My Experience with Going Natural!!

The decision to go natural is done either by accident, inadvertently or with very careful thought and planning.  Personally, my transition was inadvertent. 

For 7 years, I'd been wearing micro braids (hey...don't judge me!lol).  I finally decided in 2007, it was time for a change.  I was becoming known as "yeah, you know here....the girl with the braids!".  So with that label, I made the decision to take my braids out.  However, prior to doing so, I was faced with "What will I do, where will I go" (sounds like I was lost in the wilderness, eh?).  So I decided that after I took out my braids, I would NOT get a relaxer.  For the next few years after removing my braids, I went to the Dominican Salon (bad move for me....we will chat about that below...stay tuned!), as I now say, for my bi-monthly fry job.  Not armed with any natural hair knowledge, I was so "proud" that I was not wearing a relaxer. 

So one day I decided to go you You Tube....oooohh You Tube!!!  That changed my life!  I saw so many girls rocking beautiful natural hair styles I was in awe.  I would spend countless hours looking at videos until one day I decided to give it a shot!  After all, I was "natural" since I hadn't had a relaxer in years!

So off to the beauty store I go with list in hand.  Ready to purchase products that would help give me the beautiful curls I so desired.  The beautiful curls on heads of black women that I saw in the street and always envied...I was excited.  It was like it was Christmas and I was 7 and I was going to get the gift of bouncy, sexy curls.

I returned home and could not wait to shampoo, condition, and blah blah blah (you get the idea).  The disappointment was overwhelming!!!!  What was wrong?  What did I do?  Did I miss something?  I purchased the products other women used but my hair was bone straight after washing it!  My long beautiful hair would not curl!  I didn't know what to do but I wasn't going to give up! (That's the Sag in me;)

I researched (and that's the former paralegal in me:)) and found out what was wrong.  You guessed it HEAT DAMAGE!!!  Going to the Dominican salons for all those years, allowing them to blow dry my hair super bone straight and to use extremely hot flat irons, destroyed most of my curl pattern! 

What I eventually learned was just because you have heat damage, doesn't mean you can't get curls.  For the time being, I just have to do braid outs.  No wash and go's or twist outs.  My hair would be so soft and straight, if I attempted to twist it, it would simply unravel.

It's now been 5 months since I've visited the "fryers" a/k/a Dominican stylists and I have been doing my hair myself.  I've also seen a drastic difference in my hair's curl pattern.  The roots are curly after being wet and I've learned to "dust" my ends and occasionally will snip what looks straight.  I have A LOT of hair and wouldn't think about doing a BC. 

Hopefully by years end, by continuing the regime that works for me and using little to no heat, I'll have the beautiful curls I so desire.

TTFN