My Hair Confessions & Lessons
These last couple months I have been contemplating a change. I think it has more to do with were I am in my life and career, but I have been dissatisfied with something. What I recently realized is I took it out on my hair. I tried to push drug use (creamy crack) OUT of my mind. I verbalized “straight hair” to people around me and they all came to a consensus: THAT IS NOT ME. My personality is not flat so why should my hair be? Still, I was going through something.
FIRST MISTAKE
I had a light-bulb moment about a week ago. I will color my hair. I got several opinions from my family, and I posted on twitter (my other family-lol) and got a response from Sasha, the creator of NH Blog, and a Natural Hair Guru!! Her response was CLEARLY this –à 0_o. Those who have twitter understand. Anyway, being the Pisces that I am…when I post a question, I already know what answer I am looking for…I decided to give color a try.
SO, D-day (dye day) arrives. I chose a Dark and Lovely shade called Burgundy Plum or something. It was 9 dollars for two boxes. Before my sister applies it she says “Are you sure?”. “Yes, I am sure”, I reply, Here goes nothing. I only dream about it making all my hair fall out…and to me being “Natural” does not include color. So what was I doing?
“I CHANGE MY MIND!!!” I screamed that and literally jump out the chair. It was like watching a poorly acted Twilight film. I had wasted her time and my money, so I agreed to do a test strip. That strip didn’t really come out any different, but in my mind my hair is now only 98.9% natural.
SECOND MISTAKE
For the past 4 years I have avoided heat like the bubonic plague. Something, and for time purposes I shall blame on the media, told me that straight hair would solve my hair blues. So again I let my sister experiment. She blew it straight and flattened it straighter than I have seen it in years. It was sooo not me. And it wasn’t even cute.
* I purposely left out a picture…sorry guys lol*
Needless to say, it lasted a night then was in a ponytail-which was a complete waste of time and ponytails scream, “Break Me!!” So I knew what I had to do…
Getting #BACK2NaturalLiving
I watched some hair tutorials on YouTube and looked at old pictures. I wanted the old Natural Emerald back. So I went in the bathroom mirror and parted my hair in sections. I wet each section, one-by-one, and watch to make sure it reverted back to my curl pattern. Then I braided it up.
Tada!! A BRAIDOUT AT IT’S FINEST!!!!!
“We fight and makeup…it may try to break up on me when it feels like I am not taking care of it properly. When we have our good days it has a glow to it. Even on days when I can’t stand it, I love that it is still willing to grow and change, as I grow and change. I sometimes distance myself from it and say “I can’t do this anymore!!” but I always come back. My natural hair and I are in a committed relationship. Sometimes I just need to remember that. Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone…”
-Emerald J
@didditonem (twitter)