Summertime can be either a good time for a naturalista, or a very, very bad time. In the past, products like Shea Moisture's Curl Enhancer worked wonders for my sad, frizzed up hair during the hotter months. Then I moved on to Eco-Styler this year. Long story short, a dame is tired and money isn't to simply be thrown around. It's always trial and error when it comes to rocking natural hair.
I've been sitting here mulling over the expenses of purchasing natural products versus getting dreadlocks. Along with searching for a good stylist, I've also been fluffing and huffing at my messy poofed up hair. The Summer in Chicago has been unusually hot and frustrating for me. My frizzy, nappy roots have made me want to do a series of things from flat ironing (I don't put heat to my hair, period) to going right back to the "creamy crack"--aka relaxing my hair again. I thought about going crazy and snipping it all off. I've even considered just getting super lazy and making a huge afro. I just don't have the guts for a big afro like some naturalistas.
Natural hair has it's ups and downs, and mine are all centered in the insane amount of difficulty my hair seems to enjoy throwing at me. I have combination hair like most naturalistas in this world. The back of my hair is something like 4a or 4b. The top and parts in the middle are simply 4c and something I personally like to call 4f and above. It will pretend to agree with whatever I put in there until about the middle of the second day. Then it just sits up there and laughs at me while I grunt and sound like a giant bull about to charge.
My hair loves water. It will drink it up and trick me into thinking my curls will look moist and perfect all day. Let it dry up, and it's another story all over again. It's almost as if my tresses are laughing and saying "what water? What hair milk? Girl, honeychild, think again!" See, I haven't quite gotten over a nasty comment someone made about my hair at a bus stop here about a year ago. It shouldn't matter, seeing as it was some dumb and young kid calling my unfurled bantu knots "crackhead hair", but it still hurt me. Sometimes when I see that black cotton candy after I'm done adding my sealant products to my hair, I can hear those comments.
I didn't choose to be natural to satisfy other people, however. I chose to be natural because I got tired of spending money getting my hair relaxed. I got tired of not being able to itch my own doggone head before I got a treatment. I know I wasn't born with straight hair, so why was I trying to rock it? I was just tired of it I guess you could say. Well, before I get into a long story about my hair and my life, I have decided to go over a product I tried before called Kinky-Curly and got semi-okay results from. When I used it, I used it as the rake-through instructions suggested to use the custard and got weird results. My hair looked like this--
I've been sitting here mulling over the expenses of purchasing natural products versus getting dreadlocks. Along with searching for a good stylist, I've also been fluffing and huffing at my messy poofed up hair. The Summer in Chicago has been unusually hot and frustrating for me. My frizzy, nappy roots have made me want to do a series of things from flat ironing (I don't put heat to my hair, period) to going right back to the "creamy crack"--aka relaxing my hair again. I thought about going crazy and snipping it all off. I've even considered just getting super lazy and making a huge afro. I just don't have the guts for a big afro like some naturalistas.
Natural hair has it's ups and downs, and mine are all centered in the insane amount of difficulty my hair seems to enjoy throwing at me. I have combination hair like most naturalistas in this world. The back of my hair is something like 4a or 4b. The top and parts in the middle are simply 4c and something I personally like to call 4f and above. It will pretend to agree with whatever I put in there until about the middle of the second day. Then it just sits up there and laughs at me while I grunt and sound like a giant bull about to charge.
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| The ol' fluffy frizzed out mess last night. |
My hair loves water. It will drink it up and trick me into thinking my curls will look moist and perfect all day. Let it dry up, and it's another story all over again. It's almost as if my tresses are laughing and saying "what water? What hair milk? Girl, honeychild, think again!" See, I haven't quite gotten over a nasty comment someone made about my hair at a bus stop here about a year ago. It shouldn't matter, seeing as it was some dumb and young kid calling my unfurled bantu knots "crackhead hair", but it still hurt me. Sometimes when I see that black cotton candy after I'm done adding my sealant products to my hair, I can hear those comments.
I didn't choose to be natural to satisfy other people, however. I chose to be natural because I got tired of spending money getting my hair relaxed. I got tired of not being able to itch my own doggone head before I got a treatment. I know I wasn't born with straight hair, so why was I trying to rock it? I was just tired of it I guess you could say. Well, before I get into a long story about my hair and my life, I have decided to go over a product I tried before called Kinky-Curly and got semi-okay results from. When I used it, I used it as the rake-through instructions suggested to use the custard and got weird results. My hair looked like this--
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| January 2010 |
And I was hoping my hair would look something like this--
When I saw that it came out still all shrunken up, I was frustrated. When I noticed the curls staying in place with a hint of crunchy, I just adjusted and agreed it was an all right product. It never dawned on me to use it as a twist-out agent. After seeing this video, I decided to give it one more try. Besides, I'm also trying to reduce how many products are in my regimen to begin with. So many times as a natural woman, we get caught up in becoming product junkies forgetting to listen to our hair. A 12-step program that might work for someone else might end up upsetting the balance of your own hair. For me, I just need a product that will get rid of buildup. I need a conditioner that will retain moisture and activate whatever kind of curls I've got. I need a styling agent that will help keep a cute curl with my twist outs or perm rod sets. And of course, I need some "day after" products to keep things fresh, smooth, and non frizzy. Especially when I have to re-twist.
Contrary to the arguments over whether my 4b/4c hair has no curl, I KNOW there's something in here. I've seen pictures of myself as a toddler with curly hair. Anyway, the entire idea of becoming natural was to ease the pressure and spending hella bank to get a look I want. This whole line of discovery has been so long and hard, but it has helped me to love and appreciate myself in so many different ways. There are times when I just feel downright ugly and super frustrated with my weight loss, and I just look at my big bushy hair and toss on some of my huge earrings for fun and feel like a queen all over again.
Beauty is such a hot topic for African-American women because it's a part of our identities in this world. We're mothers and thinkers and businesswomen all day, and sometimes we just want to have a moment to feel good about who we are. This could be in a style of dress, how we move, or even what we put in our hair. I will put it this way--in a world that sometimes sees us as "hoochie mamas" and women willing to toss our respect to the floor for attention, this is just another way for us to connect with other women and come together in a positive, expressive light. I look back at pictures of my own dearly departed mother and can totally appreciate her Earthy, relaxed, feminine style. The clothes didn't wear her--she wore them and wore 'em well. You could see the warmth, the love, and the giving nature in everything she wore. Aww heck, I might as well share my favorite picture of her....:-)
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| Part of the reason why I dig the color purple. <3 |