Category: going natural

What finally made me decide to go Natural

Posted on by Michelle
My hair in Aug. ’08
After using a relaxer to straighten my hair for 20 years, there I was trying to decide if I should go Natural.  For me this would mean “re-learning” how to do my hair.  The last time my hair was Natural, my mother was still doing it for me.  I even called to ask her about my hair texture back then.  It wasn’t so thick and crazy that she didn’t know what to do with it.  I also remembered how long it was. 
Then it was like a light finally went on…my hair was long back then.  I also thought that it was pretty sad that I couldn’t even remember what my own hair texture was before the relaxer.  So, that was it, I had my mind set on growing out my relaxed hair.  I figured, I spent twenty years wearing it straight, so why not spend the next twenty natural?
Of course I had to talk it over with my husband.  He and I have known each other since High School and this would be new for both of us.  For weeks I kept asking him if he was okay with it.  Finally he just said, “I didn’t marry you for your hair!”  He was behind me 100 percent.  Even now, when I look at how fast it’s growing, he keeps saying how he knew all along that it would be healthier if I just quit putting all that harsh stuff in my hair. 
My hair in May 2010
So there you have it.  The last time I used a relaxer was in July of 2008 but I didn’t actually decide to go natural until October of the same year.  I waited until May of 2009 to chop off the relaxed ends. 
To watch my video on how I did it, check out my YouTube channel, mitchellzee

Stay Relaxed or Go Natural?

Posted on by Michelle

So there I was without a flat iron and wondering how on earth I was going to start growing my damaged hair longer.  I was already certain that my hair was suffering because of the lighter hair color I decided to use for two years.  What else was I doing wrong?

I jumped on Google and did a search on growing african american hair longer.  I found a site called “growafrohairlong.com”.  I read about how the site’s founder, Robin Woods, grew her hair to about waist length by using the “Crown & Glory” method.  She talked about using braids as a protective style to help retain hair growth. She also gave suggestions on how to care for the hair like, how to comb it and deep conditioning.  The thing I remember most was how she explained that she only did a relaxer 2 times per year.  Say what!  She would go 6 whole months without a relaxer!  That seemed like an extremely long time to me considering the longest I went between relaxers was 8-10 weeks.                  
My hair after my 1st pregnancy
I found out that this method was called “relaxer stretching”. Basically you use a relaxer less frequently to give you hair a chance to grow.  To me that really made sense because I remembered how long my hair was after my first pregnancy.  I stopped doing any haircolor or relaxers during that time because I didn’t want it to effect my baby and my hair flourished as a result.
While I researched it more I kept seeing all of this information about, “going natural”.  I had no idea what that meant at the time so I was fascinated.  It seemed like there were so many women out there who just decided to let go of the relaxer altogether.  Then I started to see all of the cool hair styles that you could do if your hair was in its’ natural state.  I really wanted to go natural and grow my hair long but I wasn’t sure how I would look.  And then there was my hubby…what was he going to think.  So, I was at a crossroads.  Would I go natural or keep it straight?
Next time, “What finally made me decide to go Natural”

Why I Went Natural

Posted on by Michelle
My hair was neck length to shoulder length and back again for as long as I could remember.  My husband kept telling me that the reason for this was that I kept cutting my hair so often. To that I would say, “I have to cut it. Look at all these split ends!”. 

My hair was relaxed and had been since I was 11 years old.  I never even considered that there was any other way.  Once I saw new growth, I went out for another relaxer. Of, course I was doing it all on my own; Haircolor, trims and applying the relaxer myself.  My hair was in a state but I always knew how to mask the damage so that it looked presentable. 
I never thought about the exact cause for my lack of hair growth.  I honestly thought that having long hair was not possible because of my ethnicity (ridiculous, I know, but it was how I thought then).  I didn’t start to question it until I watched my husbands hair grow to nearly Mid Back Length in as little as a year and a half.  I asked myself what does he do?  The answer?  Nothing!  He washed and conditioned each day (his hair is straight and will get greasy if he doesn’t) then applies a leave-in.  Then he would put on a hat or put it in a ponytail.  That’s it!  Then I thought, “What do I do to my hair?”.  Let’s see there were relaxers, haircolor, blowdrying and using heat daily.  No wonder why my hair was so damaged!
Then, out of nowhere, my flatiron broke.  I am still not sure what was wrong with it but it just quit working.  My first thought was to replace it, but then I thought that it was some kind of sign (I’m funny like that).  I decided to hold off and began searching for an alternative.  Little did I know that this would be the beginning of my natural hair journey.
Next time…Stay relaxed or go natural?