I was not planning to get on the bandwagon about this issue, since so many other bloggers have covered it in such detail. However, I'm more baffled at the perceptions some people have about natural hair.
When I first started blogging, I did a tag and shared how I became a natural head. I deleted that post, so for those not familiar, I'll reiterate. I didn't go natural by choice. It wasn't a decision I consciously made for myself. It was made for me.
I had a perm for as long as I can remember from my childhood days and growing up, I had an affinity for styling hair, so as time went on, I ended up usually doing my own hair. The only time I'd go to a salon was if I wanted to get pampered and just sit back. I never had any intention of going natural, I just figured everybody was perming/relaxing so that must be the only way to take of my care. As a permie, I never had long hair, it was thick, but that was about it. I remember right after a relaxer, sometimes, my hair would be very coarse and quite thick, not like it should be after relaxing.
I never really liked being in the salon for long periods of time, but again, I didn't know any better, so I thought there was really no way out, I just had to endure.
The journey to me becoming natural started one day a few years ago, around 2005 or 2006 I felt my hair was 'due,' and I took a trip to a drugstore to get a relaxer. At the time, I normally used a pretty well known brand, but that 'fateful' day, I was being cheap and opted for another known brand not widely used, at least not anymore, but still readily available in stores.
I got home, prepped and sectioned my hair, let the relaxer sit for a few minutes before washing. Once I started washing, I noticed there was some tingling, but I attributed to it just being time to wash it out which I was already doing. As I was rinsing, I had to close my eyes to prevent the chemicals from going in, but I felt my hair was super light and when I rubbed my hands to rinse, I just knew hair was coming out in huge clumps. I then hurriedly did a final rinse, wiped my face and lo and behold, baldness was at my sides and back. I had a tuft of hair only in the middle and down the front. I was horrified, yet I didn't cry (even to this day). I proceeded to rinse the remaining relaxer out, threw out the remnants, sat down for a minute to figure out what just happened.
As soon as I gathered myself, I went online to the company's website, sent an email telling them in not so nice words, what had just happened. My hair as I knew it was gone. Still online, I started researching ingredients that could grow hair back, and fast too. I kept the tuft of hair because I wasn't quite ready to cut it off and days after, gentle pulling, even sleeping would cause this tuft to fall off even more. I was devastated and wore scarves for quite a while to cover the atrocity that was my hair.
In doing my research, I came across articles that said things like nettle and rosemary were good for growing hair, so to the beauty supply I went and looked for those ingredients in hair products. I bought a good amount of products and hoped for a miracle.
A few days later, I got an email back from the relaxer company and saying how sorry they were and asked me to send them pictures along with the remnants of the relaxer. I had thrown that out already, so I just had pictures to send. Every week I didn't hear from them, they got a nasty email from me. I was livid with fury. In turn, I'd get an apology email back about how sorry they were and then I was told, since I didn't have the remnants for testing, they couldn't be sure it was their relaxer that caused it. Another email from me and they said they'd compensate me $500 for my hair loss caused by their product.
When I first contacted them, I wasn't expecting anything honestly. I needed to rant and who better to do that at than the company directly responsible for my hair loss. Needless to say, since I was going to be buying so many products, I accepted and the check was mailed to me. (Had I had the product remnants, I would have had an airtight case and taken it further, but alas I was traumatised)
I continued my research online, while massaging these products with nettle and rosemary into my scalp daily. What didn't I buy?, it was product after product. I wasn't satisfied with the results, so I made an appointment with one of the hair re-growth specialist companies seen on TV to learn what more I could do. My scalp was examined and what not. I was later told that my hair would grow back if I purchased their products which were about $3000. That wasn't going to happen, so I said my thanks and hurriedly left. There had to be another way, I surmised.
Continuing with my product scalp massages and online research, I came across
Motown Girl and became an avid reader. She shared so many tips and homemade recipes and I was hooked. I bought some products based on her reviews and hoped for the best. It was somewhere at this point that I decided to cut off the remaining tuft of hair. Went, stood in front of the bathroom mirror and with scissors, I jaggedly cut off what was left. I was bald at the sides and had less than an inch in the middle/down the center. Yeah, what you in see in your mind is how it was, a terrible mess.
A few months later, I started to see some signs of fuzz and was encouraged, so I continued researching and came across
LV Burns after Motown Girl featured her as a weekly spotlight. I read her reviews, hair routine and started becoming enlightened somewhat.
Finally, after a few months of tlc, my hair grew out to about 2 inches of thick, tightly coiled, coarse hair. I was baffled! How do I make this soft enough to comb when dry. At this point, all enlightenment stopped and I got (wait for it..............) a texturizer *gasp*. Hadn't I learned?!
I thought it was different from a relaxer in the sense that it was gentler or some warped reasoning like that. Even when I went to the salon, I was petrified when it was being slathered on, even though my hair came out okay. I was rocking a pretty low style and thought wow, I look good with short hair! A few weeks later, it was back to square one and I just knew at this point, I wasn't getting any chemical treatments in my hair. I had to find another solution.
I continued reading Motown Girl and LV Burns and if you've been to MG's site, you'll notice she has quite a few ads for different websites selling natural hair care products. I visited many of them and it was at this time that I came across Carol's Daughter for the very first time. I purchased a set from her containing the Rosemary shampoo, black vanilla leave in conditioner, hair milk, tui oil and kizzi pomade.
In all honesty, out of all the products I had purchased, the combo of all CD products really worked for me. Maybe because it was the first brand I had tried with mostly natural ingredients, I don't know, but what I do know is that my hair started to thicken up considerably, I started to see my curls, noticed my curl pattern. It was a really beautiful moment for me. At that point, I knew it was over with chemicals and my hair.
Part 2 will follow....
