Natural Hair & You

Hey Hey!

I hope you are all enjoying your Easter long weekend if you celebrate Easter - wherever you are.

As you are probably able to tell by the title, today's post will be about hair. Natural hair to be more specific.

Hair Type Chart - via google

I've been natural for nearly 4 years now and I must say, it's been a struggle. It still is a struggle at times but having natural hair is a learning curve. Just like anything else, learning to manage your hair in it's natural state takes time and practice. That is the one thing that must be remembered if you are natural or are contemplating going natural. It'll be quite a journey and there will be plenty of up's, along with plenty of down's during your natural hair journey. It's all about trial and error to discover what works best for you and your hair.

I started my natural hair journey completely on impulse. I had gone to the salon to get my perm touched up but as I was sitting in the chair, watching my hairdresser get everything ready, all I could think about was the after effects: the scabbing, the tender scalp, the burning, etc. Don't even get me started on having to do the scalp pat because you couldn't actually scratch any itch on your scalp before your perm and your head was too tender afterward to even dare such a thing. C'mon, anybody who has ever gotten a perm know exactly
what I'm talking about right now.

It is a lot to take in when perming ones hair and I just wasn't willing to continue paying over $100 every 6-8 weeks to torture myself any longer. As my hairdresser was getting ready to put the perm in my hair, I yelled, "STOP!". She was shocked to say the least and then even more shocked once I told her I wanted to cut it all off. She was hesitant and tried to talk me out of it but I had made up my mind in that moment and wanted to get away from creamy crack. She then got the scissors and cut my hair off, starting from the front of my head. There was no going back after that and so, my natural hair journey had begun.

Big Chop -  Oct. 2009

I was a massive product junkie in the beginning of my journey. Trying a ton of different products in search of the right one. It's been a long road that's had it's up's and down's but as I've learned more about my hair it's become easier with each passing day. Also, I went crazy with researching for other naturalista's on facebook and blogs. Soaking up any- and everything that I could find online. There are still some that I follow to this day, for example: Naptural85, and BeautifulBrwnBabyDol are two vloggers that I absolutely adore! They have helped me so much during my journey and I'm sure they can help others as well.

When it comes to natural hair, the main thing that all natural's can agree upon is moisture, moisture, moisture. Water is your friend. No matter your hair texture, kinky, coily, curly, etc., moisture plays a key factor in the overall health of your hair. Moisturizing daily is always a great idea and ensuring that you actually seal in the moisture to your strands. Nothing worse than moisturizing but then forgetting to seal all that goodness in.

I will do a separate post about the products that I currently use,  my regimen and photos of my hair as it is now, in the near future. For now, I will end this post by saying that I am always open to being contacted if there are any questions you may have in regards to natural hair and/or products. If you are newly natural, congratulations on such an amazing step. If you are thinking about going natural. I say if your lifestyle will allow you to do it then do it.

-Miss Lissa xx