In October of 2001 my family and I arrived in Albuquerque, NM. I was relaxed at the time. My hair wasn't thriving. The weather here was really dry and I just couldn't take it. Plus I hadn't found a beautician that I trusted yet. By November, I decided to go natural. At the time, the plan was to eventually transition back to being relaxed. My hair was about mid back length at the time. Here is a pic that was taken during Thanksgiving of 2001.
In January of 2002, I decided to take another step towards being natural. I cut my hair to a chin length bob. I had about 3 months worth of new growth. I wore that for a hot minute and then decided to use braids to complete my transition. I wore braids pretty much that entire year. My youngest daughter was born that year so I was able to get some really good growth. Here is a pic taken at a bridal shower right after the cut.
In April of 2003, I was at a military school in Mississippi. I had my youngest with me and discovered she had lice. I know, just ew. In a fit of panic, I decided to treat myself just in case and cut my remaining relaxer off. I was able to put my hair in a ponytail and did my first set of twists. I pretty much didn't know how to handle being natural and just nurtured my hair the best I could.
In 2004 while searching for an old website, I stumbled across another hair forum. I joined and really got excited about having natural hair. The site had women of all hair types, textures and lengths. That same year I played around with hair color and my hair once again hit brastrap length.
Here are some pics from that time:
Later that year, I got bored with the length and cut it. Here is a press I had done after the cut:
I pretty much grew it out wearing twists and braid outs. I began to wash my hair more often and making sure it was moisturized. Here are some twists from that time:
On October 1, 2005 I went to the hairdresser with long natural hair and left with a short afro. I had never had it like that before and figured it was now or never. My beautician hesitated but finally did what I'd asked. I don't have any pics but I had to renew my license around that time so here is a pic of that:
My hair didn't take too well to the cut and grew like a weed. My little fro wasn't cute so back in braids I went. For the next 2 years I wore extension twists, twists with my own hair and just played with different styles. I did a lot of wash and go's and babied my hair. Every 6 months, I would get it pressed and trimmed. I get about an inch trimmed each time. I got it pressed for Easter in April of 2007 and realized how much my hair had grown. Here is a pic:
I continued with my same regimen until October of 2007 when I discovered, I was brastrap length again. Here is a pic:
That is my hair journey. My next post will provide tips and tricks I feel are essential to healthy hair. Q
3 comments:
I love your and your daughter's hair. So thick and pretty...I know it's genetic but I still hope that my hair will get thicker as the layers grow out; I had my hair cut to about an half inch and so it's all in a million different layers. Your hair looks like it was in layers in one photo and then all fabulously one length.
Actually it is still in layers. I've learned to love them because it makes my curls pop. Thanks for stopping by cmw45. Q
My kids haven't been so great for my brain cells either!
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