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I am of the tribe of BENJAMIN through and through by my mother and father and their parents before them.  Going natural is exciting, invigorating, emotional, terrifying, fun, complicated yet satisfying.  I could go on and on about the thoughts and feelings many of us sisters have about going natural. I did what is called ‘the big chop’ back in November, 2007.  Some sisters prefer growing out their permed hair to a comfortable length for them and then cutting the perm out and leaving the new growth of hair, while others may choose to slowly cut the permed hair out as the new growth comes in. Courageous me, in my natural hair journey, thought two inches of natural hair growth was super long and I snipped away that permed hair. Six years later I found myself asking “Is all the hype true about black women growing long hair?”  I asked this first and foremost because I know my people. So let’s talk about this hair journey and answer questions like this one step by step.

Year One – The Introduction / Trial and Error: 

After your big chop your hair may feel super soft and kind of like lamb’s hair.  As for myself, for about a week I couldn’t stop touching it. I loved the freedom!  I would just have a shower and go and I ADORED my fro. I thought to myself now that my hair is fresh and new all it needs is less product, wrong. I used head and shoulders for the about eight months for my itchy scalp and had no idea what my hair needed. I thought a clean scalp should have been sufficient hair care. If you’ve ever felt that your hair feels dry, brittle and just terrible I can relate. The mistake I made was that I wasn’t giving my hair anything else in terms of moisture. Around the summer of July 2008 I discovered YOUTUBE and at that time there weren’t many sisters talking about natural hair.  Rustic Beauty is one channel I relied on and I consider her a veteran in natural hair.  Not only did she know her hair, but it was just ridiculous the length of hair she had as well. Keep in mind that I’m comparing six to seven inches of hair growth to a woman who has arm pit length hair and I began losing my little mind thinking “Oh my gosh she has long natural hair.” I began to wonder if I would ever see that day.  After a while I had to step away from Rustic Beauty’s channel.  I realized that we didn’t have the same hair texture and I needed someone who looked like they did. I found another you tuber named Miranda, I think, but I can’t remember exactly.  She had a similar hair texture to mine and this girl was combing her natural hair. The comb was making its way through her hair and I was in awe. I couldn’t even do that without feeling pain because my scalp was so sensitive.

After watching her channel for a while I began learning natural hair terminology like ‘co-wash’, washing your hair with conditioner only, ‘prepoo’, previously shampooed hair and ‘search and destroy’, which literally means you take a small amount of hair, look at your ends and snip out any split ends or single strand knots, which I have found minimized over the years. Another point to keep in mind is that your hair needs water and it likes water. To protect your hair at night use a silk night cap, pillow case or scarf. This keeps the hair smooth and prevents it from drying out versus cotton fabric, which dries hair out. The channel was educational and helpful and I was determined to have moisturized hair and achieve long length.

Year one can be overwhelming at times and you’ll want your hair to grow fast and feel limited in terms of hairstyles. I personally had fun with wigs here and there. In the first year you’re not exactly sure if your hair is thriving or you may be unaware of its potential. It can feel kind of soft now, but it’s possible that it can be way softer than you think. One day your curls can look amazing and the next week you may become frustrated as to why it doesn’t look the same. One product may work great now, but may not be very effective after a while. When your hair has you feeling down just remember to be patient with it and stay positive because it’s just the beginning.

 

Year Two – Product Junkie/Still Getting to Know Your Hair:

In year one I mentioned a girl name Miranda who had a similar hair texture to mine and a decent length of hair down to her shoulders. However, she was a product junkie and within a few months I became one as well. I ordered ‘MEGA TEK’ hair growth for horses and their manes, yes ladies I went off. I had it delivered from Alberta and I live in Toronto, if anyone is familiar with Canada. I tried the Hair Mayonnaise, Suave Coconut Conditioners, Tresemme Moisture Rich Conditioner, Kinky Curly knot today, Kinky Curly Custard, Glycerin, Cholesterol Conditioner, Carrot or Olive Oil, Aphogee products, Jojoba Oil, Castor Oil, Grape Seed Oil, Clay Washes, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Organic Coconut Oil,Elasta Qp products, Herbal Essence Hello Hydration etc.

I have never done a hair dairy so it’s been awhile since I’ve looked back to reminisce. At one point I was using at least more than 10-12 products.  In this present time there a few more sisters online, but not many, though a few more of them are documenting their hair journey and naming the products they use. I would listen to them and found the common words they used when it came to products and I the next week I went out and bought them.

Trying to figure out what your hair likes can be challenging. To this day it’s still a challenge for me.  I also discovered another you tuber called Kimmaytube who I found to be a very knowledgeable women. She really understands not only her hair, but breaks down what hair is made up of, how to care for it, knowing the PHP balance of your hair, detangling and why it’s important, moisture, moisture and more moisture. Over the coming months you will be your own chemist and guinea pig. Measuring this and melting that, stirring this, smelling that, whisking fast then applying, waiting and praying your hair is still on your head tomorrow. I found myself doing a lot of that in year two.  I’m a fairly simple person so when it came to styles I was still rockin my fro and achieved my small pony puff and lots of twist outs.

Year Three – Yay Your Growing SL (Shoulder Length Hair):

Finally, your hard work is paying off.  I finally straightened my hair to see where I was length wise. It wasn’t too bad but happy none the less. Keep in mind that I was not straightening my hair often even though in the next few pictures of my hair journey my hair is straightened. For me it’s like a treat even now to not use a lot of heat on my hair. I believe that is what has helped my hair retain length. I hate blow drying my hair and I skip the whole process entirely. It just feels wrong and I can’t explain it…just no blow-drying.

Year three, for me at least, was boring. I recently moved out and was attending school. I could no longer rock my afro because gravity kept the front part of my hair falling down. My hair texture is some kind of weird mix of 2c in the front  4a at my temples and in the middle and the back of my head is 3b. There is nothing more frustrating than having three different hair textures. The front of my hair is wavy and I don’t have a lot of curls happening, which means I have less knots and it appears to be longer because it’s wavier.

My temples are the most challenging part of my hair and I had the worst knots ever. My hair was just not growing the same length as the rest of my head. I would trim my hair but my temples to this day have some catching up to do. It looked like a mop. Twists would become my best friend for about the next year and half to two years.