Natural Kitty'10

I, like many other African-American women was raised thinking that in order to have beautiful hair I needed to have a relaxer. I begged my mother for a relaxer in the fifth grade after being teased so long for having big curly/wavy hair. From then on, I continued to have relaxers every three months until I reached the tenth grade. At this point I decided that I did not need a relaxer and was going to grow my hair out. My decision to stop getting relaxers was partly due to the fact that I wanted to start coloring my hair but did not want too much chemicals in my hair. Anyway, this part was HELL! I got hardly any support from friends and family and everyone was almost betting that my hair would either break off or I would give in and get a perm. Unlike a lot of my other sisters out there I did not do a "big chop" and cut off my hair to the new growth. My hair was a little past bra strap length and I had never had short hair in my life. So I grew my hair out for about nine months and then cut off about five inches of the damaged relaxed hair to shoulder length. The picture above is my hair right after cutting off my relaxed hair and getting red permanent color.

Since I didn't have that much support or really know anyone that was natural, I never fully embraced my natural curls. I continued to straighten my hair weekly and colored my hair every three months. When I occasionally wore my hair in a curly fro I usually received comments like, "bad hair day?" or "what happened to your hair?".
It has now been almost five years since I have had a relaxer and in those years I've managed to keep my hair healthy but have not gained any length. Because of one of my girlfriends who had recently decided to go natural and do her BC, in the past six months I have been more conscious about what products I put in my hair. I would try to use more "organic" labeled shampoos, conditioners, and moisturizers.
It has only been in the past month that I decided to fully embrace my natural hair. After about a hundred YouTube videos on how to take care of natural hair, and TONS of research, I feel like I understand so much better about what to do with my hair. I've been experimenting with twist-outs, braid-outs, bantu knots and any other creative way I can think of to not put heat on my hair. This year as a part of my resolution, I hope to grow my hair five inches and actually maintain that length.
After so much research, I now know so much about what helps promote growth and what things are red flags for my hair. I couldn't believe that even the "organic" shampoos and conditioners which I thought were helping my hair so much, actually contained Sodium Laureth Sulfate that strips my hair of all the oils.This is part of the reason I end up using so much conditioner. I learned that there are more NATURAL ways to clean your scalp without stripping your hair of all its oils. Even if something says its organic, it still might contain chemicals that are not good for your hair.
I'm proud to say that it has been ten weeks and I am totally mineral oil, paraben, sulfate, and silicone free. I don't think my hair has ever felt so healthy and moisturized. I used to think that my hair looked its best when it was straightened with some loose curls at the end, but now I'm love the way my natural texture looks.

Welcome and click to get instructions on loading a pic

Welcome!!!

Hooray!! Welcome to the challenge I'm so excited that you've begun to embrace your natural curls and I can't wait to see some pics!

Welcome and enjoy

Welcome to the challenge!!

thankx for the instructions @ sweetdrk1

welcome to the challenge can't wait to see what you come up with as far as styles. Your story is so similar to mines it crazy and I don't have any natural ppl in my circle.

YW, your hair is beautiful!!

WELCOME AND HAVE FUN HERE

Such beautiful hair....welcome to the challenge!!!

welcome! your hair is gorgeous...i already cant wait to see more pics of it!

hey ladies! This is the style I decided to do this week. They are three-strand twists rather than two strand twists, which I usually do. I just learned how to do them the other day from ayamejoy on YouTube. It was really simple and I think they hold better than the two strand twists.

Ok can I just say WOW?!? Your hair is the business, no lie! Those twists are magnificent. I can't wait til my twists are that long

Oh yeah what color is that in your hair? It is fab

OMG!! that is beautiful!!

Those twist are beautiful!!!!!! Did you do them on wet or dry hair?

naturalkitty'10 wrote:hey ladies! This is the style I decided to do this week. They are three-strand twists rather than two strand twists, which I usually do. I just learned how to do them the other day from ayamejoy on YouTube. It was really simple and I think they hold better than the two strand twists.

OH..... MY...... GOSH!!!!! ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!!
I'll get there... Someday

You and your hair are ga-orgeussss!!! Can u say "curl envy"... Sigh... One day...

thank you ladies to all of you
@LynnieLuve I did them on wet hair and all I put in my hair was my whipped shea butter mix
@bholmes87 i have Soft Sheen Carson Light Golden Blonde in my hair now. It is not as bright as it was when I first dyed it and because this color is for hair that has no chemicals in it, it took to my hair in different ways. I dyed my hair a chestnut brown before this so when i dyed it the light golden blonde my undyed roots came out a lot brighter than my hair that was already dyed. It has evened out more now though, lol!

so i rarely do wash-n-gos just because i feel like my hair gets more tangled after 2 days versus doing twists or other styles. i also have many different curl patterns in my hair and it is a challenge to get it all to look the way i want.....BUT i decided to do one this week to see if more of my curl pattern is returning after not straightening for a while. I was pretty impressed with the turn out....i'm still not looking foreward to combing my hair tho, lol!

wow...beautiful hair!!!! It's soo BIG!! LOVE IT!! WORK IT!!

Don't know how I missed this thread--your twists are amazing. Your WnG is thick, full and beautiful!

How do you achieve your WnG--the more detailed the better? TIA

welcome. look at all that beautiful hair! glad you joined us!

You have a LOT of hair!!! I love your wash n go!