So natural hair is a 'thing' now, right? Everyone, both guy (considering that I haven't seen plenty boys perming the hair on their 'hawk' hairstyles for a while now) and girl, wants to have natural, unaltered, kinky hair. Well, I on the other hand, have been a natural for years now. Long, long before it became a fashion statement or a 'thing'. And no, this is not an "A-haa! I-told-you-so!" post. This is just me trying to articulate the reasons why I've had kinky, coily, natural Afro-textured hair on my head for virtually all my life.
And side note, it's been a while since I had a hairstyle that hurt my scalp, but right now as I write this, my hair which was freshly braided this afternoon, hurts a little at the edges. But not in that intense, 'you-should-be-worried' kind of way; But more like in that friendly, slightly, it-hurts-cos-its-still-new-and-its-only-bringing-out-your-face, this-hurt-will-be-gone-before-tomorrow-morning kind of way. I'll put up a picture of my hairstyle now at the end of this post.
And side note, it's been a while since I had a hairstyle that hurt my scalp, but right now as I write this, my hair which was freshly braided this afternoon, hurts a little at the edges. But not in that intense, 'you-should-be-worried' kind of way; But more like in that friendly, slightly, it-hurts-cos-its-still-new-and-its-only-bringing-out-your-face, this-hurt-will-be-gone-before-tomorrow-morning kind of way. I'll put up a picture of my hairstyle now at the end of this post.
And so, why I have natural hair:
Well, I've had natural hair for 6 years (when I started growing my hair) and what inspired me to stay natural and not perm it were two reasons:
A, being Allison, my sister's friend, who at that time had the most beautiful, black, luscious natural hair which I lusted after. I had just finished secondary school and my hair then was what Naturals today would describe as a TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro). I think it may have been an inch or two long. But being the hair fanatic I've often been told that I am, I fussed and fussed over my really short hair all of the time. I told everyone around me how I had 'natural hair' (which I'm pretty sure just looked like an ordinary low-cut to them but Lord bless their souls, they sweetly bore with me), and how I was going to have beautiful, black, long natural hair like Allison's. I believed it. So everyone else did. So strong was my conviction and obsession that I mysteriously creeped into my sister Chinasa's dream one day and in there, I had the longest hair ever! She said it was so black and thick and long that it flowed down to my waist and I banded it like 5 different times in between. This dream was like rapture to me. It became my future, hope and dream. I grabbed it ferociously from her and held it tightly with my both hands, refusing to allow anyone make me let go of it. Not even my mom, who was the sole unbeliever then, and who kept saying to me, "Don't worry, relaxer di. When you are tired of all these your gra-gra, just tell me and I'll give you a jar of relaxer to go and perm your hair. I che na natural hair di easy". Or no, she said 'virgin hair'. She must have definitely called it 'virgin hair', because that has always been the native, commonplace name of the kinky hair in contemporary Nigeria, before it became "what's up" and it went to church and was christened with the posh 'natural hair' name it bears today.
By the way, Allison has since permed her hair though and broken my poor, little heart. RIP, Allison's beautiful, black,luscious natural hair. You'll forever be in my heart.
