The battle for natural hair- it has begun!

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This Saturday will make me 13 weeks post relaxer. So far my difficulties have been with breakage, detangling and keeping my hair detangled. However, today I experienced another difficulty which shocked me more than expected- opposition to me going natural by my family.

Specifically, it was my brother who, in response to my mom when she mentioned my decision, blurted out that "natural hair doesn't look good."

*cue death stare*

Honestly, I was annoyed; more so at the ignorance of the statement than at the fact that it came from my own brother. However, I had to remind myself that people's opinions and preferences are very different, partly due to their experiences in life. Although natural hair has gained steady momentum in the past years, relaxed hair is still the mainstream in many societies including those here in the Caribbean.

So I really shouldn't be upset with my brother...he, like many of us, was socialized to prefer and desire silky, straight hair. I, myself, wasn't too fond of natural hair before I went on my hair journey. And the poor women walking around with neglected, half-done natural hair certainly doesn't give any support for women who want to wear their natural hair. Of course there are plenty of women who also sport relaxed hair that's far from healthy, but as long as it appears to pursue to Eurocentric ideal, it's okay, right?

My mother has also expressed concern over me going natural, mostly because she remembers how difficult it was to take care of my hair as a child, and she fears that I'm not ready to care for it on my own. I do understand her fears, and this week she had me swayed in the direction of  getting a relaxer and cutting off any damaged hair.

Also, today I was with my mom when she got her hair relaxed at the salon. The hairdresser (who used to relax my hair) looked at my hair and commented that it wasn't looking too hot. Ermm...duhh!
I do have 13 weeks of new growth poppin' out of my scalp! Farrr from tactful madame...

Anyway, today my conviction was sealed by both my brother and former hairdresser. How dare anyone tell me that the hair that God gave me doesn't look good? It's not a subject I will get self-righteous about, but it irks me when people look down on me and underestimate my abilities, thinking that the silly little child is not handling herself or her hair well at all.

It's hair. I'm going to be 18 and I am ready to make my own decisions. And at the end of the day, it's hair! I could be strung out on drugs or preggers with 3 baby daddies but all I want is to go natural!

(okay, that was a bit dramatic...)

I'm fed up of the relaxer process and I hate other people doing my hair. The people in my life who don't approve of my decision to go natural will just have to get over it, because God makes no mistakes, and I'm not on this earth to satisfy anyone's aesthetic pleasures.

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Goodnight!

~Hatter

Hair Update: 11 weeks post relaxer

Saturday 11th May made me exactly 11 weeks post relaxer.

This is a milestone on my hair journey seeing as I've gone so long without a relaxer and I still have a lot of hair on my head! *hoopla!*

For the past month or so I have not rollerset my hair. I'm reluctant to go back to rollersetting because it takes so much time and effort...Honestly, airdrying gives me satisfying results in half the time.

On another note, the ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner is really helping me to manage my two textures with less and less headache. Even 3-4 days after my wash day on Wednesday, my new growth was still soft and manageable!  The ORS Nourishing Conditioner is very effective in making my hair soft and slippery, and even though its a bit expensive, I will keep it as my new staple as I transition to natural hair.

**Note to self: I must be careful to rinse out all conditioners thoroughly from my hair! There were wash days when I was left with horribly sticky hair. Now I undo the braided sections that I wash my hair in while rinsing to avoid future trauma from hard, stiff hair and more breakage.

Last week I wore some jumbo twists which I then loosely flat twisted and pinned the ends up. Then on Sunday I untwisted them and wore a pinned up-do. On Monday I made two cornrows and pinned the ends around the sides of my head- sort of like a crown.

Today I washed and deep conditioned my hair. Detangling was painless and quick, thank God!

As you can see from the picture above, I have a mixture of natural hair textures- some strands have super tiny spirals while others have larger loops and waves. I even have some zig-zags (not pictured above) and strands that coil up on themselves. However, looking in the mirror at my hair, its difficult to find the exact line of demarcation, maybe because I have some texlaxed areas of hair that come between my fully natural hair and my bone straight relaxed hair. 

This week I also got some jojoba oil, lovingly purchased by my aunt (thank you aunty!) It hardly has any smell and has a relatively light consistency. I plan to use this to replace my ORS HAIRepair Vital Oils and to mix it in my shea butter once I get home.

I have at least one more week to go before I get my braids (extensions) installed. I'm happy that over the past weeks I've learned to manage my two textures better and have almost eliminated my previous stretching woes. I look forward to my natural hair growing longer and longer so I'll be closer and closer to the big chop!


How's your hair journey been going?

Love,
~Hatter

Shea Butter

Okay first of all...my exams are finished!! So I'm back on the blogsphere!

Okay secondly, on Wednesday I bought 'Okay Shea Butter White Chunky' from Pennywise in Trincity Mall.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this brand has a website but disappointed that it didn't have much information about its suppliers. The packaging says "imported from Ghana" but I was interested in finding out if the company is involved in the actual shea butter production. Ah well...

The packaging says 100% natural so that's a plus! This shea butter also comes already whipped but I only spotted the chunky kind in the store.

Since researching natural hair care I found out that shea butter is very popular among naturals since it can be mixed with various hair oils to create a thick, creamy moisturizer.

Even though I'm only 11 weeks post (woop woop! New milestone) I thought that I should buy some shea butter to experiment with as my new growth grows out more and more.

