1. How long have you been natural?
I BCed in January 2010. So 9 months.
A. I didn’t enjoy getting relaxers.
B. I don’t find straight hair attractive.
C. I didn’t want to be a slave to my hairdresser every couple of weeks for
the rest of eternity.
D. The chemicals in a relaxer are NASTY and probably carcinogenic.
E. I wanted to show people that long, straight hair isn’t what made me
beautiful. It’s my eyes, my lips, my nose, my voice, my smile. Hair is
3. How long did you transition and what was your routine?
About 9 months. Well I heat damaged some of my new growth. Then I tried a
About 9 months. Well I heat damaged some of my new growth. Then I tried a
weave for the first time in my life, but that caused major breakage.
Eventually I grew some cojones and bit the bullet.
4. How did you BC? Self BC, salon or a friend/family member?
I went to my scissor happy stylist at his salon. And he’s clueless about
natural hair. He didn’t detangle properly, used too much heat on my virgin
hair, and he threw some alcohol based gel on my head, thinking he was
doing me a favor by giving me crunchy helmet hair. But I smiled and
tipped and conditioned and moisturized my hair properly that night.
5. Do you have any hair goals?
Yeah, I want to be able to hide a kitten in my ‘fro. And block people from
seeing the dry-erase board in class.
6. Whats your favorite natural hairstyle and how do you achieve it?
I like making a frohawk out of an old twist out. I just pin up the sides
and walk out the door.
7. How did your perception of beauty change once you went natural?
It didn’t. I’ve always liked highly textured hair. I was just a sheep and
wanted to fit in when I got a relaxer. But I quickly exhausted the few
manipulations you can do with relaxed hair, and ended up with my hair
hanging limply around my face or thrown into a ponytail. I looked boring.
Now my hair reflects who I am: brave, gravity-defying, confident, sweetly
scented, earthy, creative, flexible, and though people think I’m hard,