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I may write/vlog a lot about beauty, but there are absolutely no “beauty secrets” here. I am the first to admit to wearing fake eyelashes, make-up, push-up bras, spanx, tummy controlling shirts, figure flattering clothes, and hair weave. One of the things I love about the Internet, YouTube, and blogs is that I can finally get an answer to the question “How does she do it?!” (whatever it is that “she” does, that I have yet to master). My pledge and my mission with this blog is to share whatever knowledge I might have that you all would like to know.
People are always asking about and admiring my hair and I’ll be the first one to tell you that for a few hundred dollars and hours of your time, it’s all yours.
If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed all of my “Natural Hair” pins onto my “Natural Hair” pin board. I mentioned on facebook that I was finally getting my hair done. So, I figured that now is as good a time as any to share my hair story.
I come from a black mother and father, which makes my hair just as kinky and nappy as any other black person on Earth. My hair was chemically straightened (relaxed/permed) for as long as I can remember in my childhood. I have always had wicked thick hair and have fond memories of every person who did my hair complaining about it’s thickness. My hair was pretty long (past my shoulders) up until my sophmore year of high school when I got it cut to bob length and it never was past my shoulders after that. In college, I discovered hair weave and my cousin used to glue it into my hair. I loved the length but didn’t like the stinky glue, temporary-ness, and my cousin didn’t think repeated gluing was a good idea. That’s when I started getting sew-in extensions. I’d go to the African hair braiding salon and they’d cornrow my real hair and literally sew wefts of hair into the cornrows/braids.
I loved the weave hair because it was easier to style and I wasn’t a slave to the slightest change in humidity (grr). Eventually, sometime in the early 2000′s, I stopped perming my hair altogether. I just wanted all of my hair to be protected under the weave so I could grow it out (and save myself some time with having to keep up with it all). I’ve been wearing weaves since 2002–about 10 years with only a few days of wearing my natural hair in between.
Now my (same cousin) has her cosmetology license and has a mobile salon service. She hadn’t done my hair since college and was blown away by how much my hair had grown in 10 years. I wasn’t as surprised as I was proud. It was the biggest afro I’ve ever seen in person. She said that I’m her second thickest client. After she washed, combed, and lovingly detangled my whole head (it took hours–most people would be cursing but my cousin is all about being gentle and loving–thank goodness), it was actually kind of difficult to put the weave in again. Especially after she showed me some of her natural haired clients and their styles. But–I wasn’t “mentally prepared” to go there just yet. I know absolutely nothing about natural hair care and while I’m adjusting to life with a newborn, preschooler, and puppy (yes, we got a puppy. we are cray-cray.) is probably not the best time to learn.
I’ve decided that probably sometime this summer, I’ll try a natural hair style (maybe forever, maybe just for a few weeks). I love how versatile my hair is and am really looking forward to a new look. I’m hoping for something fairly low-maintenance and would love any insight, advice, and resources that you have to offer!