So the plan is to get some new natural oils to mix with the butter. I used to use the ORS HAIRepair Vital Oils but I've gotten dissatisfied with it over time.

Here is an example of how shea butter can be mixed to create a personalized hair moisturizer:

~Hatter

Back to Roots: I'm "going natural"

Yep, I'm going natural.


I don't really like the term "going natural" since I've been natural most of my life, and have only had relaxed hair for about 5-7 years (first time when I was a preteen, after which I transitioned, then had my hair relaxed again around 13 years old) So, I'm going back natural, or I'll just say back to my roots. (no pun intended!)

Although I am very excited about my transition to natural hair, in no way have I become totally anti-relaxer. I still admire the women who maintain their healthy relaxed hair (shout-out to Jeni and Ebony!) and I will continue to read their blogs, use their tips and blog about the relaxed hair world.

I find it silly when black women go to the extreme and denounce the "creamy crack" which they themselves were so "addicted" to before they went natural. Hair is hair and I will not alienate my self or my fellow hair sisters by preaching the superiority of one form of hair over another.

To me, confidence and being comfortable with oneself is most important. The fact that many black women are so uncomfortable or shy about wearing their natural hair in public for fear of social rejection is truly sad. I do not want to be one of those women who hides her hair because she resents it. I admit, before the natural hair movement I thought I would never go back natural because my natural texture is very thick, coarse, and was a pain to take care of as a child...but that doesn't have to be the case anymore. With all the information available online, new products catered to naturals, and the inspiring blogging ladies who have transitioned, I should have no fear for lack of support for caring for my hair.

Its time to finally throw off the ancient stigma and condemnation black women have faced for wearing their natural hair. I will not let fear of myself or the opinions of others rule my life.

Life is about exploring and taking risks! I have no reason to force myself to bear with my relaxed hair when, recently, it's been making me perpetually unhappy.

So...I'm on another adventure. The first was my healthy relaxed hair journey...now this one is a healthy natural hair journey!

In my blog description I wrote: "Healthy relaxed hair or bust! Who's with me?"
So did I achieve healthy relaxed hair? Up to a point, I did, and then for reasons I still haven't figured out, my breakage increased and my hair's health has been decreasing ever since.

I don't consider my relaxed hair journey a complete failure since I learned a lot about healthy hair care, achieved my first year's goal of armpit length hair and discovered some amazing hair blogs- by both natural and relaxed hair women!

Again, I am excited about this transition. I'm exactly 8 weeks post relaxer and my roots are hecka thick, but a bit uneven since I have texlaxed areas from my last relaxer. I initially planned to get braided extensions installed today, but my mom won't be able to do it and I trust no one else to braid my hair. I might have to wait until after my final exams to get them done. That's about 4 weeks away...yikes! I've hardly stretched my relaxer longer than 8 weeks post without difficulty so I do have a challenge ahead...Thank God for youtube tutorials and ORS Nourishing Conditioner that I hope will get me through the first phase of my transition!



I'm going to 18 years old in August and it just seems significant that I chose to go back natural at this point. Becoming an "adult" brings fresh experiences, one of which will be my health natural hair transition. Who knows, maybe I'll "big chop" for my birthday! (Probably not, though. I'll only have 6 months worth of new growth!)

Cheers to being unafraid to experiment and falling in love with me...a woman fearfully and wonderfully made!

Some of my recent inspirations:

urbanbushbabes.com

urbanbushbabes.com

kandeelovesya.tumblr.com

Where mah 4c hair ladies at?? I'll be needing some tips! =)

~Hatter

Wash day @ 7 weeks post relaxer

On Monday I washed my hair at 7 weeks, 3 days post relaxer.

What I did:

1. Sectioned my hair into 8-9 parts, spraying diluted moisturizer on my roots to soften them and help with the parting. Finger de-tangled, applied ORS Vital Oils and braided each section. 
2. Pre-pooed for about an hour under my heating cap. 
3. Shampooed with ORS Neutralizing Shampoo.
4. T-shirt dried my hair for about 2 minutes, then applied ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner, using 1 & 1/3 packs. Sat with heating cap for about 1 & 1/2 hours.
5. Rinsed my hair and T-shirt dried for about 5 minutes.
6. While hair was still damp, I sprayed diluted moisturizer on my hair, focusing on the roots. Applied Herbal Essences Split-End Protector and de-tangled. 
7. Blow-dried lightly, using tension by pulling down on my hair while blow-drying to stretch my roots.
8. Sealed with ORS Vital Oils.
9. Cross-wrapped my hair for bed and done!

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The next morning I bunned for the first time in a looong time. After doing my hair it felt very soft and manageable. I definitely attribute it to the ORS HAIRepair Nourishing Conditioner. It always make my new growth a breeze to de-tangle!

Unfortunately, the breakage is still occurring but I've almost accepted that as normal (sad isn't it??) so I ignored it and styled. I'll be dealing with this issue in a later post.

I planned to wear the bun for the whole day but...5 minutes after going outside it collapsed!
I didn't secure the ends well so when I charged into the wind...let's just say it was hair blowing left, right and centre =P After that I took out the bobby pins and just wore a simple ponytail.

Hair fails... they're inevitable!


Have a great weekend =)
~Hatter