Still going strong...

Well everyone, it's been almost a year since I've posted.  I am still natural!!  Not a lot really going on with the hair these days.  I have been wearing my hair in a puff and actually just did my first shingle Saturday.  I didn't turn out too bad.  I will try to upload a picture later.  I have straightened my hair several times within the last year.  I do it myself because I have had a bad experience with the salon and heat damage.  So far so good with me doing it myself.  I use heat protectant when I blow dry and again when I flat iron, so I try to cover myself when I do it.  I have been tempted to go back to the relaxer on a couple of occasions because I started working out earlier this year and when my hair is straightened it doesn't last very long with my elliptical or zumba workouts.  I haven't given in to that temptation though.  Yay me!!!  I do find it encouraging that a few people I know have gone natural which helps me to stick in there.  I will however, have to figure out something to do during the winter.  Right now I do a lot of wash and go styles...not really gonna workout in the cold...brrr!!  As far as products go, I am not using a lot on my hair.  I have gone through a million bottles of VO5 Tea Tree conditioner...it's cheap and my hair likes it!  Deep condition monthly and detangle generally just when I am going to straighten.  I try not to manipulate my hair too much.  My hair has grown quite a bit and I will try to get a picture up with a length check. Well that's where I am at the moment.  I will try to do better keeping up with my blog as I do miss chronicling this journey.

The Big Chop...Really!!!

Well I finally did the "big" chop. My BC wasn't as big as I thought it would be because after transitioning for a year, I had 3.5-5 inches of new growth. I like it, even though I haven't seen the fro yet. After BC'ing I had a rod set and I look a bit like Annie but it's all good...lol! Anyway the fun begins now as I learn to take care of and style my relaxer free hair. My journey continues...

The Journey Continues...

Apparantly there is some time of beef between some naturals and some relaxed individuals. WHY? That is the question I ask. I make it a point not to tell anyone else what they need to do to their hair. I will share what I am doing with mine if and only if I am asked. I did not start this journey to become a relaxed hair hater. I actually thought about the real reason I decided to go natural today. My hair was very damaged (and as far as I know still could be) so I decided to stopped relaxing it. Now for the first month or two I bought into all the "not loving your true self if you relax your hair" crap, but, I thought about it one day...you can be natural and smoke and guess what, you still ain't showing yourself much love. I gotta watch what I put in my hair but it's ok to eat anything I want (that's a biggie for me). Healthy hair...not so healthy body...not exactly my goal. Really, think about it.

Now, I can't say that I will NEVER put another relaxer in my head. So I can't condemn those who choose to do so. On that note, I don't expect to get strange looks and the third degree about why I'm not relaxing mine. This is not a reason for people to hate on one another. It's a matter of personal choice. You do you and let the next person do likewise. Anyway, I am not trying to get back to my roots or become enlightened about who I am through my hair. I simply want my hair to be healthy. My choice was to go natural, and that's just what it was, a choice. I can say that one of the best things I like about choosing to go natural was that I have learned a lot about my hair and how to take better care of it. I have also learned to love me some me. Not because I have "returned to my roots", but because I am supposed to love myself no matter how I wear my hair.

Personally, my natural hair journey has become more of a healthy life journey over the past month, as I began to make choices that will help me not only have healthy hair, but also become more spiritually and physically fit. So I guess, my journey now is from unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy one...yay me!!! Just remember, do you. Whatever that is, do you!!!

The Big Chop...

No, not really. I still have not gotten myself to that place of comfort where I can just chop off all the relaxed, and in some cases, heat damaged hair and rock my TWA. Although, I am a whole lot more confident now that I've decided to take this journey, apparently I am still struggling to take it to that next level. Everyday...EVERYDAY, I want so badly to just pick up my scissors and go to work, but I chicken out every time. Why I don't know because it's a lot more work to transition, especially after you've done so for 9 months and then you lose all that natural new growth to heat damage. I know that this decision is much more difficult for me now because my hair will be a lot shorter than it would have been had I cut it prior to the heat damage. ARGHHHHHHH!!!!! It's almost like I carried my natural hair baby for nine months and just when I was about to give birth to my TWA, lost it! So, to say the least, the burden of discouragement is weighing heavy on me right now. BUT...nonetheless, I have continued to stay the course and continue on this journey. I pray one day soon I will get the courage to go ahead and cut it so that I can truly start fresh.

