Brown Sugah

       Naturally Me! 

                 By Sheena Shaw            

Natural hair is not always what it is cracked up to be for African-American women. It certainly is not for everyone. Being natural takes determination and patience to be a natural guru. When I went natural, it was a very random decision. This phase went on for a good 10 months until I got tired of rocking the t.w.a, (teeny winy afro). Now, I will admit that it was kind of cool watching my hair just grow like a chai pet.            

Some people like to transition, but I did not want to transition because it was too difficult to do. Transitioning meant keeping your existing hair and your new growth on your head before your big chop. Basically, maintaining the both textures at the same time. I decided I did not want to do this process and chopped off my hair completely.            

When it is short, you can do as many “wash-and- go’s” as you please. You simply wash your hair and then add leave-in conditioner to keep it moisturized. With the texture I had, I had cute little curls giving me a hairstyle all of its own. Moisturizing is much easier with short hair. You do not need a lot of products and it is sort of impossible to miss a spot on your head. You do not have to worry about messing up your hair or even getting stuck in the rain. Shockingly, the rain makes it even curlier and I used to love that.             However, once my hair started to grow, my hair journey got a little difficult. Usually, people with natural hair create a type of hair regimen, which is a set plan of when to use certain products throughout the next month or months.            

Assuming that nothing could hurt the natural state of my hair, I took it upon myself to get my hair colored. This resulted in a beautiful blonde, but it also altered my hair pattern. Originally, I had springy curls, but now it was loose wavy hair. My hair did go back to the cute curls after providing protein and conditioner. I constantly blow dried my hair because I like the bush look, but unfortunately I suffered heat damage. There are several things to look out for when it comes to wearing your hair naturally: color damage, breakage and heat damage. The “wash-and-go’s” did not quite work anymore because it was longer and need more taming than ever. So, it is best to get some protective styles for your hair.            

My hair hit this awkward stage, when there was not anything I could do with it, but to detangled it to avoid Brillo-pad hair every morning. After ten long months, I could not take the natural route anymore and relaxed it. For the strong natural hair people out there hang in there you can do it.