2. The Hair Story...

So as my first official post I decided to start with my initial reason for even coming across blogs in the first place - my hair.  I'd never read an actual blog until I decided to go from relaxed to natural hair.  Well I should probably start at the beginning.  I was born on a warm spring day in May...

Fast forward a few years.... I was a happy child with the exception of the never ending battle with my grandmother.... Grr.  But that's another post... lol.  As I got older I HATED getting my hair done.  It seemed like an all day affair.  The washing. The braiding.  The placement of underwear atop my head, because my grandmother said it would help my hair dry faster... (Thinking back on that me and my lil sister probably looked like some damn fools!)  But perms at that time were not something I thought of.  My grandmother being extremely Afrocentric didn't believe in straightening hair chemically or otherwise (she doesn't even own a blow dryer), and this was before the time when mothers were slapping relaxers in their 3 and 4 year old daughters heads.  I knew my older cousins had straight hair but I figured it was a part of getting older and my time would come.

By the time I was about 10 which means my younger sister was 8 when we were introduced to the press and curl.  She got it done first, my mother was having a harder time dealing with our hair and having a full-time job.  Hers was thicker and she was tender headed so naturally she was first.  She came home that afternoon flaunting her hot combed tresses, much to my envy.  So it was only natural that I go too.  3 hours in a hair salon that smelled of burning hair every two weeks. for about 3 years.  I personally grew weary of the hot comb.  The press and curl never lasted more than 2 days and I was very active with volleyball and skating so it just ended up in a ponytail or a bun anyways.  These are the last pictures i can remember of my hair in its natural state.  Its a braid out before I knew what a braid out was.  I was 12 it was summer, post swimming...

These are the oldest unstraightened photos I can find.  Then I learned how to straighten my own hair with a curling iron... I would get my whole head to this poofy straight mess and then I would put the front into single braids and leave out the back in a big puffy ponytail or bun it.  In the 8th grade I decided that I wanted a hair cut like TBoz from TLC and I knew I would need a relaxer to do it.  I talked to my mom about it and eventually she said I could, my little sister already had so she really had no reason to tell me no.  I got my first hit of the creamy crack at 13.  For the first 1.5 years I wasn't much of an addict I would go three or even four months without a touch up.  And then there was the cut.  I wasn't quite TBoz but I loved my angled bob.

But to keep up with it I needed touch ups more frequently to keep the back laid flat (she'd taken the back half  of my head down with the 1 blade on the clippers....) I LOVED my short hair and it really became a life saver as far as keeping my eczema on my neck from flaring up.

But then came senior year and it was time to let it grow... So I did.  By graduation it was back around my shoulders.

And then there was college.  With college came new experiences and new people.  For the purpose of this exercise, new people included one of my new suitemates, Sabrina.  She was in the process of growing out a botched texturizer.  I watched for a year as she snipped and braided and snipped and braided and then lightly weaved (it was short, no one could tell).  By the summer she was totally natural, but constantly flat ironing.  But still I was intrigued.  It was October, just getting cold and I got yet another relaxer. 6 years strong.  Then came Christmas Break.  I was already flirting with the idea of forever forgoing relaxers.  I walked into the mall on Christmas Eve hoping my hairdresser would be there - she wasn't.  I had places to go and people to see.  I did my hair myself that night and it came out just fine. I took this as the first sign.  And then came Good Hair and Chris Rock was on Oprah and the Tyra Show.  I hadn't seen the movie yet but that demonstration with the can should really be enough to convert anyone.  And that's all she wrote.  I've been relaxer free for nine months now and couldn't be happier.  Well.... I mean unless my hair just started growing an inch a week... I aint gon lie.  That would make me happier.