The first memory related to my hair I have is getting it permed. I was too small to fit in the chair and had to get a booster seat. I do not remember what my natural hair looked like. In pictures of me as a baby, I always had hats on. My family would just tell me my natural hair was course, tough and hard to manage but I could not image my silky, smooth straight hair being anything but. I thought my hair had two stages: permed and post-perm. Post-perm my hair was thicker- which was not always a bad thing- and fuzzy.
In a misguided rebellion during middle school, I chopped of my hair to my jaw. I thought it would make me look older and edgy. In middle school, I wanted to be unique and my home cut was. It was botched and uneven. To say that my hair dresser, Ana, was pissed is an understatement. Ana was my hair dresser for almost my whole life and was all about maintaining length and health for hair. She evened out my hair. To say that hairstyle stuck would be selling it short- no pun intended. I kept that short bob until sophomore year of high school. Junior year, I began to grow my hair out. The last month of senior year was different.
Upon talking to my best friend, Darcie, we decide to go natural together. She decided to start over. Shave of all her hair and start from the beginning. Which is known as a "Big Chop- BC". I, on the other hand, decided to keep my hair and let the curls grow in. I was scared to shave my hair- I still am. I was, also, scared to go natural. I had no idea what would happened. How would it look? What would they think? What would they say? I went home that day and googled endlessly. Watching videos of transitions and other natural journey. Lastly, I talked to my mom. My mom always helps me think clearly and look deeper. Simply, she said, “try it out. If you hate it. Perm it again. If you love it, then keep going.” Through this process I had two people to thank: my mom- for support (and buying all those expensive products) and my best friend, Darcie- who was there with me throughout the whole process. Also, YouTube for those videos that helped me learn. Along with the brave natural stars of those videos who put themselves- and their hair out there.
If it was not for these factors. I would not have made two years natural. Going natural has been one of the best choices I have ever made. So, for anyone who wants to try being natural my advice would be: go for it and try a whole bunch of products before you find the right one for you.
