I’ve been a curly all of my life. I just didn’t know it. I inhereted curls from both of my parents; my mother’s were loose and wavy while my father’s were tight and small. From that mix, curls were free and poofy from a very young age. But in elementry school, they were hidden, brushed out and braided into two hideous braids. Later the enevidable would occur:
Chemical Treatments
My 11th birthday… that’s when it started. Blame it on tangled frustration, unrealistic expectations inflicted upon women, or simply those insecure preteen years, but I decided that I wanted straight hair permenently. I remember the first day I ever got a treatment. I went to the salon and I came out with my hair soooooo much longer. It was rediculously long! I was so happy and couldn’t believe how lucious it was. I was hooked! I would go back every couple of months to get a touch up.
Of course the thrilling years didn’t last long. When highschool started, I didn’t feel my relaxer was straight enough, so I begin using a flat iron almost on a daily basis. By the time I was 17 I couldn’t deny the breakage. I decided to cut my hair and stop using a flat iron. I still was relaxing my hair, but I reverted back to using only a blow dryer instead.
Goodbye Chemicals - November 2005
In my freshman year in college I decided no more chemical treatments! I got my last relaxer Nov. 2005 and waited about 2 months when something interesting occured. I felt my roots and there was a slight formation of curls! I was excited and decided I would grow my hair out for a couple more months before I chopped it off. Well, a “couple more months” turned into a year and I didn’t actually get my big chop until Jan. 2007. My hair looked soooo short (shrinkage). It was quite an adjustment for me to work with. Nowadays, its a little easier, and my hair has grown out a lot since that first pic, but I have a long ways to go until I read my first hair goal… BSL (Bra-Strap Length).
