Before After
All of my life I was natural and I’ve always had shoulder length or longer hair. I was teased and made fun of because of my nappy fuzzy hair. My mom would not let me get a relaxer even after all of my begging and pleading. I did get my hair pressed about once a month by my grandma. I remember those Saturday mornings sitting in her kitchen in front of the stove while she made my hair straight and beautiful. My grandma was a chain smoker so straight hair came with a price ... smoke scented hair. I hated that part… I also hated being burned… I can still feel it... LOL.
I always felt so pretty after I got my hair pressed no one would make fun of me for at least a week or two. I always feared the rain on accidentally getting my hair wet... As I got a little older & I was in middle school my grandma stopped doing my hair, because I had an “attitude” lol a middle school girl with an attitude what are the chances of that happening right. I started getting braids because they were pretty hot at this time. Dookie braids… I had those in my hair on and off for the two years of middle school as well as my freshman year in high school.
I found a new beautician my sophomore year Ms. Laverne... she could press a mean head. She didn’t smoke and she didn’t burn me and to top it off I didn’t have to hold my ear! So all through high school I’d faithfully get my hair pressed every three weeks and at 15 dollars who could beat that? In the summers I would get my regular hair braided and just wear it in different designs or a bun. I kept this routine up all through my undergraduate experience. I started working out at this time in my life so I would always sweat my edges out and I had a jet black straight ponytail that everyone who didn’t know me would swear it was weave.
Since I was working out and eating healthy my hair grew like mad, and my childhood desire to get a relaxer went away. I was proud of my thick fuzzy virgin hair. So by the time I graduated college and started my first teaching job my hair was mid back length. I very rarely wore it down I was always seen with a pony tail and my signature headbands whether my hair was pressed or natural.
As I started my third year of teaching I noticed that my hair began breaking off in the back of my head. I thought that it was stress because my new job in the inner city sucked beyond belief. I went to a dermatologist and he said it was something that I was doing to my hair and I thought since I didn’t have a relaxer that he was mistaken. He also asked me something that I thought was hilarious being that I got this question all of my life from others after a fresh press… the infamous “Do you have Indian in your family?” I said no, He then asked “Asian?” I laughed again and asked why. He stated that contrary to popular belief it is actually rare for a black person to have black hair. I remember lots of people asking me did I get a rinse, but I never thought anything of it. So I loved my hair even more, but I was still baffled as to why my hair was breaking. He also asked if my ponytail was too tight… I didn’t think so but after ten years of wearing it in the same spot every day I tried to give it a rest. I tried all kinds of anti-breakage and thinning hair products but nothing worked.
Finally I made a huge mistake…. I relaxed it. I thought that since my hair was already breaking what difference it would make. Boy was I wrong… I got an awesome asymmetrical bob that was super looking. I was amazed at all of the compliments that I got on my hair. Then I noticed after I got a relaxer many people that I knew started going natural… I was like I’m ok with my relaxer... I had some awesome styles for a bit, but my hair started getting more and more awful looking.
I went back the dermatologist again because it was just not getting better. He said, “You should not put a relaxer on your hair.” So I was like yeah that makes sense, but wont my hair break more? He said “ You are stuck between a rock and A hard place.” So here I am 2 and a half years later & I couldn’t take it anymore I wanted my natural fuzzy hair back. I was going to transition, but due to trying to be a good steward of my money I knew that the amount I was going to spend on braids couldn’t be justified. So I had started reading natural hair blogs and seeing all those people with healthy heads of fuzzy, curly, & kinky hair that looked like the hair that I had for 28 years & I did it. I big chopped.
I thought that I would never be able to do that because all of my life I had been taught that having long hair was a good thing. So on Wednesday March 30, 2011 at 9:30pm the deed was done. There was no turning back I could only go forward & healthy hair is not the only goal that I have I want a healthier happier whole me.
