To The Brink of Creamy Crack and Back!

Just a few short months ago, I gave serious consideration to having my hair relaxed. Something I now call a ''dark moment''’ in my natural hair journey. After “transitioning” for about 9 months 5 years ago, I very nearly cracked!

Despite going natural all those years ago, I was a reluctant Naturalista for years! I was very proud to tell people my hair was natural, while they inspected closely, mostly in disbelief because it was always straight. I had such a high dependency on my beloved GHDs that I never ever washed my hair unless it was going to end with a GHD straightening session – it was just part of the process! In fact, if ever the unmentionable happened (GHDs gave up and broke one day), I don’t think I’d have gone to work, to local shop or even answered the door to the postman – unless he was delivering  a Package from GHD.

I found a new addiction in these

I knew nothing....

In the early days of my transitioning process, I loved my ‘new’ natural hair. I could clearly see how much healthier, thicker and stronger it was than my chemically treated / relaxed hair. This was all very well but I really didn’t know how to style or manage my own hair in its natural state. It was my near miss with returning to creamy crack that caused me to realise that I really hadn’t done much research on managing and styling my natural hair. I knew I had to stop the relaxers but I didn’t know what to do next except for wash, condition, blow dry and you guessed it - straighten.  Let’s just say in a pub style quiz with questions like what does TWA stand for,  what is co-washing, what is protective styling,  you wouldn’t have picked me to complete your Naturalista team. Yes I was that bad!

I came so close to relaxing my hair that I popped into my hairdressing salon and had THE CHAT with my hairdresser, booked the appointment and made the necessary childcare arrangements. My hair dresser, who has looked after my hair for years and seen it through pixie crops, colours , relaxers and the transition from relaxed to natural seemed somewhat underwhelmed by my decision to return to the creamy crack. But I was stubborn, steadfast in my new commitment to make my hair ‘more manageable’.

Angry Determination....

So now I had everything in place, 2 days before the big day my husband stuck his oar in! Something about letting myself down and giving up on 5 years of embracing my true self, how the quality of my hair was about to take a nose dive.  *sigh* There are no words to express how angry I was with him. How dare he tell me what to do with the hair on MY head!? Really! Now I was really determined. Armed with angry determination, I wasn’t just going for a relaxer anymore, now I was adding cut and highlights! No scrap that a full head of colour – maybe blonde!

The light bulb moment....

As night fell and I was getting closer to THE day, I thought about my journey and revisited why I went natural in the first place. I thought about my daughter and how she’d one day ask to have her hair relaxed and I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on with my progressively thinning, chemical dependant, but straight hair (anyone else ever wondered why it’s called ‘relaxer?). And then as if the universe was conspiring against my return to the creamy crack, as I casually browsed Facebook, I came across an article a (natural) friend had posted. It was about the black hair industry and how natural hair is perceived by women in Nigeria. The article revealed nothing I hadn’t heard before but it struck a cord when I realised the scale of the industrial size effort to disguise, change or ‘make better’ hair of African origin, not just in Africa but all over the world. It’s a sad day when you hear or read about the boom in Brazilian or Peruvian hair particularly in Africa or the large scale, world- wide  problem of ignorance about the dangers of the chemicals in relaxers, particularly when used as regularly as 6 – 8 times a year as we do.

So… on that sad note, my appointment at the hair dressers changed from relaxer to a red-brown colour and trim. Of course I had it straightened! With all that professional equipment and skill around, I just had to. As a one off, of course!

Now I have a go-to protective style (2 flat twist connecting seamlessly at the back of my head), I have yet to see my best twist out, but I'm getting there and I continue to experiment with a wash and go although I’m still working on perfecting that.

And that my friends, is the story of my rebirth as a Naturalista.

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