I figured it would be beneficial to talk about my hair background prior to my natural hair journey.
I first straightened my hair in 7th grade and was hooked. Suddenly, my hair was smooth and not frizzy! I got addicted. Thankfully I was always great at using heat protectant and rarely used a blow dryer, but it was still hard on my hair. I went through phases on and off of using heat from 7th grade on. There were years where I would only put heat on my hair a couple of times a month. Throughout this whole time, I used the drugstore hair brands which were full of silicones and sulfates. In college I used heat on my hair about once a week. Until I got my hair cut short during pregnancy back in 2015…….
That’s when my hair really took a hit. The haircut itself wasn’t suited very well for my natural hair, and this was in a very remote area. So that’s when I started heat stying because I hated the way my hair looked otherwise.
Photos of My Hair Background
Apologies on the photo quality, cell phone pictures weren’t that great in 2013.
I should also mention that pregnancy definitely made my hair thinner and coarser (a strange combination I know). Prior to that I barely used heat on my hair. If only I could go back…
The Breaking Point
Anyways, my hair was now full of split ends and dry as the desert in July. I’d had enough and knew I wanted a change, so I booked a hair appointment and trimmed off the split ends. The hairdresser said my hair was actually quite healthy, but to me it felt VERY damaged from what I knew it could be. I then made the search for new products. And led me to begin my natural hair journey in March 2017. Yay! So that’s my hair background, take it for what it’s worth I guess.
With Motivation,
Rachel
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[…] I’m almost three months into my natural hair journey (see my hair background here), and I’ve had to buy a new set of products since I used up the set I began with: the […]
Your hair looks so healthy and shiny! I have 2B hair as well and I still haven’t taken on the curly girl method! But I wish my waves would look as healthy as yours! Could you help me with how to start this journey? I’m pretty sure I’ve dried out my hair blow-drying it every time I wash!! Thanks ♥️
Aditi, Thank you! Your hair probably is a bit dry from blow drying. I do think the curly girl method can be helpful at first. Depending on budget, I recommend either the NYMN Blue Sea Kale line (I have a LOT more info on it here), or the Deva Curl “How to quit Shampoo” wavy kit. I started with Devacurl because I didn’t know of anything else, but there are a LOT of curly girl friendly options at the drugstore. This includes a lot of “Low Poos” which are shampoos that are sulfate free. For styling, I looove Aussie Instant Freeze. If you need help with how to apply the products, check out my previous hair routine post because I got into a LOT of detail on how I use each product, detangle etc. Good luck!