My Big Reveal

So... In the past I've mentioned but failed to accurately document my natural hair journey. This month makes 16 months that I've been natural and 12 months that I've been transitioning with sew-ins. I opted to trim off my relaxed ends as I went. Being that I'm making a short trip home in a week and a half pre-graduation to get my hair done, time isn't on my side. I decided to remove my sew-in so all I'll have to do is wash and blow dry when I get home. But what do you do with natural hair that's never been worn out?? It's like bringing a kid in public for the 1st time. You don't know what to expect and you already know they aren't going to know how to act. Well I'm going to say that once my hair gets unleashed, it doesn't know how to act. Lol. My braid outs after a sew-in are always beautiful, but the amount of shrinkage that I have once water hits is borderline unbelievable. It's like a cruel magic trick. My hair is super thick and since I've been wearing sew-ins for a year, it isn't tamed to say the least. It took me over an hour to shampoo twice, detangle and condition this beast. I can see why most women and even mothers opt to give their daughters relaxers. My hair tangles easily when relaxed so you can imagine my struggle as a natural. If you haven't learned to tame it, you have a nightmare on your hands. I decided to purchase an artificial Afro puff to wear since I didn't have the energy to try braids outs and so forth on my own hair. Faux hair can honestly be like opening a gift at a white elephant party. You really don't know what you have until you open it. Sometimes what's in the bag looks and feels like what you expected but other times it's not. I bought 2 different styles and was not satisfied with either one. One is labeled as "small", but it's larger than my head... And if you know me then you know that I've got a big head. Lol. The other is small and has a terrible texture. What should I have expected from synthetic hair? It's not like anywhere is selling human Afro puff ponytails. Chris Rock revealed that in his movie "Good Hair". Needless to say, I ditched the artificial puffs, went out on a limb and decided to work with whatever puff I could create with my own hair. That's a little scary upon first thought especially since I'm not wholeheartedly sure of what I'm working with. After some thought I questioned who's going to care anyway? I only have a week and a day left in school and it's not like I know anyone in Cali besides my beau. Besides, he better get used to these rough days if he's thinking of "for better or for worse" in the future. Right? Well after some work and some play... I've got a puff. One that I'm not ashamed of wearing happily in public. That's the most important part because such a drastic change like this can cause one to become extremely hair conscious. The one negative thing I've noticed, besides the hassle deal with natural hair and the way the public or corporate America may receive you, is that I feel it steps down your appearance a notch, especially considering what you are wearing. I know that sounds horrible, but on your best and most beautiful wedding day, you probably aren't going to rock a fro nor did you back then if you are already married. So for me, with rocking natural hair comes a must that I wear makeup of some form, make sure my eyebrows are up to par and purchase some larger earrings. Maybe it's my current up-do that makes me feel this way but we shall see how I feel with future styles. It will take some time to get used to wearing my hair up since I'm usually never seen with it up. Here are the pics... Enjoy!!


















Wait for it....


















Are you ready?









































POW!!!

 

Might I add that for the first time I experienced the "natural hair bond" that women with natural hair all seem to comment about. It's always seemed that natural hair women have been apart of this secret society for years that has suddenly increased in number. They won't compliment or think highly of a relaxed woman's hair so to even have them stare at your hair for too long is a special moment.  I know this sounds crazy but for the first time I was walking through Target and the mall and natural black women seemed to lock eyes with me and it's like we have a bond. I even heard some black men stop and say "Well her's is cute." Lol. This was leaps and bounds beyond what I expected because we all know how some black men can be about hair. I've heard someone talk about this bond before and maybe I'm just over exaggerating it, but I felt it today and you really can't convince me otherwise. The compliments that I received today from natural and unnatural women also confirmed that I was rocking my puff the right way. #FistPump. We'll see how the next week or so goes.