Sunday 29 April 2012

I Love My Hair!!


For those of you who don't know i've had natural hair all my life. Two years ago I decided to stop hiding it away and embrace it fully. It hasn't been easy. The increase of Natural Hair Care Blogs (NHCBs) and youtubers has helped but at the same time hasn't. What do I mean, all of a sudden there was all this beautiful hair to look at and then there was me. 

I'm going to be real here, for a long time I felt like I drew the short straw when it came to my hair. I do not have wash and go hair, I do not have defined, organised curls. My hair is dense, unruly and sometimes a burden. Combs shred my ends and result in splits upon splits upon splits and then there are those pesky single strand knots (ssks) that seem to exist just to make me unhappy.

Don't get me started on products and how nothing seemed to work for me. Despite all of this I still had hope. I still wanted to make things work. I knew that my hair will never be silky and easy to manage and I settled. I settled for only feeling like I had beautiful hair when I did a flat twist out or some other out style that resulted in curls that I could wear loose. 

This Friday all of that changed. I told you all recently that I was going to be cutting my hair and I did. Over the course of a week I'd take down an old twist, finger detangle and cut. Sometimes half an inch sometime three. But when I was finally done I felt like I had a chance at a fresh chance. 
I had also been on the search for a new shampoo and conditioner, the ones i'd been using were on the verge of running out and I didn't know whether to repurchase or not. Before I did I wanted to try something new, something cheaper and more accessible so I did some hunting took a chance.

So there I was, almost damage free with a new shampoo and conditioner at hand, desperately needing a wash. I prepooed over night with condish, honey and oil. Nothing special. Then the next morning it was time. Time to see if this hair thing could work for me. I went all out. Shampooed in twists and actually took down each section to condition. I was thorough and determined. After I got out the shower I applied the leave in, sealed with castor oil and braided it all up to dry while I went to uni. 

I get back from my 4 hour lab and my hair still isn't dry. I refused to let the fact that I had somewhere really important to be panic me. I restyled the braids, packed my stuff and began my two hour journey back to London. Once I arrived at my family home I went to the bathroom and proceeded to take down the plaits. My hair was about 20% damp but it didn't matter, it was going to get styled whether it liked it or not. 

I split it in half, and left hair for a bang or pomp then put the top half in a ponytail. I braided the end then put the bottom half in a ponytail aswell. This time I gathered the tail together and folded the hair back up, I twirled the ends and pinned them so I had a kind of bun. Finally I loosely flat twisted the front and added a clip to the bun. And in less than ten minutes I was transformed. 

My hair was the smoothest it has ever been thanks to the conditioner and the cut just gave my hair life. I look at these pictures and feel so at peace with my hair it's ridiculous. I drool over the texture. I feel special. In that moment I felt so beautiful. I felt regal. Do you know what I mean? I never thought I could get to this place where I fully embrace, accept and celebrate my texture. I nolonger feel like the uglier hair type, I don't feel inferior or unfortunate. I fully and wholeheartedly love my hair in all of it's forms.

I love that I can say that.

I hope this finds you well,
Rels

11 comments:

  1. hey I love your hair too, please post the range of shampoo and a link of where to get it from. I too want to fall in love with my hair again
    thanks

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    1. thank you!! My next post will be about the shampoo and conditioner. I wanted to give an in depth review instead of mentioning it. I will defo post the link esp because I got a really good deal!! If you do end up getting it please let me know if it worked for you, thanks for reading :)

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  2. Oooh, I love this post!

    And that hairstyle is divine. Where'd you get that hair accessory from?

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    1. thanks so much for reading and commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. And the hairstyle, isn't it just lol! I can't remember the last time I was this pleased with a style!!
      I got the hair slide from New Look, it came in a pack of two :)

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  3. What a great post!! You have beautiful hair and it is unique to you!! I wish for all of us to embrace the hair that sprouts from our head! I don't think that there is anything wrong with admiring and lusting after other heads of hair. I do it all of the time. But, it's when there is real envy and a dislike for one's own hair that I think there is a problem. So, it was wonderful reading your Eureka moment!!

    Shelli

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    1. Hey Shelli!
      Thanks for reading and commenting, I'm glad you liked it :) I'm a huge fan of your blog and you probably hear it all the time but your hair is beautiful too!! I definitely agree with what you said, it's fine to admire other peoples hair the same way we'd admire someone else's clothes or shoes etc but when it gets to a point when you feel badly about what you have it can have a real negative impact on how you see yourself or in this case how I started to see my hair!
      Thanks again for taking the time to comment!!

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    2. Awwwww shucks ... thanks:). And you are so right and very welcome!!

      Shelli

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    3. Oh, and by the way, do you have any interest in doing a "Naturals Around the World" hairstory/feature?? I haven't had anyone from London yet, though I've begged a couple of folks;)! LOL!! If you are interested, here is the link to the interview questions! Thank you!!

      http://hairscapades.com/2012/01/08/naturals-around-the-world/

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    4. I'd love to!! I'll get that to you as soon as possible :)

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  4. I just had to say you've given me a lot more hope with it all... You've been natural your whole life and still find it hard; all these hair sites give the impression that after a year or two something's up if things aren't starting to click... I have now taken heart and can't wait to have at my hair again once I take out my single plaits.

    Oh and you keep saying you're lazy in other posts... Girl I am still yet to psyche myself up to complete a whole head of twists or 'plumping' (I think that's what it's called); I get bored/fed up and hide it under a scarf. There is always someone lazier than you out there lol.

    Great blog!

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    1. thank you so much for taking the time to comment!!
      I'm glad I could be a hope giver it's so easy to be disheartened :( I completely agree, some people have their hair game on lock and I commend them but others are still learning and that process needs to be encouraged!

      Plumping? I haven't heard the term put it sounds interesting lol, as for the twists I do them in shifts smh, my last set I did over a period of four days loool. I think we are lazequals :)

      x

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