Going natural has always been a dream of mine, but I had plenty of reasons not to do it. I told myself, that cutting off my relaxer will make my extremely thin hair look even thinner. It would not be acceptable in my majority white work environment. I was concerned my husband wouldn’t find it attractive. So I continued to wear my relaxer, short hair cuts, braids, ponytails, and any other style that was considered acceptable, especially for my work environment. However, I still had the desire to do it…someday.
That someday came about three years ago when I learned we were having our first child and it would be a girl. I knew instantly that I wanted her to embrace her natural hair. There would be no chemicals going near her head as long as I could help it. After having our daughter, my husband & I decided I would be a stay-at-home mom. He was new to the Army and would be away for quite some time during his training. While he was in training, I played around with twist-out styles to see what I would look like with a natural look. I loved it! But is this what my hair would be like without a relaxer?
By the time my daughter turned nine months old, we relocated to Texas. Shortly after we arrived, my husband deployed to Iraq for five months. I thought there was no time better than now to do the big chop, see what my natural hair texture was like and cover it up with a weave all before he returned.
So I did it…and I cried the entire day after doing the big chop because I had no idea what to do next. I decided to wipe my tears and start my research. I read every website, blog and magazine I could find and spoke to anyone I knew who understood natural hair.
After trying every suggestion and purchasing enough products to stock my own beauty supply store, I can say today I love being natural! Nothing makes me smile more than to see my three-year old daughter attempt to give herself a twist-out before bedtime just like Mommy or hear her say how much she loves her hair! I’m so thankful to teach her at such young age that she is beautiful just the way God made her. This gives me confidence to pass on the tradition to her baby sister that we are expecting in about three months!
Oh and by the way, all of those reasons I shared at the beginning for not going natural, boy was I totally wrong. My hair is no longer thin. It is full and healthy and full of curls. I receive compliments on my hair all of the time and most important, my hubby loves it. The decision to go natural was a long process for me, but today I can say that it was a choice I surely don’t regret.