My Natural Hair Story: The BC

If you know me in real life or follow me on Twitter, you that I love and am extremely proud of my natural hair. However many people may not know of the story behind my decision to go natural and the obstacles that I have faced while on this now six year journey. After seeing and answering some of the questions on the natural hair chat on Twitter, I've decided to write a post about my natural hair journey. This is part one of my natural hair story. Enjoy.

After my sophomore year of high school I was blessed enough to be accepted into the best boarding school in Indiana, IASMH, and I was extremely excited for the prospect of expanding my academic horizons. What I was not prepared for however was the lack of qualified hairstylists in the area. I remember visiting a salon when I first arrived and being told to wait for the black hairstylist. Well she came out from the back of the sale and she.had.a.curl. Yep a juicy, Eric LaSalle in Coming to America curl. I turned on my heels and walked out. Thus started my natural hair journey. Anticlimactic isn't it?

See I was never the girl to really care about my hair. Sure I endured the Saturday presses with the Satin Creme grease. I had the ribbons and bows but I still didn't care. Being the baby of four brothers and having a male best friend, I didn't have time to care about my hair. If it was out of my face I was good. The only reason I got a perm is so that I wouldn't have to get my hair pressed every weekend and therefore it could spend more time in a ponytail. Even as I matured into a teenager my hair was never a big deal. It was straight and out of face and I was okay. There was no huge epiphany to go natural, it seemed to be a quite logical decision considering my options.


I decided to go with the wash and go method until I graduated from high school. With having the entire summer off to relax, I began perusing the Internet. I saw so many ladies sporting the fresh short natural and thought hmm maybe. Maybe turned into okay and then okay turned into definitely. I called the barber my brothers used and made an appointment. When I sat in his chair he told he was going to have to cut a lot of the permed hair out and I thought cool I'm due for a trim. Even with his forewarning and seeing pictures of other BCs, I cried when he finished. I didn't realize that I placed value on flowing hair. I was one girl who didn't care about my hair so why I so emotional now? He let me cry and then told me look in the mirror again. Even in the midst of my sniffles I noticed that I was fierce. My new shone curls laid ever so softly around my head. My head felt lighter. My eyes seemed blacker. My cheeks were even more prominent. I felt like it would be okay I could do this. I walked out of the barbershop with a slightly new perspective.


What are your natural hair stories? Share.If you've did the big chop why and what did you feel? Please share your stories. I would love to hear them. Don't worry this isn't the end...tune in to the next post you'll die laughing trust ;-).


Ladycakes