Hey Friends!
My name is Chloe and I’m loving my natural hair. My last relaxer was on October 26, 2009 and two weeks later I decided to big chop, and big chop I did. I went to a barber and asked for the “Amber Rose.” It felt amazing, and a bit cold, but still wonderful. I loved my short hair. I threw out my shower cap, walked slowly in the rain, and went to the pool at will. I received many critics including my family, friends, and strangers. “Chloe, you look like boy!” “Are you going through something?” “Maybe you should wear some earrings?!” Despite my efforts to ignore the negative sentiments about my new hair; it really hurt my feelings.
For my first year I almost exclusively wore wigs during the day. It wasn’t until the middle of my second year when my 4b/4c kinky hair was long enough to grip, I started getting braids. I also began exploring Youtube. At this time there were very few Youtubers, however Naptural85 and Blackonxy77 were among my biggest influences. Full of hair envy I quickly became a product junkie, experimenting with creating kitchen concoctions and purchasing anything advertised.
Year five I let go of my wigs and braids and exclusively wore my natural hair in all its glory. I learned what my hair loved and what my hair graceful rejected. My hair flourished the most using the water only method, of which I employed for an entire year. If you’re not familiar with this technique I would strongly encourage you to research it. It was the easiest hair regime to implement with all the traveling I was doing and my curls looked great. But with all things that aren’t broken I decided to fix it. My current regimen includes a weekly cowash and deep conditioning under my steamer and monthly shampoo. Through trial and error I’ve discovered my hair loves Ayurvedic herbs, which I infuse into many of my products. My hair is also pro coconut oil! I currently wear my hair in a protective style (braids, twists, buns, etc) 90% of the time and completely abstain from heat by air drying. I plan to flat iron my hair for my annual trim. That’s right, I trim once a year! It works for me.
From my experience, the most difficult part of my journey was not receiving the positive feedback I hoped for initially. All that has changed now that my hair is somewhere between mid-back and waist length. So my advice if any is: don’t worry about other people’s opinion, journey, or process because you and your hair are unique, and they’re probably wrong anyway.
XOXO
Chloe
@chlo_whoa