Ahh the beginning....and to think it didn't start off with me willingly wanting to "go natural". It began with a trip to my dermatologist. My hair was thinning in the nape of my head - again. After some evaluation, he simply said to me, "Trinita, you might want to think about going natural". I, very defiantly stated, 'Natural is not for me. My hair is "straight from the motherland", it's tight, it would be impossible to do." Amazing how I was so certain of my hair texture when I hadn't seen more than 6 weeks of new growth since I was probably 12 years old. He told me that he would never tell someone what they MUST do with their hair, only make recommendations based on his evaluation.
Well, I was planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas at the time and was already planning to get a full sew in for ease of hair care on my trip. So I got my last retouch on June 10, 2010, not knowing at the time it would be my last. While researching the best virgin hair for my sew in, I stumbled across a Youtube Vlogger who was using sew ins as a protective style for her natural hair. I purchased the hair she recommended and started following her site. It was about this time that I received the results back from the scalp biopsy that my dermatologist had performed during my visit - chemical (or scarring) alopecia. I had a conversation with myself. I said, "Self." Myself said, "Yes." I had the realization that if I continued to use relaxers, I was going to create so much permanent damage I wouldn't have any hair. And so, my natural hair journey began....reluctantly.
Below are two pictures of my relaxed hair prior to my virgin Indian hair installation. My hair has never been longer than shoulder length. Here it was about mid-neck length straight. I wore it curled to camouflage the thining I was experiencing in the back.
 |
| Salsa event - May 2010 |
 |
| May 2010 |
No comments:
Post a Comment