8 Things I Must Confess About Natural Hair

 

As I'm inspired by insomnia and reading the "Natural Hair Confessions" posts on Natural Review, I thought to write my own post of natural hair confessions.

1. I got my first relaxer when I was 9 years old. By the time I was 16 and had started thinking about ceding the touch ups I didn't even know what my natural hair texture was like.
2. I got my last relaxer the day before my 17th birthday and my hair was chin length (straight). Fast forward 8 years later and my hair was an inch longer than chin length (pressed). I had never once trimmed my hair in that time.
3. The best worst thing that happened to my hair was when I asked my friend to trim it and she chopped my hair to only an inch long.
4. In college I washed my hair with Pantene (not relaxed & natural line) shampoo and conditioner every day and never used a leave in conditioner. I couldn't understand why my hair always felt like straw even though I put plenty of grease on my hair and scalp.
5. I just learned what a heat protectant is and what it should do 3 years ago. I had always thought any grease or hair spray would do, and I thought each parted section was to be saturated before applying heat. Hmm, that explains the hissing and crackling sounds I always heard and the singed strands. Sorry to all those friends who let me press their hair. (My bad.)
6. I am often frustrated because it stills seems I am not retaining as much length as I could (i.e. as other people). Every day working on that one... which leads me to my next confession.
7. I want very long hair. That is my main goal with learning how to care for my hair. I want to whip my hair back and forth, without having to carefully plan my style and check the weather first. Who knows if that's even realistic?
8. Much of my lifestyle has changed for the better since adopting all natural hair care routines. I am much healthier in many other life choices too, but honestly its all due to my vanity. But if its for the better that's not so bad, right?

Can I get an AMEN?!

Hair: Is It Really That Big of a Deal?

This was originally posted on "NaturalSunshine.com" May


I find myself flipping and flopping between wanting to learn more and more about naturally kinky hair, on practical, scientific, spiritual, communal, political levels... but why? Ain't it just hair? Isn't that what we call SUPERFICIAL? Being obsessed with vanity, appearances and things as frivolous as hair.

But what if hair hasn't been a frivolous thing in your life? What if you hair has been a source of embarrassment and shame? What if no matter what you did it never retained length; you never had that "get up and go" hair; doing it was painful and/or disappointing? What if your hair made you feel out of control of yourself?

That’s how I felt for a long time. Completely out of control! I did not understand how I could spend so much time on my “hair days” but even after years of giving up relaxers my hair was no longer, no softer, no more manageable than it was when chemically processed. I always managed to make my hair look nice, but I was truthfully unhappy not being able to accomplish what everyone should be able to do without trying- grow hair.

Jump to today and I am astonished at the amount of length I am retaining and I can’t lie, feeling hair on my shoulders for the first time since I was about 11 years old feels friggin’ great! I mean really, I feel sexy and glamorous and cool all at the same time. And what got me to feel this good about myself? My “superficial” obsession with growing long, healthy, natural hair, that’s what!

Seriously, I really put my mind to accomplishing this goal that I had pined for since junior high school when my long thick hair from childhood began its bout with chronic breakage. Let’s do the math: 5 years of bad relaxers courtesy of Chez Pia’s DIY Home Salon plus, 8 years of fumbling around with the mineral oil-filled “Black” products I recalled from my press n’ curl days that never made my hair look quite the same as my childhood pictures plus, 2 years of obsessive research and trial and error to figure it all out. I’d say its about dang time I stumbled across some answer! So yes, I am proud to be able to grow my natural hair long and healthy, but the sense of accomplishment doesn’t come exclusively from retained length.

The quest for healthy hair has led me to a healthier lifestyle and an expanded awareness of all that nature has to offer. I’m a Brooklyn girl (Brooklyn we go hard!) and growing up in NYC with very little exposure to natural landscapes had made me pretty ignorant about natural remedies. My mind was blown the first time I came across Avocado Coconut Milk Conditioner... WHAT?!

Baking soda rinses to clarify, apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinses to neutralize, olive oil to condition?! Then I began learning about essential oils, and teas and how to apply them to facials, steam baths, massages. A whole new world was opened up, Planet Earth was opened up to me, the world that I had always lived in but had been out of touch with.

So is this obsession just frivolous, superficial, nonsensical? I would beg to differ. I think the topic of hair is deeply layered. It is interconnected with so many other aspects of life: self esteem, health, nature, politics, culture, fashion, etc. Do I feel ashamed of my obsession with my hair, that I spend so much time writing, photographing, videotaping and talking about it? I most certainly don’t and neither should you!

Stay positive. Stay Beautiful.


~In Hair Solidarity,

Pia