There were days when I wished that I had hair like my mother. My mother had loose curls and finer hair. I inherited the fine hair and not the loose curls. My hair was fine yet coarse and sensitive to perms. If I wet my hair and apply a product to it, all my curls rise to the surface, and when my hair is dry or combed out, my curls would disappear into fluff. It took me years to see and understand the beauty of my hair.
Childhood Memories
When I was a kid, my hair got so long that my mother would send me to school with a large bun in my hair. Then, after getting my hair braided all the time, I was a patient little kid because I had a full head of hair, and braiding my hair usually took the whole day. When I got to high school, I started to relax my hair and do blowouts. I remember sitting under the hair dryer with rollers for what felt like hours, and then after that, I got my hair flat ironed to seal in the straightness.
College Transformation
When I went to college, I decided to go natural. I was done with relaxers. I noticed there was breakage, and I decided to cut off all my hair, that is when I realized how curly my hair was. I was amazed at how much more my hair resembled my mother's curly hair. Being natural felt so freeing to me. I loved jumping in the shower without having to worry about getting wet. After being natural for a while, I did start straightening my hair again, with surprising results. It was coming out pretty much the same; no relaxers were needed. I embraced the versatility of my hair and became Rihanna for a while with a mohawk haircut. I walked into men’s barbershops and got faded and cut so short that I was ready for duty.
The Quest for the Perfect Products
It took me many years to try different products, styles, and whatnot. I know that a lot of black women like myself have a graveyard of hair products that they used once and never used again. In the search for that perfect formula of hair products that will make our day-to-day easier, I know I’m always looking for the best curly hair products for my curls. If you had asked me about my hair when I was a teenager, I would have told you it's a nappy course, and I only knew one way to manage my hair.
Rediscovering My Infinite Possibilities
If you ask me now, my hair is full of infinite possibilities. I can braid it, straighten it, and add more length to it. When I look back on old pictures of me, the first thing I notice is my hair. It is the record keeper. I can tell you where I was in my life, what I was doing, and who I was just by the look of my hair. Currently, I don't do as much with my hair as I did in the past. My focus has shifted to having healthy hair rather than having multiple hairstyles.
Embracing the Magic
My hair and I have come a long way. I allow myself to grow more often now than I have in the past. I have my cut it all off moments, lol, and they seem to be few and far between as I seem more at peace with my hair. When I touch my hair, I feel this magical hair that has captured people's interest and fooled people as well. A barber I used to have would tell me my hair was like magic because it looked thick but was really thin and would grow like a weed.