So, earlier today (which was January 15) was my Nappyversary... the day I chopped off my relaxed hair and went completely natural (not to mention nappy). As I've said before, January 15th just happened to be the date I went. I didn't intentionally choose Dr. King's birthday, but I like the coincidence. I think that he would have supported my decision to go natural and be me. :o)
Looking Back...
At lot has changed with my hair since last January for sure.
It's much longer, although not ponytail length. By the grace of God, as the year progressed I became quite good at styling my hair with the twists and twist outs and figuring out the appropriate products to use. I've loved the experience. I even loved what I had to go through to get to where my hair is currently... even trying to always have a wrap that coordinated with my outfit and looking a hot mess anyway,despite my efforts.
Changes
When I was in Atlanta last year up until the past summer, playing and basically taking a break from intense school work and having fun with my friends... I had the time to devote to self styling my hair. However, once I moved to Tallahassee and the sh*t basically hit the fan and reality came crashing down on me, I realized that I needed a stylist, because I didn't have the time or energy to devote hours to hairstyling any more.
At the suggestion of one of my supervisors, I checked out Cassinova's Salon where, by chance, I got linked up with Free, a stylist certified to do natural hair. When I first went to her she asked me if I had considered locking my hair, because my coil pattern was so tight and consistent. I was like nah... can't do that. I got cornrows styled up into a ponytail so that I could wear and afro puff piece. (Hey don't laugh. I was trying something different.) My goodness, I felt so self conscious with that thing pinned on. I went swimming with it the day after I got it and refused to let my head get anywhere near the water. I was nervous about gusts of wind, even though I had like 20 pins in it to make sure it was firmly attached. After that I went to Free and got my hair done in two strand twists.
I loved the look. It was very neat and streamlined... got me thinking about dreadlocks, which I had thought about before, but I was like nah, nah... I told dad I wouldn't. I kept on styling it with the Afro puff as the focal point. Then I went to Tuskegee's Homecoming and did giant twists so that I could do a twist out. I hadn't done a twist out with twists so big before. The first night worked like a charm,the next day (after re-twisting them to sleep and then untwisting)... it was a HOT mess. Hair going in every direction. For some reason girls kept coming up to me saying that my hair looked cute, but they were either being nice or mocking me but I held my head up high and managed to put it behind a cloth band for the step show later that night.
I had a lot of fun at Tuskegee and someone inspired me to lock my hair, so literally days later I was at Free's getting starter locks on November 7 (my patna's birthday). I want black Barbie hair now... and the only way for my hair to get as long as I want it to be is to lock it. Plus, I appreciate the smooth lines of well-kept locks.
Since my hair is so 'tight' it's beginning to lock fast. I wear hats more often now because my scalp gets cold... Before I had plenty of hair blocking my scalp so that's a big, yet welcome, change for me.
Attitudes
So, unlike I had predicted, my dad did not have a cow when I told him that I was locking my hair. Even though we had previously agreed that I was not locking my hair, he took it all in stride. I'm so proud of the progress he's made in his attitude towards my hair. It's grown on him and he thought that my fluffy naps (when styled) were cute and and he EVEN likes the locks. In fact, I think he likes the locks better because they are neater. I think my mom and sister (younger one) are about the same towards my hair, mostly accepting of it and just going with whatever flow I'm on.
The Future
I'm still very happy that I decided to cut my hair and rise to the I'm looking forward to seeing how my hair looks when it locks up and all the things I will be able to do with it. Sometimes I contemplate about returning to a perm because I feel like people make particular judgments on the kind of person I am based on my hair... the selection of men has DEFINITELY changed. Even so, I'm going to stick to keeping my hair the way it makes me happy and Mr. Him, whomever he is, will fall into step and appreciate it.
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