Last week Curly Film Chick and I had a cute little dinner date, forgot to photograph the dish, but as usual we got into our many talks about our lives, and growing up and hair experiences. Which led me to one of mine... never realizing I had curls.
When I was a child, my mother kept my hair in box braids and single strand twists as an easier way for her to deal with my hair, and whenever I wore my hair out, it was generally in afro puffs. I never knew that I had curly hair, and I dont think any one else did either. Not to mention that once I was able to do my own hair I was obsessed with piking it out... I think it had something to do with watching Marsha on the Brady Bunch and thinking you needed to brush your hair 100 times everyday to have the prettiest hair, lol.
I remember I used to love shampooing my hair in the mirror because I would see it get all wavy and thought that was beautiful, but once i took that pik to my head there were waves no more, so I just attributed it to the shampoo making my hair that way...
When I was in Cosmetology school at the Carsten Aveda Institute, I did my first big chop (click to read the crazy story!) because of a crazy chemical process I did in Brazil gone wrong. My hair died on my head, and after about 2 months of holding on to dead hair, I chopped it off. I would let my friends wash my hair in school for the scalp massages, using Aveda's Be Curly line, adding the curling products, so again, I attributed my curls to the products.
Had I knew how to manipulate my curls, I would have taken credit for them a long time ago and I would have already had the natural hair I always wanted. Lesson Learned.
What ever your hair type, take credit for it's beauty and love it for what it is, instead of hating it for what it's not. Take credit for your curls because they're yours, not because you're mixed with whatever. Take credit for your curls because you love them.
When did you first realize your hair's true beauty?
I was 44 when I finally saw and appreciated my curls. Years of the hot comb and then different processes took a toll on my tresses. I appreciate my curls and am trying to teach my nieces to appreciate theirs too. I'm a little over two years of having unprocessed hair and I love it! Too bad it took a BAD process to have me come to this conclusion.
ReplyDeleteThats beautiful that you were able to embrace your curls as I find women that have been relaxed longer tend to have a harder time transitioning over to the natural side (its been like pulling teeth with my mom a little bit :). And Im in the same boat as you, where it took me a bad chemical process to realize the beauty i had on my head, and now everyone around me is going natural thanks to me, family and all! Encourage your loved ones as it is a physically and mentally better thing for them and show them all the beautiful options they'll have so they're not discouraged during the tough times. Thanks for sharing a little of your journey with us :) @Ang
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