Why the decision to go “Natural”?

This past Saturday, March 13 officially marked the 1 year mark since my last relaxer. Reaching 1 year relaxer free feels oh so good!! This is the perfect time to talk about why I decided to go natural.

Pure Curiosity!! Initially my transition started from a three to six month relaxer stretch. By the third month I was in love with my NG. I loved the volume and thickness in my braid outs and curly styles. Since my new growth seemed manageable I thought what the heck and started to transition from that point. As mentioned in a previous post, I have no idea what my natural looks like. Since as long as I can remember a chemical has been in my hair; the “unknown” also sparked my interest to become natural even more.

The second reason for going natural is because I want healthy long hair. There are plenty of relaxed women with beautiful, beautiful relaxed hair. I’m simply choosing a different route to achieve the same goal: healthy beautiful hair. After watching so many videos on you tube by natural sisters, I’ve concluded that natural hair means less restrictions. Once completely natural, I will have the ability to wash my hair and go without blow drying or flat ironing. The simple thought of a wash-n-go makes me feel so happy.

Lucky for me my mom and sister are both on this journey as well. The journey to natural hair actually started with my sister. My mom and I decided to take the plunge at least a year after my sister started her journey. My brave little, big sister did the big chop but of course at the time we didn’t know that term. My sister has cut her hair short before so this time around was not a surprise. My niece, whose eight years old, is also natural and a relaxer is not in her near future. Having the three of us natural with my niece, my opinion, will only boost her self esteem and love for her natural hair.

My journey to natural hair is a long one but with a little patience I’ll make it through. Hopefully, by July 2011 the fear of BC’ing will subside so I can finally embrace my natural texture. Until then, I plan to continue to tackle and battle with the two textures by experimenting with products and hairstyles that fit my lifestyle.

My neice, my inspiration for natural hair, and her beautiful Crown and Glory.