For as long as I can remember I’ve always had long, thick, coarse hair. However, as a little girl I didn’t really like the thickness or the extra time and effort it took my mother to wash and style my hair every week.
So, after years of begging, and on or after my 13th birthday, my mother finally gave in and let me get a relaxer in my hair.
I was so excited! The results were amazing- or so I thought. My hair was silky smooth and ultra straight. I remember running my fingers through my wet hair in the shampoo bowl, and being in awe of how good it felt to be able to run my hand all the way through my tresses without difficulty.
Fast forward to age 15. In a little less than two years post relaxer, my hair was thinner than it had ever been, and the shortest it had ever been.
I didn’t really notice it until my mother took me to the hair salon for maintenance and I was sitting in the chair on the brink of tears because the stylist was commenting on how damaged my tresses were, and that a hair cut- not just a trim- was what she was going to do to my hair.
I was crushed. I had never heard anything negative about my hair, from anyone, because I used to have healthy, thick hair.
I wish I could say that from that day forward I took the upmost care of my hair, and always got it treated, and trimmed on time, but I didn’t. It was a cycle. I would let my hair get healthy and then eventually I would let it get damaged again, and cut again.
Fast forward to college. This is where I started experimenting with sew ins. I was amazed at the fact that I could have straight long hair again, and didn’t have to take the time to wait and grow it myself!
I even tricked myself into believing that it was a “protective” style, because my hair underneath was braided up.