Back to the Beginning.....

When starting  this blog, I knew I wanted to talk about my hair both past and present. I also knew that meant showing where I have been and where I am now. In order to do this I had to go back....way back...to the days of Myspace! I pulled several pictures from myspace.com, but in doing so I realized two things: I had no pictures of myself from before 2006, and even back then my hair was long. Well, longer than it is today. So I asked myself, what was I doing then that I am not doing now, and how is it I have been natural for TEN years and have not had any length past the nape of my neck, but there are those who have done the big chop and after less than a year, their length has surpassed mine? These are the things I hope to address not only in this post, but in future posts as well.

A couple of days ago a friend of mine called me to talk about our hair. He wants to grow his hair, but doesn't want to have to keep his hair braided or get dreads or locks. I mentioned a lot of the websites I frequented when I first started searching for ways to maintain my hair. I spoke about my trip down hair memory lane on myspace.com and I told him i didn't realize how long my hair was then. He asked me, "What happened!?" While I am not entirely sure what happened between then and now, I did realize something. Back then, I braided my hair in sections every night, covered it up, and picked it out every morning. (In the past year and a half, not so much.) I didn't do anything special to moisturize it, nor did I have a set hair regimen. I always wore it in an afro with my front pinned back, or in an afro puff with a scarf. When I wanted a different look, I would get my hair braided in singles, cornrows, or twists.

Cornrows

braid out

twists

afro

When I washed my hair I mostly used Pantene for Women of Color shampoo and conditioner. Then, while my hair was soaking wet, I would use blue magic hair grease or the coconut oil hair grease. I would put that on my hair then braid my hair in sections. After a couple of years doing this, I found that my hair would hold the crimp made from the braid (see braid out.) That style didn't last long, as my hair changed and it never captured the same style again.

I went back to my natural hair at a time when everyone wasn't doing it.  I didn't have anyone around me that was natural as I was, so there wasn't anyone I could go to specifically for help.  My mother advised me that I didn't need heavy grease, and not to grease my hair, but oiling my scalp would suffice. She even suggested a light perm to make my hair more manageable and give it a bit more definition, but I declined. I did not want to put a relaxer on my hair again. Ever.

So I soldiered on with my kinky hair, never looking back.

Thanks for reading, and until the next post,

Happy Healthy Hair,
~Millah Sirhea