Hair is a sensitive issue for many black women. We find that the appearance of our hair in its natural state can potentially cause some obstacles. Having straight hair that is laid and looks more like the status quo is frequently more accepted in some workplaces. Fortunately for me, during my adult life, my natural hair has never kept me from employment and I’ve been accepted. However, there was a time when I was a teenager that natural hair was far from being the “in” thing and I desperately wanted a relaxer so that I could have hair that flowed like my friends. I had my first relaxer at 13 and it looked cute for a brief minute but I quickly found that rain and humidity were not my friends and I spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to keep my hair “together” which was not a problem when I had with natural hair.
I had to deal with overprocessing because my hair looks much thicker and resistant than it is (read nappy). I’ve cried because when my hair was washed more was in the sink than on my head so I had to wear short styles! My experiment with relaxing moved on to a Jerri curl...yes, a jerri curl. Not my finest hour but I didn’t look like I had that “soul glow” because I didn’t keep it wet and moisturized to death. However, I did get tired of the stickiness that came with maintaining that do! I had #switchersremorse and after about 5 years came back to my senses and went back to my natural hair. I’ve never been happier! So finally, finally, I returned my hair to where it started, it’s natural state.
Over the years I’ve worn my hair braided, loc’d, weaved, twisted, just about any natural hair style you can think of I’ve had it. And I am happy! I love my “nappy” hair and although I tried going both extra straight and extra curly, I’m perfectly happy with my hair in its natural state! Today it brings me joy to see so many women embracing their natural hair, when I did it over 25 years ago I was a bit of a unicorn but I’m in excellent company now!
Disclosure: This is a paid post for Verizon's #SwitchersRemorse campaign. If you switched away from Verizon and are regretting it, don't worry. They're making it easy for customers to come back. For more information head over to your local Verizon store.
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