My Transition to Natural Hair!

My natural hair journey started when I was almost 19 years old. But before then, natural hair was the last think on my mind. At four years old, my mother gave me my first relaxer. I was raised in Wisconsin, so there weren’t many people who wore their natural hair. I grew up thinking that it was normal to relax our hair. It was so bad, that some of the adults in high school talked about some of the young ladies “nappy new growth”. So I tried to make sure my hair was always “laid”. Being so brainwashed, I kept telling my sister to perm her hair just so it’ll be easier to comb through. Horrible right?…

Once my family and I moved to the South, I noticed so many people with natural hair. For about a year and a half, I stop relaxing my hair as much. I’d wear box braids for majority of the time because I started getting tired of the “creamy crack”. April of 2016, I decided to leave relaxers alone for a while and keep my hair in braids. My mother would ask, “Are you sure you don’t want to get your hair relaxed?” I was very sure. I was tired of the smell, sores, and stunt of grown. My hair stayed the same length for years! If it’s trimmed, it’ll go right back to shoulder length. I got creative with it. I never heard about transitioning, but I styled my hair very well while doing so. It was tough though. I kept treating the natural hair as if it was relaxed.

I didn’t understand about different types of shampoos, or how even more important deep conditioning is. The relaxed hair was breaking, tangling horribly, and thinning badly. After 7 months, I was impatient and wanted it cut OFF! The same month I cut it off, was the same month I became pregnant. First Trimester and natural hair beginner does not mix! I became lazy when it came to my hair and it became EXTREMELY dry and brittle. I didn’t want to use any products because they smelled horrible around that time. My mother put braids in my hair because I was not going to do it. During my last month of pregnancy, I noticed so many amazing natural hair influencers on Instagram.

Many of them helped me find great products for my hair and how I should manage it. My confidence was built up so much, I wanted to inspire my family and friends to go natural. Today, all of my family members have natural hair and ask me questions about it. It is a blessing from The Most High to be able to help in a positive way. My hair isn’t perfect, but I could strive to get it close to. It would be awesome if our ladies go back to their natural hair state with confidence! 😊