Anyway, reason B was the sincere, simple fact that I like being different from the lot. I have always been a non-conformist. Well, sometimes. Most times. The Road Not Taken always holds this special appeal and wonder for me and a lot of the time, I find myself trudging stubbornly and sometimes, even foolishly down it. So I wanted to be natural because I liked Allison's natural hair and because it would make me different. That was 6 years ago. And please, don't come at me with all the "Girl, your hair is 6 years old??!!!! Why is it only that long? Did you cut it? What happened?!!" No,I did not cut my hair. (Even though sometimes, I tell people I did just so I can save myself the stress, plus embarrassment too. Yes, I admit that second part because there are humans who have that rare, special ability of making you feel shame over the most natural of things). Anyway, my hair is one of those ones who like to take their time, you know. I won't use the word 'slow' cos that's too sensitive. And mind you though, my hair is not short. My hair is far from bring short, even. With the length of my hair now, I can do any and every style I want to and I'm quite satisfied with that. Would I like for it to get longer though? Why, yes of course! But gone are the days when I used to worry, complain, over-treat and fuss over it. Uh-uh. Health is the way, Baby! The health of my hair is what matters the most to me now. While I wait for it to grow down to my waist shaa. Sorry, scratch that. To my feet. I've always loved Rapunzel
Well, I've had natural hair for 6 years (when I started growing my hair) and what inspired me to stay natural and not perm it were two reasons:
A, being Allison, my sister's friend, who at that time had the most beautiful, black, luscious natural hair which I lusted after. I had just finished secondary school and my hair then was what Naturals today would describe as a TWA (Teenie Weenie Afro). I think it may have been an inch or two long. But being the hair fanatic I've often been told that I am, I fussed and fussed over my really short hair all of the time. I told everyone around me how I had 'natural hair' (which I'm pretty sure just looked like an ordinary low-cut to them but Lord bless their souls, they sweetly bore with me), and how I was going to have beautiful, black, long natural hair like Allison's. I believed it. So everyone else did. So strong was my conviction and obsession that I mysteriously creeped into my sister Chinasa's dream one day and in there, I had the longest hair ever! She said it was so black and thick and long that it flowed down to my waist and I banded it like 5 different times in between. This dream was like rapture to me. It became my future, hope and dream. I grabbed it ferociously from her and held it tightly with my both hands, refusing to allow anyone make me let go of it. Not even my mom, who was the sole unbeliever then, and who kept saying to me, "Don't worry, relaxer di. When you are tired of all these your gra-gra, just tell me and I'll give you a jar of relaxer to go and perm your hair. I che na natural hair di easy". Or no, she said 'virgin hair'. She must have definitely called it 'virgin hair', because that has always been the native, commonplace name of the kinky hair in contemporary Nigeria, before it became "what's up" and it went to church and was christened with the posh 'natural hair' name it bears today.
By the way, Allison has since permed her hair though and broken my poor, little heart. RIP, Allison's beautiful, black,luscious natural hair. You'll forever be in my heart.
Anyway, reason B was the sincere, simple fact that I like being different from the lot. I have always been a non-conformist. Well, sometimes. Most times. The Road Not Taken always holds this special appeal and wonder for me and a lot of the time, I find myself trudging stubbornly and sometimes, even foolishly down it. So I wanted to be natural because I liked Allison's natural hair and because it would make me different. That was 6 years ago. And please, don't come at me with all the "Girl, your hair is 6 years old??!!!! Why is it only that long? Did you cut it? What happened?!!" No,I did not cut my hair. (Even though sometimes, I tell people I did just so I can save myself the stress, plus embarrassment too. Yes, I admit that second part because there are humans who have that rare, special ability of making you feel shame over the most natural of things). Anyway, my hair is one of those ones who like to take their time, you know. I won't use the word 'slow' cos that's too sensitive. And mind you though, my hair is not short. My hair is far from bring short, even. With the length of my hair now, I can do any and every style I want to and I'm quite satisfied with that. Would I like for it to get longer though? Why, yes of course! But gone are the days when I used to worry, complain, over-treat and fuss over it. Uh-uh. Health is the way, Baby! The health of my hair is what matters the most to me now. While I wait for it to grow down to my waist shaa. Sorry, scratch that. To my feet. I've always loved Rapunzel
Lessons having natural hair have taught me.
Having natural hair has been like a journey for me. I've learned and re-learned a lot, I've made mistakes and found ways to fix them (thank God) and I've also gotten to see myself in other ways.
Patience. Endurance. Trust in your process. Self love and acceptance. Celebration of life's small victories. Self discipline. Redefinition of beauty. Unconventional outlets for creativity. These are few of the lessons and virtues having a head full of nappy hair have taught me.
