well it's december 2nd around 9:30 am and i am on my way to work. ughhh, my hair is just not cooperatinng with me today but i still love her!  she seems so frizzy today and dry. i cowashed last night and mosturized but she still seems very thirsty. maybe i need to find a new conditioner for her for the winter!  so for tiday i am just going to pull her back into a pony tail and wear an afro puff... i am done fighting with her...because she always wins ( lol). but i will say that i am glad i transitioned and i am not a slave to the creamy crack anymore!!! it's been 2 years and i can honestly say that i will never go back to a relaxer.  i feel free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to someone and subject of hair came up. I will preface this by saying that person I was conversing is white and her interactions with African Americans are limited.  We were talking about religious beliefs and she was shocked to learn that I was COGIC (Saints Home Stand Up!!!!). She made statement that with my locs she thought I was Rasta or a Muslim. "It must be hard for you to walk into church with your hair like that." I replied that the thought never crossed my mind because when I enter the house of the Lord seeking his face is I all that I am concerned about.

We got on other subjects but her statement stood out in my mind. What did my hair say to other people? I have natural for a little under 8 years and been rocking locs for 17 months and never once given thought to how I may be perceived. Did professors and potential employers think I was a radical person  with a extremism outcome? More importantly why was it important? While I believe appearance can give a glimpse into one's personality I don't believe hair can tell the essence of someone.

I wear locs because I want to NOT because I want to prove a point or anger my friends and family.  I am scientist. I am scholar. I'm conversative in some aspects and liberal in others. I treat my body as temple. I like India.Arie and Maroon Five.  I can be rational and irrational in the same thought. I like red and likes to group items in sevens. This is personality, my hair is one extension of it and I shouldn't be judged by it.

My Montage 10/19/09

Hello everyone. I have been loced now for 5 years 2 weeks and 2 days now. I have been loving my loc journey. I examine and play in my hair almost everyday. It truly amazes me just how different every loc is. I have also realized thru the years that as my hair changes, it would not take products that I was using before. My regime is very simple. I wash and condition with Suave Coconut shampoo and conditioner. I also use organic black dye because for my under 40 age, I gray very quickly and in the front. I usually dye twice sometimes 3 times out of the year. In between washes, I use Organics Shea Butter with Tea Tree Oil and lately I have been using Sof n Free n Pretty's Carrot Oil. I really like the smell. I always keep a can of oil sheen to spray my hair with also.

So since I've gone natural I have noticed that more and more of my friends and family have become natural.  Some of them have even told me that the site of my natural hair inspires them to be let their kinks and curls loose. 

I was so shocked by my one friend.  I've never seen her hair before.  She always had weaves and wigs.  I just always assumed her hair was permed but she sent me a message today saying that her hair has been natural for 4 years and now she is gonna take the weaves off let her natural hair loose.  I am amazed to say the least.

It just makes me feel so good that more and more women are being themselves getting in touch with their natural roots.  When we find the beauty in ourselves then we can get the rest of society to see that a natural look can and is a beautiful look.  Big Ups!!!

I've only been 3 months natural and words cant describe how HAPPY i am. Ive learns so much about myself and i so excited to see what the future has in store for me. lol. Now im starting to push my self to try new styles with my TWA.  Products i'm loving right now are OYIN HANDMADE's juicies and berries (heaven's sent).

A friend and I were talking about our childhood and how that got us to where we are today. I can say I was an extremely mischevious child. I love playing pranks on my brothers and people at church. But I was also a child aware of my skin color and hair. I can remember as far back as kindergarten asking if I was mixed because I had such good hair for a dark skin person. 

 I can remember this Chinese lady coming up to me after a Bears ( GO BEARS!!!!!) game and telling that she could make my hair. This is probably where my hair obession started.  Even though I was a tomboy and couldn't figure for the life of me why I couldn't pee standing up, I would spend hours in the mirror just messing with my hair.

