I had natural hair up until I was about 8 years old. I used to get it braided and threaded every Saturday afternoon, or Sunday nights if my mother wanted to do it for me. At this point, my hair dresser let my mother know that she would no longer do my hair without chemical assistance. My mother who up until this point had refused to put anything in my hair acquiesced, mainly because my African hair was starting to take a toll on her physically and financially. My thick knotty rope hair, that my father called, “good strong African hair” had snapped all of my mother’s nice wooden and plastic combs and she had to go to the market in search of an all-iron comb for me. She found it, and that was when I knew I too was ready for a relaxer. I’ve kept my hair permed ever since. I tried to go the texturizer route but my hair that doesn’t even always take a super relaxer, laughed at me. In spite of all this, I still love my hair.

I am presently on a long-term recovery process from a bad hairstyle/cut, four almost five years ago. I got my hair cut in a bob and have since been trying to grow it out but every time I went in for a trim, it got cut back into a bob, so I’ve kept scissors out of my hair now for almost a year. My hair is about 12+ inches in the longest parts (the front) and about 5-7 inches in the back. I am very fussy about what I put in my hair, although at the same time I am also very experimental and I love to try new products all the time. I do NOT belong to the population that believes in the over-saturation of hair with grease (hair oil)– it makes my scalp itchy and then I have to wash my hair every 3 days or so to stay sane. I adamantly believe in conditioners and moisturizers as the key to control, and hair growth in healthy hair. My Bio-Ionic Ionic Conditioning FreeStyle 1″ Flat Iron is my best friend, although I only use it couple times a month.

It might appear a smidge hypocritical for me a regular relaxer to be a writer on a “natural” hair blog. Perhaps it is, but meh , I don’t care. Hair is hair, so there.