What The Fire!!!!

Well I now know what it means to have heat damage. About five or six weeks ago I went to a salon and got my hair washed, dried and flatironed. I now have several sections of my hair which are bone straight. ARGHHHHHHH!!!!! Nine months! Wow! Really! Are you kidding me! Never again (slight exaggeration)...but for real it will be a long time before anyone else will touch my hair! I didn't notice the damage at first because it was flat ironed, BUT it did feel different than when I flat ironed it at home. I thought it was just really, really straight. It wasn't until I washed it and saw that some of my hair wasn't curling up that I realize what happened. {Tears!!} I have struggled with what I'm going to do next... (A) relax it and start over...(B) cut it extremely short (not ready for that!) or (C) just pretend like it never happened and nurture my hair through another nine months of transitional growth until I reach a length that I will be comfortable cutting it . Again I say...REALLY???? This sucks! Well...it is what it is...but I am going to take option (C) and just grow it out from where it is now! Pray for me to stay strong and keep pressing forward.

Update: I have about an inch and a half of new growth since my heat damage incident. I am hanging in there. Pray for me!!!

Afro Puff...

I bought an afro pony puff today. I was just a little curious to see how it would look on me. It wasn't expensive and I have a good idea of what my hair will look like once I've grown it out. I've got a long ways to go and I haven't even cut all the relaxer out yet. I think I like it, but only time will tell . I have about 3-4 inches of relaxer left to cut out so, it won't be long before I'm all the way natural. Yippee!! Confession: I have been flat ironing my hair because it's easier to manage that way but, I've got to figure out a better way because I actually miss my kinks and coils when they're all straightened out. Hopefully I haven't experienced any damage to my hair as a result of the flat ironing. Perhaps this puff will be my saving grace from all the heat I've been using. Well let me know what you think of the puff, it may become my new best friend. :-)

Whew!

I am in my 8th month of transitioning from relaxed to natural and all I can say is "WHEW"! Yes it takes forever to blow dry my hair, but... I'm okay with that. I have not given in to the call of the creamy crack despite it's tempting lure. No big chop YET! A friend of mine told me the other day that they didn't think that I would cut my hair that short. I guess only time will tell. :-) My hair has grown a lot and the new growth is very thick. Overall my hair seems to be doing well and as of today I am still on this journey. Lord help me! I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos which are very encouraging to me. I don't know if I would have made it this far without YouTube. It has been a great help! So I send mad love to all the natural ladies out there who have taken the time to post videos.

Me, otherwise...

I ran across another natural beauty on Twitter today and her bio message jumped out at me. "If God wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise". I LOVE IT!!! When I read that, it actually made me smile and helped reaffirm my commitment to continue on this journey. I will say that since going natural, I have noticed that I am a lot more comfortable living my day to day life, not just free from the bondage of having to have straight hair, but also without a need to put on layers of "extra", to create a look other people will find acceptable. When I am in the mood, I will put on my face mask, and when I am not I will cleanse, moisturize and go! Now don't get me wrong, I like pretty eye colors and concealing foundation as much as the next gal, but it is no longer a necessity for me to feel good about myself. I won't automatically say, "whew I look a mess" nor will I accept that from anyone else just because I'm not wearing make-up that day or because my hair isn't bone straight. This journey has definitely been good for me. It's funny, I have more love for ME, than I ever had for me, otherwise (relaxed)... Big ups to janico44, thanks for the boost!

Merry Christmas to me...

Well all the presents are wrapped and ready to go! This is going to be a great Christmas. I just believe that. I am thankful for the gift I have been given. God gave me a new love for my hair - kinks, coils, curls and all. It feels good to love my wavy ponytail regardless of what people think. I truly love it. Now if I could just get my whole ponytail that way, I would be good to go. I have not stepped up to the plate for doing the big chop (yet)...but I am loving my hair...my real hair. When it comes to my hair...God has given me the gift of freedom.

Still going strong...

Well I will celebrate my 6 mth anniversary on the 3rd of January. Now I'm trying to decide whether I am going to cut the perm out or keep transitioning. At this point in the.game the relaxed hair is actually in the way. As I mentioned to a friend of mine, my biggest road block keeping me from doing the big chop is the comfort zone I have in wearing a pony tail. I'm still thinkin on that one. Outside of that all is going well. My hair is growing a lot and I love it!