I have gone natural people. NATURAL. That’s right! No more permanents, straightener, relaxers, whatever you want to call them. No more chemicals. I am here for the naturalness. Just my hair and the products I put in it, which is almost none. It officially happened on August 9th. How did this come about, you ask? Let me explain.

A few months back my hair broke off in the back underneath. It was noticeable, real noticeable. My hair could be in a ponytail, straightened, any hair style and the damage could be seen. I’m the first one to admit that I don’t keep up with my hair maintenance like I should. Its expensive and relaxers should be done every 6-8 weeks, according to most hair stylists and hair books out there. I was more like every 3-4-6 months, if i remembered. So my usual hairdresser was ignoring me because she was in her feelings. So my mother called around and managed to find a stylist to do my hair. Her stylist. In Charlotte! A 2.5 hour drive trip west. So my mother, middle sister, niece, and I headed to Charlotte one early morning (3:45am). We were all going for different things, them weave related appointments, me, a relaxer and cut. The last relaxer I had was April 2018. Mind you this was August 2019, so technically I was already natural but not officially. I was last to get my hair done and after washing my hair, the stylist decided she was not going to relax the hair. She said my natural curls were too gorgeous to get rid of. I assumed she didn’t want to take the time to relax my hair and cut it to even length.

After about 15-20 minutes of poking, prodding, and convincing, I decided to go al natural. It was so hard at first. She was just a cutting. Snip snip here, then there, then all over the place. I was in complete and utter shock. My mouth was hanging open with my hands over my eyes because I couldn’t stand to watch anymore. She was just cutting off what remained of the relaxed ends but still, my hair was on the floor. Hair I have been growing forever. She washed my hair again, put me under the dryer for a few minutes, then ran some Eco Style gel through my hair. The gel had olive oil, shea butter, and black castor oil in it. I got the largest tube I could find, just in case.

We were all going for different things, them weave related appointments, me, a relaxer and cut. The last relaxer I had was April 2018. Mind you this was August 2019, so technically I was already natural but not officially. I was last to get my hair done and after washing my hair, the stylist decided she was not going to relax the hair. She said my natural curls were too gorgeous to get rid of. I assumed she didn’t want to take the time to relax my hair and cut it to even length. After about 15-20 minutes of poking, prodding, and convincing, I decided to go al natural. It was so hard at first. She was just a cutting. Snip snip here, then there, then all over the place. I was in complete and utter shock. My mouth was hanging open with my hands over my eyes because I couldn’t stand to watch anymore. She was just cutting off what remained of the relaxed ends but still, my hair was on the floor. Hair I have been growing forever. She washed my hair again, put me under the dryer for a few minutes, then ran some Eco Style gel through my hair. The gel had olive oil, shea butter, and black castor oil in it. I got the largest tube I could find, just in case.

I was loving the hairstyle. Ignore the arm in the upper photo. Its my mother’s. She was feeling and touching all over my new naturalness. It was airy, light, so adorable, and short. Short because the curls were tightly wound, as you can see from the back. When pulled straight out most of the curls stretched to shoulder length or longer. This made me smile because I know I didn’t lose as much hair as I thought I did.

Now that I really love my new hair(style), I realized it was time for me to figure out how to really take care of it. By that I mean much better than I had when I had a relaxer. The stylist suggested that I use ECO Style gel and a curling cream. There are quite a few of them flooding the hair styling market. So I headed over to Google and with their amazing capabilities, I quickly found the Shea Moisture line of hair products for curly hair. To be more precise, I found the Coconut and Hibiscus line of products. They have shampoos, conditioners, hair smoothies and souffles, and masques. Everything!

The products are amazing and the scent is amazing, not overpowering. I have bad dandruff, so I use Head and Shoulders Anti-Dandruff Shampoo first, then I use the shea moisture shampoo. My hair is soooo soft afterward that I hate to do anything to it after I’m done washing it. I will blog about the individual items in a new blog next. But my praises are high for the line and the anti-dandruff shampoo. On a smart shopper side note, the Head and Shoulders Shampoo and Conditioner combo is selling for $12.99 for 13.5 fl oz bottles on Amazon. Check it out. You won’t be sorry.