MY NATURAL HAIR JOURNEY

Published Apr 26, 2016

Updated Jun 13, 2024

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Keeping my natural hair is one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I went completely natural, two years ago. To tell you the truth, I’m still trying to understand how to care for my hair. Some days, I just want to rush to the store and buy perm to put on my hair. On other days, I want to show the whole world how beautiful my hair looks. Some days I question my sanity. I mean, why does anyone choose to keep such tough hair when there are other options? Then some days, I thank God for giving me such unique hair that is full of character. Let me take on my journey.

I cut my hair for the first time since high school, shortly after we moved to the United States. The braids I had on took away my baby hair and left me with mbamba (no baby hair). So I asked my nephew to chop off my hair because I wanted my hair to grow evenly. I didn’t want to look like a peacock with no hair at the front and long hair in the middle. My nephew chopped my hair but he didn’t completely take out the relaxed section as I requested. This is me rocking my short hair.

After some months, I decided to cut my hair even lower so I could get rid of all relaxed hair. I went to a barber’s chop and the white lady who gave me the haircut struggled because she said, my hair was too thick and curly. She had to leave instructions in the computer to help anyone who had to handle my hair in case I showed up again. Here is what I looked like after that. Errmm please just skip this picture to the next. *covers face*

The my hair grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with my mirror and hair products. Then I watched 1756 YouTube videos and started trying to style my hair. Here is one of my attempts: a fro puff.

As the hair kept growing, my combs and hair ties started breaking.

Meme from SOML Facebook

I Kid.

But believe me when I say it became so difficult to handle. Some days, I would just leave my hair entangled and totally unappealing to the eyes. I was gradually becoming a sane mad woman. My girls noticed and one morning, girl number one said my hair was not beautiful and she sent her sister to get hair accessories so they could fix it. This is what they did.

Then I woke up one morning and declared it wash day…

Meme from SOML Facebook

Okay, I didn’t use all of the above products but I used quite a few. I partitioned my hair into sections to make it easier to wash. I washed and styled following a YouTube video I had watched. Yay for YouTube natural hair vloggers! Here are the pics I took on that day:

Then my brothers and sisters, I decided to do a bantu knot out after my hair had grown longer. The curls weren’t as defined as I expected but I was proud of myself and my kinky hair.

Here is another pic I took on the same day.

So far, my go-to style has been to make an attempt at combing my hair then putting it together in a high puff and laying the edges with some gel.

Extra virgin coconut oil and water are my hair’s best friends. This is what my hair looks like today.

It is much longer than it looks but with natural hair, shrinkage is real.

Meme from SOML, Facebook

And that, my friends is the story of my natural hair. I’ll keep feeding it with coconut oil and water and keep trying new styles. Do you know what else I could do with my natural hair? Please let me know below.

“And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering.”