Natural hair anniversary

Well, it’s actually been a whole year since my natural hair journey began. And what a journey it’s been.

The first day I got my hair twisted, I left the hair salon feeling awful. My expectation was set based on all the Pinterest photos that I had seen of natural black hair. I knew nothing about natural hair, and thought that my hair would magically look like those seasoned twists. Well my twists looked like twigs. Thin, skinny, no puff. I had a lot to learn.

What I learned

1. I learned that the hair categories (4b, 4c, etc.) are helpful, but they don’t define your hair.

2. I learned that hair is a big part of who you are, and although we don’t like to admit that hair defines us, it can if you let it. I went through a short period of feeling very unattractive. I let my hair define who I was. Thankfully I snapped out of it, and began to heal emotionally.

2. I found someone on YouTube that had similar hair to mine, and learned from her. I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. I just refined her techniques to work for my hair and lifestyle.

3. Once you find the products that work for you, establish a routine for washing, conditioning, twisting, twist outs, night regimen, length of twist out, protective style before wash again. The consistent regimen allows the hair to be trained. In about a month, my twists were beginning to puff, and hang properly.

4. I figured out how to maintain a twist out by twisting the twists into big twists at night. A major milestone for maintaining a daily twist out. I now keep my twist outs for 2 weeks.

It’s been a journey, but I got it now.