For the first four years of my journey, I almost never wore my hair out. I always had box braids or Senegalese twists or faux locs or Marley twists. I did ALOT of protective styling. And I did them commercially. If you've ever lived in Nigeria or in Africa in general, you'll know how commercial hair braiders never listen to you, are always impatient and always braid too, too tightly. So this caused me a lot of hair damage and loss. As at that time, I didn't know that was what was wrong with my hair. But I noticed my hair wasn't growing. I would be concerned for a while but then I'd get another twists or braids and I'd forget all about my hair again. Then, I used to have these attachments in my hair for as long as 6-8 weeks. Dandruff has always plagued my hair and so, this will get to the root of each braid or twist and concentrate there and then, when taking them off, I'll have to yank off some of my hair, thereby leading to hair loss. I come from a hairy family however, so hair has never really been a problem for me. No matter the amount of hair I lost due to poor hair care, I always had a bountiful amount of hair on my head. It was not until mid 2015 before it dawned on me that I could actually twist and braid my own hair without using attachments and it'll still be pretty. Plus, my sister who does my hair a lot of the time now was done with school by then and was home most of the time. So now, she does my hair almost all the time. She or my baby sister does. I still use attachments, but only occasionally, and not as much as before. So far, my hair has felt healthier, grown a lot more and is softer. I really love having just my hair on my head, feeling the wind in my natural, God given tresses and having my scalp breathe freely and easily. I feel like my truest self when I have only my hair on my head. To touch my head accidentally and actually feel my own hair on my head, that's pure bliss and joy for me.
Someday maybe, I'd tell you how I take care of my natural hair, what I've learnt so far and what I've dropped.
But for today, Ciao.
And thank you for reading this really long post. May your hair grow long and be healthy!
Having natural hair has been like a journey for me. I've learned and re-learned a lot, I've made mistakes and found ways to fix them (thank God) and I've also gotten to see myself in other ways.
Patience. Endurance. Trust in your process. Self love and acceptance. Celebration of life's small victories. Self discipline. Redefinition of beauty. Unconventional outlets for creativity. These are few of the lessons and virtues having a head full of nappy hair have taught me.
For the first four years of my journey, I almost never wore my hair out. I always had box braids or Senegalese twists or faux locs or Marley twists. I did ALOT of protective styling. And I did them commercially. If you've ever lived in Nigeria or in Africa in general, you'll know how commercial hair braiders never listen to you, are always impatient and always braid too, too tightly. So this caused me a lot of hair damage and loss. As at that time, I didn't know that was what was wrong with my hair. But I noticed my hair wasn't growing. I would be concerned for a while but then I'd get another twists or braids and I'd forget all about my hair again. Then, I used to have these attachments in my hair for as long as 6-8 weeks. Dandruff has always plagued my hair and so, this will get to the root of each braid or twist and concentrate there and then, when taking them off, I'll have to yank off some of my hair, thereby leading to hair loss. I come from a hairy family however, so hair has never really been a problem for me. No matter the amount of hair I lost due to poor hair care, I always had a bountiful amount of hair on my head. It was not until mid 2015 before it dawned on me that I could actually twist and braid my own hair without using attachments and it'll still be pretty. Plus, my sister who does my hair a lot of the time now was done with school by then and was home most of the time. So now, she does my hair almost all the time. She or my baby sister does. I still use attachments, but only occasionally, and not as much as before. So far, my hair has felt healthier, grown a lot more and is softer. I really love having just my hair on my head, feeling the wind in my natural, God given tresses and having my scalp breathe freely and easily. I feel like my truest self when I have only my hair on my head. To touch my head accidentally and actually feel my own hair on my head, that's pure bliss and joy for me.
Someday maybe, I'd tell you how I take care of my natural hair, what I've learnt so far and what I've dropped.
But for today, Ciao.
And thank you for reading this really long post. May your hair grow long and be healthy!
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