 My third grade year, I got my first perm. I walked into my class the next day flipping my hair and beamed in all the comments I got about my shiny tresses. This is began my faze with perms that would continue until I graduated from high school.

So I guess I'm just having one of those days!!! 1 of those I want my hair back kinda days :-/ Seems kinda silly when I think about it. I cut it off by choice, free will.... told my stylist if she didn't chop my 5 yr. old beautiful locs of love the eff off I was gonna do a Brit Spears! I was rebelling! Telling the world that it could take my job, my man, my apartment etc, but I was still in control so here take my hair!!!  Walked out the shop singing "Make me Over, Make Nice"!!!  I was screaming "I Am Not My Hair" India Arie style from the rooftops! Ha! Take that stinky, sucky, crappy asshole of a world!!!

But today, I just want my hair back....

Don't get me wrong, I Love my hair! Long, short, natural, or loc'd! I love getting up and only spending 10 minutes on my hair! Love using my God given comb (my fingers :-} to quickly, cutely and stylishly coif my doo.  Love the freedom of running thru the rain without care or worry that I won't be as cute as I was when I left the car. The perks of short natural hair are a plenty. But my long hairstyle offered perks too... right?!?!?

 To be continued... (I am thinking)

So my entire life someone else has always done my hair.  Even back when my hair was relaxed, someone else had to do it.  Being dependent on someone else can be very aggrevating.  For example, when I was in college it was so hard to find a girl who could braid my hair.  They would always end up having some baby mama drauma or just not show up.  This one girl was suppose to do my hair for my friend's wedding in Boston, never answered the phone.  I had to beg another friend to do my hair and luckily she was able to.

 After awhile I learned how to do two strand twist and install kinky twist myself.  But doing the same thing over and over again gets really boring.  So lately I've been determined to try new styles myself.  I've gotten use to my fro, so I rock that, I've tried some products but most of which haven't worked for me (kinky curly custard, miss jessies, but thats another story).  But I am still determined

The other day I decided to try flat twist in the front with regular two strand twist in the back.  I thought it looked rough but the other day a customer in my store said that he liked my hair a lot and it even caught the eye of  a hair stylist.  So now I have a lot more confidence in my work.  It may look a lil rough now but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually.  My goal is to be able to have a good cornrow technique down before January.

Hi FHP! I'm so excited to be a part of such a wonderful group! I have been looking for a community where I can discuss hair for DAYS and no one would get tired of it. I think I've found home :-). I've been natural now going on two years in January. My initial reason for going natural was because my hair was breaking off. I moved to Atlanta (and away from my stylist) in 2007. The weather here was UNBAREABLE and very damaging to my hair. My stylist from home used to perm my hair every 8 weeks but never used any heat products so my hair was healthy. But when I moved to Atlanta, it seemed that every stylist I went to wanted to perm my hair, then use additional heat to make it smoother. The use of chemicals and flat irons made me look like a scarecrow. Definitely not a good look! So shortly after New Years, I decided I would stop getting relaxers all together. It has been all good every since. Instead of going for the BC (I wasn't bold enough) I decided to just let my perm grow out of my hair. Now, I've heard the BC is 10 times easier than going that way and I must say, I wouldn't doubt it! Letting my hair grow out was extremely painful :-(. My hair went through so many stages of transition I didn't know how to wear it except for in a sew in or braids. But once I got through my first 6 months, I started to get a better handle on what to do with it. It took me a year and a half to be comfortable enough to wear my hair in a full fro but I LOVE creative twists and puffs. Anything I can come up with. I am also a PRODUCT JUNKIE!!! The only product that I stay true to is PANTENE PRO V women of color shampoo and deep conditioner. NO other shampoo makes me hair softer and stronger. As far as leave in conditioners, oil moisturizers, and shine boosters, I use cantu shea butter for the most part. I just recently ordered biosilk shampoo and conditioner and a new flat iron so I can press my hair for the first time since I've been completely natural. I'll post pictures and reviews once everything comes in!