousness and scared were words that explained how I felt when I took down the weave knowing it would be the last time I would be putting it in my hair. I kept asking myself, Was I sure if I was ready to show the world what I looked like without weave and relaxed hair?" I thought I looked great with long, straight hair. What was I gonna look like with short, nappy hair? Ahhhh!

After I took down the weave, I went to this Dominican stylist I had researched who was noted for her thorough hair care. She wash and deep conditioned my hair and blew it out. It was a somewhat painful process because the heat was waaay hot on my scalp. The end result looked decent, though. It was straight (as she could get it), still had some roots that were kinda wavy. She curled it into a mushroom bob. It was the best she could do, I guess. I'm not sure her styling skills were on point, though. Her products made my hair look really soft and shiny. I couldn't believe she didn't use a relaxer to get it straight like that! I left the salon somewhat happy. I kept thinking this is just a start.

This was my hair after I went to the salon to get it washed, deep conditioned and blowed out.

It's been about two months and I haven't reverted back to the creamy crack (hair relaxer). I'm so tempted. This blog is to help others and myself get through the relaxed to natural hair journey. I hoping it will help me learn more about myself, my hair and others like me. I will be posting pictures and writing about my experiences.

Until then....