I’ve been wearing my hair in its natural state for the last 5 years. Hands down it is one of the best decisions I ever made. Sure it was a bit rocky at first, transitioning from relaxed hair but it was a process and a journey to learning my hair texture and loving my hair. Embracing my natural hair has also become a practice of self-love. As I learn to love my hair as it is in natural state and discover the amazing multitude of things it can do, I am proud to rock this crown of kinky coils.
It was the year after graduating college that I began transitioning my hair from a chemical relaxer to rocking it in its natural state. I used perm rods to create a curly look while I managed 2 different hair textures. After about six months I was ready to do the big chop. It was hella scary but with the support of the natural hair community, I took the leap. It wasn’t long before my kinky tresses began to grow out. I tried different looks; including Bantu knots, flat twists and the quintessential Afro and settled on the classic twist-out as my go-to style. With my crown of thick hair doing a twist out on wet hair with a thick cream did the job for me. But to maintain a well-defined curl pattern throughout the week for my corporate job, required me to re-twist my hair almost every night. love my kinky curls but re-twisting my hair several times a week became quite the task.
Recently after the harsh winter air damaging my tresses and with the warmth of spring in the air, I decided to chop hair my hair off and rock a tapered cut with shaved sides and back. I did a bit of preliminary research found a local stylist and the deed was done March 2019. Since that time, I’ve had my shorter hair shaved down again 4 times and I am loving this summer look. The ease in hair maintenance alone was worth the cut honestly. I do my wash day routine on the weekend and typically pin my longer tresses in the top down to rock an updo, either from a twist-out or high puff. I tie my hair with a scarf at night, occasionally repin my hair in the morning then I’m off to begin my day.
Another reason I love rocking this look, its a practice in self-love and letting go. Truth is, I’ve always pictured myself with a kickass, edgy haircut cut but was never brave enough to do the deed. Once I finally cut my hair it was scary, I had second thoughts, I started taking hair growth vitamins. But, every time my hair began to grow out, I found myself itching to cut it back down again. I’ve begun to view haircuts as a practice in letting go, shedding the old and embracing what’s left. What’s left is me, my authentic self, letting my inner light shine. Cutting your hair always seems like a scary thing but, I began to realize, hair grows back, no matter how low or funky you cut it, it will grow back.