When did you fall out of love with your hair?
I remember the exact time frame when I fell out of love with my own hair. It was right before I went into junior high. I had this long, thick, healthy, tightly coiled hair. There wasn’t much I could do with it besides putting it in 1 ponytail or my infamous 2 huge pigtails. So many people admired my hair but I wanted my hair to be straight. Yes, that’s right..straight. Like my mom, like most of the girls in my school..their hair was short, damaged, uneven and here I was being ungrateful, wanting straight hair. As a little girl though, I loved every bit of my hair.Rather it was braided up with a million beads (my sister Carla is the best braider I know) or shining with crisp parts with a million pony tails (Shout out to my sister Ora), I loved it. I remember getting crooks in my neck to make sure I didn’t mess up my hair after getting it done that day. On special occasions only, Aunt Elise used to get that Blue Magic & that straighten comb and press it out like no one else could! I would flip it and twirl in my fingers until I couldn’t anymore.
But man, when I fell out of love with my hair, I ruined it. I begged Aunt Elise to put a perm in my hair. I needed it straight! I had grew out of the thick, curly,coiled hair that I was blessed with. It was time for a change...more like time for me to ruin my beautiful mane. She gave me what I wanted. And honestly, if she hadn’t that day, I probably would have ended up doing it anyway. A perm. The devil. Man, I ruined my hair. The constant heat, every trip to Aunt Elise meant her repairing hair that I had damaged and cutting ends that were fried. I watched my hair get shorter and shorter. Each flat iron, I hated it more and more. All I could say around that time was, “My hair was long and pretty until I got a perm.” Typical right? But I was really telling the truth!
What made you fall in love with weaves and wigs?
Weaves and wigs became my thing. When my hair could no longer withstand the pain of heat and constant neglect—When I simply gave up on it, wigs became my number one. My hair no long became a thing. I treated any kind of way . Going weeks without proper washing, conditioning and moisturizing. No trims, no time to breathe. I trapped it. At one point I told myself I would do better. Then I went through a terrible breakup with resulted in me cutting it, even shaving one side. 3 weeks later, I was back to the wigs. The phase didn’t last long at all. That was 7 years ago.Today, I still hate my hair. I’ve still have taken care of my wigs more than my hair.
Why now? Why admit that you hate your hair now?
I've always been extremely vocal about the dislike I have for my hair. What's really sad is the fact that I do believe I have a "good grain" of hair, I've just refused to care for, learn and train it for so many years. Today after randomly seeing a thread of beautiful black women showing off their curls..I was impulsed. I took down my wig braids and got this (see picture above). I snapped a picture. I've done this sooo many times, seeing some of my beautiful black sisters rocking their curls and suddenly feeling compelled to rock mine. I didn't detangle it, moisturize it, I just left it exactly how it was when I took it down. I really want to like it, I do. But to me, I look so weird. I don’t like it. Imagine that, I don’t like something that is apart of me.
I’ve always had the thought that straight, long hair was feminine and professional, for me. I always felt I looked completely crazy when I wore my natural hair out.
What was your turning point? Why are you making it a point to take care of your hair now and ditch the wigs for a minute?
My daughter. Her hair. How will it be? I bet it’s going to be thick, healthy, and coiled beautifully just like mine was as a little girl. I bet by the time she’s 4, her hair will be just as long, if not longer than what my hair is now. I hate the thought of her seeing anything on her body and hating it. I want her to value everything on her body, she's royalty, shes's perfect.
Plus when I took my hair down, it was a MESS. Tangled, knots, it was coming out in clumps. (See picture below)
Moving forward, what are some products will you use on your natural hair?
I'm using Renpure products for now. I really need a good, thick product to style and hold my curls for my twist. I have some serious thick, tightly coiled hair so not using the right product will result in my hair being in an afro after an hour or so after styling it.
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