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I wish I had pictures of when I first started my natural hair journey. I was just living, never thought I would create a blog to share it, never was a huge fan of social media either. But here’s my story…
When it began
I started my natural hair journey in May 2011. Before that time, I had a relaxer, and I would only use children’s relaxer. (I figured the children’s relaxer worked great on my hair as a child, why should I switch to adult relaxers that were more potent? I found that sticking to children’s relaxer helped to keep a lot of hair on my head.)
High school and college
I had a $200 flat iron that I brought from a hair expo trip that my classmates and I went on in high school. I studied cosmetology in high school from 9th grade until my senior year, when I decided to switch to choir. I realized I was only studying cosmetology because my older sister did, so in my senior year I decided to choose for my self and sing my heart out.
Relaxers and a prayer
My hair had been long (I guess for black girl?) but it stayed the same length since I started getting relaxers. My mother told me that maybe I should pray over my hair for it to grow, so I did. I would pray over my hair and say affirmations in Jesus name. Before my mother told me to pray, I had never thought about it before. I mean, why would God care about my hair?
Interesting enough, not too long after I started praying for my hair, my $200 flat iron broke! I could not afford another good flat iron at the time, so I used one that was available around the house. Once I started using the other flat iron, my hair started breaking off, so much so that it was to my shoulders, the shortest it has ever been.
God, ummmm what’s going on?
I got frustrated with God because it seemed he did the opposite of what I prayed of him.
But then I started seeing things online about “natural hair” and going natural. I searched it out and found some information and decided I would go natural too! I did this in May 2011.
I did all types of styles to my hair to mask the new growth and the relaxed hair. I was doing everything I could to nourish my natural hair, but I noticed that my relaxed hair was breaking off from the natural hair, in droves!
I tried to save my relaxed hair, but it kept falling off. So, in November 2011 I decided to do a “big chop”. I cut off all the relaxed ends and gave my hair a trim and went all natural! It was a big step, and I was excited… but not for long.
Wig season
Even though I did cosmetology for three years in high school, I never really like doing my hair – ever. Even when my hair was relaxed, I did not like to do my hair. My relaxed hair was much easier to manage; I just washed and straightened my hair and wrapped it. That’s it.
I studied cosmetology because my older sister did in high school. And for some strange reason, I felt that when I did finally go natural, I figured someone else would be doing my hair, not me.
After trial and error, with this butter and that cream and the famous “coconut oil fixes everything,” I decided to wear wigs.
Wigs, wigs, wigs!
I wore wigs for the five years straight and my hair grew through this method. I would wash my hair, add cream and oil, braid it in single braids and rock wigs. The funny thing is most people thought the straight, black hair that was almost to my waist was my hair.
While wearing wigs my hair reached waist length. And I was so hype! But my excitement did not last for long…
I noticed the condition of my edges was very bad. The constant wearing of the combs and having the wig rub against my hairline caused my edges to thin out. When I saw that, I decided to stop wearing wigs on a consistent basis for a while and started to wear my own hair.
Did wigs help me?
I noticed my hair would get shorter and shorter. I went from waist length to bra-strap length to a little past my shoulders. I was applying product, twisting it and straightening it to find the best way to wear my hair, but my hair was suffering. I realized that I really did not know how to take care of my hair, I just knew how to protect my hair with wigs.
I went to a few hair stylists that treated my hair but all they would do it straighten it. My hair was straightened so much that I had heat damage, which you will see from the wash and go pictures. Over the years I managed to grow my hair back, but not back to waist length.
Through this process, I found out many things about my hair. The number one thing I discovered was that my hair was naturally highly porous or high porosity.
High porosity hair sucks
I always wondered why the girls I would watch on YouTube would have long, shiny hair, and mine looked like blah…except for when it was straightened.
I found that many of them had naturally low porosity hair, meaning their hair retains moisture for longer periods of time. Moisture is king in the natural hair community! Yes, low porosity has a few drawbacks but not compared to high porosity hair. If the major set back to growing long hair in the #teamnatural gang is moisture, then having high porosity hair is almost like a moisture curse!
Why is it so hard to grow with high porosity hair?
High porosity hair absorbs moisture quickly (yey!); however, it loses moisture just that quickly due to the open cuticle layers. High porosity hair is more prone to breakage and tangling and damage with the slightest touch. Add to that the fact that my hair is considered “mostly” type 4B hair, the type that has absolutely NO curl pattern, and you got yourself and interesting circumstance.
Trial and error
I discovered porosity a few years ago, but I didn’t understand how important it was until last year. It helped me understand why my hair was so dry the day after washing it even after doing the LCO method, but also why my hair seemed to thrive in wash and gos. (I found the gel I used to seal in the cream and oil acted as a barrier to keeping moisture in my hair for longer.)
I did wash and gos last summer (with that JERI CURL JUICE!) and found my hair was softer for longer periods of time. Then it went back dry again. But no complaints! My hair was finally moisturized for up to three days. That’s a miracle for me.
Products that have helped me
I also discovered that highly porous hair needs protein. I had a terrible experience with Aphogee Two Step Treatment (it took out almost 20% of my hair!). So, I vowed NEVER to go that route again. And I found a natural replacement called Henna. I’ve been using it more consistently lately and I hope to do a separate review on it.
Another hair product I’ve been loving is the Biotera Anti-frizz conditioner. I heard about this from a fellow high porosity girl named Simply Subrena on YouTube. See her channel here.
This conditioner melts on my hair and the oil in it seems to help lay down my cuticle and promotes moisture retention (which is what I need!) You can get Biotera here:
Newest to the tribe
But I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you about my most recent purchase from Melanin Haircare.
I’ve been following Whitney White (the owner of Melanin Haircare) for years now, since I started my journey! She would do all types of DIY products that I tried (but my problem was that my hair was highly porous). When she said to try Trader Joes Conditioner, I tried it. When she said to try coconut oil, I did! When she got curl formers, I got them! (And used them for quite a while do do super cute spiral curls.) I loved her, she was (and still is!) so relatable.
I especially loved her hair length updates on her natural hair! Now she’s got a hair line!
I’ve been using the Multi-Use Pure Oil and the Multi-Use Softening Leave-in Conditioner for about three weeks and I’ve been loving the results! Try her products here. I hope to get the Twisting Elongating Cream and post a review soon.
I started my natural hair journey with a prayer, and in so many ways, God answered my prayers. I asked for long, healthy, beautiful, thick hair, and He gave it back to me by giving me my natural hair back and telling me to love it.
So, I feel like I’ve started a new journey into healthy hair, and I hope you will join with me.
More to come!