The Breaking Point—Literally.
This post was written on July 12th on a Tumblr that I started, but quickly abandoned. My thoughts are about the same, and I will be updating shortly with more recent developments.
Several weeks ago, I discovered this section of my hair and nearly died. I came across it after getting a touch-up and automatically attributed it to the relaxer being too strong and/or the hair dresser leaving it in for too long. It had to be a combination of that and too much heat styling—all too frequent flat ironing and Dominican blow outs. I would later discover another section of my hair that looked like this—like the hair was literally singed off from direct heat contact.
These problem areas in my hair are not the only reasons why I’m leaning towards transitioning to natural. I’ve been relaxed since the age of 11 and for the past 10 or so years my hair has been notoriously known for its thickness and strength. I’ve noticed a change in that recently and I’m going to go ahead and attribute that to the relaxers and heat styling finally catching up with me. While my hair is still considered thick, it definitely does not compare to what it once was.
While some may disagree, I feel that going natural would be the only solution for me to regain strength in my tresses. Besides, I’m so over relaxers. The process, the burning…it’s not for me anymore.
Big Hair Don’t Care will be where I document my transition to the natural “big hair” I used to have. I hated it as a child, but I’m anxious to get back to that state.
Currently, I am one month post relaxer so I have a long way to go for this new growth to really start kicking in. For the time being, I will be teaching myself about my hair and perfecting at-home treatments (ie. rollersets, deep condiitioning, etc.) and hairstyles (ie. protective styles).
I’m in information overload right now as I research different products and techniques that may help me strengthen my hair. I know there will be trials and many errors, but I’m willing to put in the work to get my hair where I want it to be.
