My Hair Story – Amara

Are you relaxed, natural, texturized or texlaxed?

Texlaxed

What’s your story, how did you get to where you are?

When I was younger I always had long, thick and full hair. Long hair runs in my family and I had always wanted hip length (HL) hair like my mother. Coming up I was always considered as being the girl with long hair, the other African American girls that I grew up with had short thin hair and never seemed too get passed neck length.

I got my first relaxer the day before I graduated from Elementary School to Middle School. My hair was bra strap length with my first relaxer.

Then I became a teenager…..Started “smelling myself”, thinking that I could take care of my own hair all by myself…….That was a MAJOR FAIL!

I started using all kinds of products and not paying attention to the ingredients, I didn’t know how to put my flat iron* and my curling irons* down. I always kept my hair styled BUT it wasn’t really considered as a “PROTECTIVE STYLE” because I wasn’t properly taking care of my hair while it was styled. Basically I got weaves and braids but I totally neglected my hair under the weave.

I washed my hair when ever I felt like it and I didn’t realize how unhealthy and how disgusting that was. I started letting any and everybody put their hands in my head which is a huge no no. Basically everything that I was doing was wrong, I cannot think of one thing that was correct.

I didn’t know how to properly take care of my relaxed hair so my hair started to gradually break-off. My hair eventually broke-off to neck length which was the shortest my hair had ever been. Even as a child when I was 3-5 years old when stretched my hair was close to being arm pit length (apl).

So I got my mother to give me a big chop (bc) even though it hurt so bad because I had no idea what would happen from there, I had never in my life had short hair so this was a big deal for me and my mother. I was 18 years old….just graduated from high school and I got my bc around September 2009. My hair was cut right above my ear.

I found out early that I didn’t care for being natural. Natural hair isn’t for everyone just like relaxed hair isn’t for everyone. I had to realize that my relaxed hair wasn’t successful because I didn’t allow it too be. So I didn’t say that the relaxer broke my hair off because it didn’t, I caused my hair too break off at that time because I wasn’t given my hair the attention that it needed.