Transitioning to Natural

As you can tell from the title of this post, I have made the decision to transitioning to natural hair for several reasons.

1. I have never seen what my real hair looks like: I have had a chemicals in my hair since the age of 5 years old when I had Jheri Curls. As a young child, I remember dressing up in my Sunday Dress for church and having to sit in the kitchen while my mother combed my hair with this metal comb she took off the hot stove. I was burned so many times, I ended up afraid of curling and flat irons if they were not being used by myself. I have looked through several pictures of me as a child and only one picture has my hair in its natural state, and that is in my professional baby picture where I had a small afro. So I am curious to see what my hair was meant to look like.

2. I have been dealing with under processed hair for two years: I transitioned for a whole year from March 2009 to March 2010 but did not have the confidence to cut off the relaxed ends. So I relaxed at home and misjudged how much my hair grew, so there was some under processed parts to my hair. I went twice to get it corrected, most recently in June 2012 and it did not work. I have come to realize that the only way my hair will no longer be process is if I cut off all the relaxed pieces. Then my hair would not be processed at all if I stick with being natural!

3. I am at a point in my life where I need a change: and the easiest change I can make is with my hair. So why not! Right now I have the support of my boyfriend who has been encouraging me to cut my hair off now- at two months post! Not going to happen Buddy. LOL. I've decided to even color or highlight my hair now which I have never done, only so I could actually see growth!

Since my last relaxer was on June 1, 2012, I am thinking that I will be fully natural as of June 1, 2013. This will be a few weeks after graduating from Graduate School- which signifies another change in my life. I have been thinking about keep my hair at shoulder length,which would require that I get my hair washed, blown, and flat ironed at the salon so that they can cut my hair.

If I feel that I have s good enough amount of new growth by January 2013, I may do my big chop then and keep my hair in braids and kinky twists until the summer. There are so many options out there for me and I haven't quite decided on what I want to do. However I am about 80% sure that I will be 100% natural in the year 2013 and I will stick to it for a whole year!

Stay tuned to my future post to see what I have decided.

Summer Go To Styles

Since having my hair trimmed on June 1, 2012, I knew that I did not want to style my hair in ways that would cause my ends to split or become damaged, so I told myself that I would try to keep my hair up and off of my shoulders until I reached APL again. Not only does wearing my hair down cause breakage and split ends, but the weather can also add to this. Since it is summer, my hair needs to be well moisturized so that the sun does not dry out my hair and my ends. Here are some pictures of styles that I have been wearing:

 Flexi Rod Set on dry hair

Banana Clip Bun

Flat Twist Out on Damp Hair

Flat Twist Out Dry

Donut Bun

What do you ladies do to your hair in the summer?

Stop Touching My Hair

OKAY. So I know this blog is about my hair journey, but I really needed to vent and express my thoughts on something hair related: PEOPLE TOUCHING MY HAIR. I know a person who always feels entitled to run her fingers through my hair and every time she does it I tell her that I do not like it and she continues on doing it. If you want to know how long my hair is, ask me; if you want to know if this is a weave, ask me; and if you want to touch my hair, ASK ME! That is all I ask. Maybe I'll just ask her why she likes touching my hair- is it the texture? the length? what?

I just feel that my  hair is going to begin falling out if I just allow any and everyone to touch my hair.

How do you all feel about someone touching your hair?