I went natural for the final and second time in January 2008. after going natural for the first time in 2002  for almost 3 years i decided to relax my hair as i stupidly believed i would be able to have more versatility in my hair with a relaxer. after a few years of chemically treating my hair i got sick of the ichy burning relaxer treatments. my hair looked as healthy as chemically fried hair can be but i decided i want to embrace my natural hair again for the finale time so i did my big chop at the barber’s on january first.

Name: BELLE

Location: UNITED KINGDOM; LONDON

Profession: Salon industry

What was the hardest part of your journey?
the hardest part of the journey were my own judgements of myself! when i first BC’d i wore alot and make and big earrings to make myself feel more feminine in the first month of going natural i texturised my hair as i didn’t feel my texture was “good” this lasted about a week when i went to the barbers the next week to shave my hair off again. the hardest part was my own acceptance of my own beauty. also not seeing my likeness in media was a big downside to becoming natural as a massive consumer of the mass media i was struck by the lack of natural representations of women of color.

And the best part?
learning about the natural hair community on-line it has been such a great help to me in keeping me on the path to natural greatness! also giving me the freedom to be myself and not conform to anyone’s ideals but my own

What did your hair journey teach you?
i’ve learned that i truely am not my hair. hair for me became an obsession in its relaxed and natural state! obsessing over lengh, hair typing the list was endless! i have a natural hair blog but there was a point where i myself was not practising what i was preaching! so i decided to shave my hair and keep it low.

 

Describe your worse hairdo and your best hairdo and please include a
picture if you can.
My worst hair style was when i tried out a weave, i’m definitely not the silky straight kind of girl and it really doesn’t suit me. my best hair style is my low cut or when i had hair kinky twists (my best friend)

Looking back, has your perception of your hair or black hair in general
changed? Please elaborate.
My perception of natural hair has not changed i always loved natural haireven when i had relaxed hair i loved natural hair. and I’ve always been into doing hair in general from the age of 7 i could cornrow, braid and style my hair and i love working with our hair in its natural state. natural hair is versatile and manageable and all natural hair is “good hair” i think natural hair is becoming more mainstream more celebrities are showing there hair in it’s natural state (slowly but surely) and more campaigns are using natural women of colour.

What is your favorite hairstyle?
Shaved low with a fade

Can you please finish the following sentence: I love my hair because ?.
i love my hair because its uniquely mine

Blog/website: http://hairspiration.blogspot.com/

To support your natural journey check our selection of Natural Hair Products for Black Women