Last week, I made the decision to free myself from chemicals. My transition strategy is to keep all of my hair (new growth and relaxed) and do braids and cornrows until I have at least an 2 inches of new growth. At that point I will cut off the relaxed part.

As a child up until age 9, I had my own natural hair that was very thick and coarse and I had a LOT of it. My mother would usually wash it every 2 weeks or so, comb/detangle it (ouch!), grease it and then put in to 3 or 4 plaits  or twists with barrettes, or cornrow it. By the time I was 6 or 7  she began using the straightening comb more regularly so that I could wear other styles besides the plaits . For some reason, she never had me wear my natural hair loose or even in a loosed ponytail–always had to be plaited or cornrowed. I remember asking her if I could wear my hair loose sometimes and I remember her saying things like “You’re not white” or “if you do that, it will break off.”

When I was 8 or 9, my mother began to suggest that I get a “curl” in my hair because “your cousins just got their hair like that and their mom says its cute.” Luckily, I had seen enough people with jherri curls and heard negative things about it so I declined. (My cousins had longer hair than mine before they got “curls” put in it, after that most of their hair broke off and eventually they switched over to relaxers and continued to have breakage problems for a couple of years.) After that my mom asked me if I wanted to get a relaxer in my hair. I protested because I had heard other black girls at school complain about it (burning, etc.). I also protested because somehow I knew that it could damage my healthy natural hair (albeit plaited up all the time) that was admired by others at school because apparently long black hair was out of the ordinary.

I was scared of the straightening comb because sometimes I’d get burned around the edges on accident. My mother used this to “trick” me into agreeing to get a relaxer, “If you use a relaxer, then we won’t have to use the straightening comb anymore.” Boom! That was it, I agreed, but little did I know that I would be caught up in the chemical straightening cycle.

Initially, I suffered a lot of scalp burning when I first started getting it relaxed and the health of my hair did suffer in the beginning (dryness, breakage), but by the time I got in highschool and took over my own hair maintenance things began to improve. I had found the “right relaxer” for my hair texture (Optimum Care Anti-breakage formula, Super) and the right moisturizers (Motions hair lotion),  and at that point my hair looked healthy and grew without any issues. I luckily never got caught up in going to the salons and always did my own hair (including touch-ups) myself.  I was known for being “the one with long hair,” and people constantly asked me “is that your real hair?” I even once had someone in high school ask me to part the back of my hair so they could see that there were no tracks because they couldn’t believe it. Apparently it was unusual for a black person to have healthy, growing relaxed hair.

In Summer 2006, I decided to try to “go natural” the first time. For me it was a matter of principle- if God created me with kinky/wavy hair, why do I have to constantly try to change it to something else? I had acquired about 1 1/2 inches of new growth, and at that point it became difficult to accomodate two hair textures. I was about to start a new professional job and knew I needed to look “together.” I was not ready to do the “Big Chop.” I wasn’t going to start paying money for hair and braids and salon service, so I made the decision to relax the new growth and do straight styles that I was used to.  No problems with my hair looking healthy, but deep down I knew I wasn’t being true to myself.

It is now Summer 2008, and I’m starting over with my natural quest. This time I am prepared for the inevitable “Big Chop” and this time I don’t mind investing in getting micro braids or tree braids until my natural hair gets some length to it.  I’m even contemplating the use of human-hair wigs (less expensive than going to salon and buying hair) to bridge the gap as I get comfortable with my new hair.

I’ll keep my progress posted and add pictures.

tammi24

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