Sunday, April 25, 2010

I'm Kinky: Now What?

What's up? This is your girl, Kayla. I'm doing something a bit different than what I've done with my other blogs. This blog will be dedicated to my journey as a natural girl.

When I first thought of becoming natural, it was simply because I wanted to know what my hair looked like at its natural state. It's been a long time since I've seen it that way. I was also curious about my texture.

As a little girl, my mom took very good care of my hair. I can remember the days of laying on the kitchen counter top and standing in a chair pulled up to the kitchen sink so she could wash my hair. LOL I also remember that damn hot comb burning my scalp, or as my mom told me, "It's the grease." Ha! She didn't hot comb my hair often, though.

I was 14 when I got a jheri curl. Yep, I fell victim to the hype.

My hair at the time was healthy and long. My wanting a jheri curl had everything to do with what was hot at the time than anything else. I didn't NEED to get one. My mom was definitely not sure about my doing so and questioned me when she found out how much hair needed to be cut to establish a curl. It was a LOT! I was so sure of my decision, though. I walked into that salon with shoulder length hair. When I left, I probably had two inches of hair. SMH

Anyway, eventually, I started getting relaxers and I have to say majority of the time my hair was relaxed, it was healthy. It has been as long as beyond my shoulders to as short as a fade, but what I've found is I'm LOVING it in its natural state the most.

I've never been one to be all about my hair. I left that up to my stylist; who hasn't seen my hair as of yet. I had the same stylist for twelve years, but I digress. As I said, I've never been one to be all about my hair..until now.

After returning from a stint overseas, I decided I'd made a mistake in getting another relaxer. You see, at the time, I was going on seven months without one. That would have been the perfect time to go natural, but everything happens in due time. After about three months of being at home, I decided I wasn't going to get anymore relaxers. It wasn't a hard decision to make since I usually only have about three of them at the most a year.

So, at my five month mark, I decided to do the BC=big chop; cut all of my relaxed hair. I called my cousin, whom I trust very much when it comes to doing anything with my hair, and she was on board. I'm not sure if you restart the count after you do the BC or not. I guess my natural sisters can help me with that.

I'm learning a lot about how to care for natural hair and have gotten advice from a few friends who are natural. There is a lot of information out there; which can be a bit overwhelming. It's all about finding what works for you, though.

I don't have it down pact yet, but I'm willing to learn what works for me and my hair, so follow me along the way.

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