Relaxers (or perms as I knew them growing up) was not a normal thing in my family. As I may have mentioned before, women in my family wore their hair natural but not necessarily loose in their own hair. After being part of the natural hair community for about a year and some months now, I've come to understand that getting a relaxer was like a right of passage for young girls in their pre-teens and teens. In my family, you came of age by getting your hair done with extensions.
My cousins and my mother all rocked all kinds of braided styles. Just think of any black celebrity of the 90s who wore braids and that's how the women in my family wore their hair. They even added yarn to their hair! My younger cousin and I pleaded to have our hair done like that because it seemed grown up. My mother said that she would do it for us when we turned 12. We were excited for a little while, counting down the months and years to get our hair done. But when the time came both of us had lost interest; I had become a bit of a tomboy and disliked the process of getting my hair done. And I became fully aware that it took a long time to add extensions. So I buried the idea.
To this day, I never got extensions honestly because of the time. I do not want to spend hours getting my hair done lol. Which is another reason I probably thought that having natural hair was limiting, unruly, and annoying because of all the time it seemed I had to invest in it, while other people with "nice hair" could shake and go and didn't seem to slave away for hours doing hair.
What were some of your early hair memories? Feel free to share!
I got extension twice in my life, they take long to do but they last a long time and are pretty low maintenace. I had kinky twist and cainrows.
ReplyDeleteI actually remember wanting to have the longest natural hair... But I didn't know how to achieve it, I think I do now maybe it can still happen for mew, lol.
BTW Brandy looks so cute with that hair, it's better than what I've seen her wear recently.
well, i think african people should embrace their natural hair. cause its beautiful...ive been sporting my natural hair for about 3 years now. i braid it every 3 months ...yes managing natural hair can be a task sometimes but the braid is worth it!--it might take long sometimes but its durable and very low maintenance and looks pretty. I agree with you..brandy should have left the braids, not liking the weave or wig....BTW it takes me three days to complete my micro braids...i have a thick and full head of hair!!--lol--hair dressers cringe when they see me!!!--lol
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