Damaged Relaxed and Dyed Hair (relaxed days)

Hi Maicurlies,

From my Transition to my Natural Curls

Last night I was reminiscing by going through photos of my friends, family and I and started going as far back as the year 2000! As I was going through the photos I kept on cringing the further back I went…why you ask? Well apart from some of my “fashion sense” which were questionable and cringe worthy at times… I noticed how my hair looked! Now I really do not know if at the time I was living in my own little bubble (I do remember not liking my hair at all) but I never seemed to be at the point where I wanted to hide indoors because of my hair. Although looking back now I maybe should have! Anyways so I was clicking through photos and decided to collect a few of them to make a sort of “montage of time” (I miss developing actual photos…technology!)

I simply did this in the hopes that it might help motivate someone out there that is considering going natural, transitioning, recently Big Chopped or Newly Natural (perhaps even already Natural!) It is funny looking back at how my hair has changed since going natural. Apart from the obvious drastic improvement after I stopped using relaxers and actually taking care of my hair I notice a change from when I finally stopped using chemical dyes. I was a dye FREAK! I went through colors like people change clothes! It did have its toll on my hair which is why I personally choose to stop. Anyways ladies I think the pictures summarize what I am trying to say :)!

So if anyone is reading this and is in need of a little inspiration…I hope this will be a form of comfort. I started out with what I now call a bit of dry, brittle, fragile, thin and strangely colored straw-like hair (after my last relaxer and transition) to what I proudly call Maicurlz!!! 😀

I have posted the same picture in a new page under the “Mai Hair Journey” Tab called – ‘(2009 – 2013) Summary Look’ but added some details of each row.

I would LOVE to hear from you! What has your experience been? Have you gone through photos too? Are you considering going natural? Transitioning? Big Chopping for 2014? Let me know!

Thanks

Maicurls

From Relaxed to Natural Curly Hair

I figured I would put up some information about my Hair Journey from Relaxed to Natural Curly. Hold onto your seats people… it will be a long one! First, once again I am not try to bash Relaxers/ Hair Dyes or anyone who uses them. As I said in my first post, there are ladies who are able to take care of their Relaxed and/or Dyed hair. It just did not happen with me.

I should start at the beginning. As as child, my parents would style my hair in a lovely Afro (yes even my father would…he loved doing it!). I had my hair in its ‘natural’ state up until I was about 14.

That’s when I started to beg my mother to Relax my hair. I had several reasons as to why I thought I wanted it done 1. I thought if I had it ‘straight’ it would be easier for me to manage by myself because by then I was of course doing my own hair and I was having hard time with it. 2. All of my friends had straight hair. They seemed to jump out the pool/ shower/ wake up etc with hair that look like they left the Hair Dresser and I wanted that too. 3. I just did not know how to take care of my hair. After begging for what seemed like forever, my mum gave in (with A LOT of dread). My younger sister also followed into the Relaxer Journey eventually. And so began my Relaxed Hair Journey.

2004

After I got my hair Relaxed it still did not do/look the way I wanted/expected. I think I went into that Journey with this misconception that the Relaxer would be magic and I would have flowy straight healthy hair and all I needed was the Relaxer…little did I know that if I wanted HEALTHY hair I would actually have to do something to make & keep it healthy. My hair just got thin and brittle. It also seemed to look ‘lifeless’ so I would scrunch it with products to try and give it ‘body’

2005

Following my leap into Relaxed hair came Hair Dyes. I would Relax my hair and then after a few weeks Dye my hair. My mum would Relax my new growth and then I would re-dye my new growth and on and on went the cycle. I went through all sorts of colors ranging from light brown to dark but because I was using chemical on top of chemical my hair would sometimes end up…I do not know… an orangey/coppery/brown?

2008

Due to my overuse of chemicals and lack of proper care/ pampering/ moisture/ protection etc. My ends would eventually break off. Sometimes just the very ends and other times more. So I would have different lengths of hair throughout…some people would think I ‘cut’ my hair when it fact they were just breaking off. Even with the breakage I continued to get my hair Relaxed and would Re-dye it back dark when I got sick of the odd orangey/coppery/brown color. I sometimes would also blow-dry my hair and I had this really bad “flat iron” that did not have a setting option (it just went to piping hot). Overall, I just had damaged dry, brittle, weak, fine and at times strangely colored hair.

2009-2010

I went through this cycle until 2009. By then, I was tired of the breakage and the damaged unhealthy looking hair. I did not wake up one morning and think ‘Hey, I want to have my Natural Curls’. My leap into my Natural Hair Journey was not quite as “Romantic”. I just got tired of Relaxing my hair. So by the middle of 2009 I just stopped.

And then began the “transition phase”. I did not want to ‘part’ with the hair I had so I decided to trim my Relaxed ends as my new growth would grow out. So it was one snip at a time. Eventually by the middle of 2010 I had cut off all the relaxed ends. But I was still using Hair Dyes every time I got ‘bored’ and I was still not taking proper care of my hair in terms of doing protective styles, deep treatments, moisturizing and so on.

2009 – 2010 transitioning

2010 – got my natural curls back

2011

It was not until 2011 that I found out that my hair actually needed things like that deep conditioners, moisture, protection etc! This is where the ‘experimental’ side of me came out. I researched, read, watched videos, asked questions etc. This is also where my Trial and Error phase started. I would experiment with products and styles to see what my hair liked/did not like. 2011 was also the year where I decided I did not want to Dye my hair anymore. My hair was loving my new found passion of taking care of it and was rewarding me.

2012

By 2012 I pretty much had my routine down. Do not get me wrong I still looked out for new looks and methods but as I mentioned in my first post, I did not try to fix something that was not broken!

2013

I know there are things I could do a little better such as more protective styles (I love wearing my hair out), but I have to say my hair has never been this long or healthy EVER! And I am currently on a mission of incorporating as much natural products into my routines…I am basically making my own products! I like knowing what is in the products I use and since I am an experiment/mixing junkie I am loving this new natural journey!

It has been quite a Journey and I did have a few pit falls on the way. But I managed to get through them and not cave! I by no means have “perfect” hair and I am not a professional. I just know MY hair and I LOVE it!

I feel that this Journey is not over… I am always learning new things and want to continue to learn new things about my hair.

Thanks

Maicurls