Going Natural : Fighting the Stigma

"Maintaining natural hair is unsustainable!", "Relaxed hair is easier!", "Curly/Kinky hair is always frizzy and unattainable!". "It would be much harder if I went natural". Today we separate the fact from the fiction.

For individuals with natural curly/kinky/coily hair, difficulty managing those beautiful tresses is a tale as old as time. Those difficulties may have pushed you to what you felt was an easier route. Although the maintenance of your hair may reign impossible, there is one thing you need to know:

No matter your hair type, there is a regimen for you.

Growing up with type 3 curly hair, I often dealt with curiosity surrounding different hair types. My knowledge regarding my natural hair was compact, to say the very least. This is not to say my knowledge had no potential to expand, I simply had no engrossment. Instead, I was intrigued by the silky straight hair I was encompassed by. Children are the epitome' of curiosity. When they believe they know enough, they suddenly want to know more. Although they show inquisitiveness, they certainly aren't the embodiment of reason.

I was educated in an environment that wasn't a paradigm for diversity. (The term diversity, relating to hair; NOT ethnicity. This is a curly/natural hair blog after all, we should be very aware that curly hair presents itself in many forms). Although we had our fair share of curly/kinky/coily hair, straight hair was very customary. This left little to no room for interest in what I felt was an outlier; not a unique feature. This led to an overwhelming longing for the straight hair I was surrounded by. Being only a mere fourth grader, it is obvious I did not have my mother's approval.

By the time I entered middle school I started to get my hair professionally straightened. When my hair was straight, I felt like myself. A version of myself that was not even close to a manifestation of the woman I am today. I wouldn't know this until well into my adulthood. It came to the toxic point of never leaving my home without straight hair. If you saw me, chances are I would have a flat iron in hand. I even begged my grandmother to let me permanently straighten my hair. (Thank goodness she didn't let me!").

It wasn't until I began my freshman year of High School that I started to feel that longing for freedom. I found that deep sense of realization that was buried so deep within me. I pondered the positive and negative aspects that could come along with going natural. I started to curl my hair with a curling iron and wear the "curly look". I felt more confident than ever before, but I couldn't ignore that one thought that sat so attentive in the back of my mind: This is not the real you; this is a mere imitator.

This brings me to my next point, the road to going natural is not straight and narrow. It is one with bumps and curves. From the time I realized I had a longing to be unbounded by an image I felt everyone liked me best in, I didn't do anything about it until almost five years later. All I needed was that push.

When my daughter was born in 2016, I dedicated myself to the information I wish I would have longed for when I was younger. I taught myself everything there was no know about maintaining natural hair. I fell in love with taking care of my daughter's type 4 hair. It became apart of me. She was that push I needed.

On February 16th, 2018 I decided I wanted to go natural. I began researching the best methods and formulating a regimen. I even picked up my flat iron and chucked it in the trash bin. That was my first taste of freedom. It tasted sweet, and I longed for more.

On March 6th, 2018 I did 'the big chop'. I sat in the salon chair and I told the stylist to cut it all off. He was reluctant to say the very least, but I knew the unchained feeling would be worth it.

And, that is what I am today. Unchained.

March 6th, 2018. The day I did the big chop.

A few short months after my big chop.

Me as of today. Unchained.