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| Two texture hair (natural root and relaxed edges |
For more than three years, my Afro hair had
been relaxed. I strictly followed a maintenance regimen that included protein
and cholesterol treatment every two weeks and new growth retouching every 3
month after a month of on a protective style to rest the hair. This maintenance
regime was costly and had to be done by a professional hair stylist so my
Saloon visits were countless and part of monthly schedules.
On 19th January 2012, I got myself reflecting
and eventually made a decision. I had just had my hair retouched with the
relaxer on the new growth. My head ached badly. I realized my ‘professional stylist’
had not based my ever increasingly weak scalp properly and consequently the
chemical had caused irritation all over my scalp. Besides, I had noticed that
my once health and long hair strands were increasingly becoming weak and thin
and my length had plateaued. In other words I was spending whooping amount of
money on already damaged hair with a hope that it will look and grow better. Someone once said “doing the same things and expecting
different results is insanity”. So I thought if I needed healthy hair it was
time to change. Besides what was I going to loose, my scalp was already weak and wounded,
my hair damaged, my money spent, and even the color of my hair had
deteriorated.
On that reflective evening, I asked myself two questions:
Q1. Why
did I decide to relax my hair after years of healthy, long and dark natural
hair that I loved and people around me did too? The best answer I could give to the question was
simply peer pressure i.e. wanting to fit in and the altitude that everybody is doing
it. As I reflected I realized that these are the justifications we give when we
are afraid to face our own fears and low self-esteem. I told myself this is not
the way I want my life to be i.e. out of my control and under control of others.
I am not everybody else and I do not need to do anything to fit in. I am unique and proud of how God created me. In fact, I am sincerely grateful to God for creating me fearfully, wonderfully and beautiful. It couldn’t have been better.
Q2. What
was so wrong with my natural hair to cause me to decide to relax it? My African
hair is kinky alright, it is thick and bushy alright, and it feels hard and dry
alright. I used these supposedly ‘bad qualities’ to justify the abuse I cause
on my hair, instead of using them in creative way to bring the best out of my
hair. By condemning my hair to harsh chemical I was like telling my hair, “you
do not deserve me, I will make you permanently straight as I want because you look
terrible hair and I do not like you”. As I reflected I realized how grossly
ungrateful I had been, I wasn’t even thankful I had hair to begin with. Did God
make a mistake to give me the genes for the kind of hair I have? I do not think
so. Is my hair or any part of my body including my skin color a mistake? I do
not think so. The African hair is probably the most unique type of hair God created.
I think it costs nature more to make African hair than any other hair. The sulphate
bonds that make it kinky allow it to be very versatile. It is possible to get
as many styles as one would be willing to be creative from African hair.
Creativity is the solution we need for African
hair. It has capacity to take braiding, twisting, curling and locking and etc.
no other type of hair is this versatile. So what I tell all my friends is “take
time to learn your hair, treat it nice and nurture it and be creative with it. Take
time to learn how to maintain it and by all means let it free from cracks and
harsh chemicals that damage it. You hair will be grateful to you and will
respond by growing long and healthy”.
On that January night I decided to transit my hair
from relaxed to natural state. It is now almost eight months. My hair now has
two textures, the natural and relaxed tops but by learning from what others who
have done transitioning did, I have succeeded to keep off the chemical cracks
for eight months and my new growth is as healthy, thick and dark. This lifts my spirit every
day and I tell myself it was a good decision I made. My Hubby likes it a lot too. My objective is after one
year of transitioning, to cut off all relaxed edges and have it all natural for
the rest of my life. In the upcoming posts I will share my Transitioning Hair Care Regimes and Products I use.
