this is my hair journey

In honor or throwback Thursday, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at one of the stars of this blog—my hair. Many people have asked me to make a hair journal of some sort to show the progress of my life as a straight hair girl to today, and with as hectic as my life has become recently I felt like now more than ever is the perfect time for a cheesy clip show. Remember those?

 

So let's start from the very beginning (a very good place to start!) I was always "natural" in fact the word "natural" feels…unnatural to me. Regardless, to be a curly girl was the norm until I enter the world of socialization. After being teased at school and nose turned up at church for having "wild hair" my mom and I started to press it out. We did maybe one or two texturizers as a kid, but it didn't get my first real relaxer until college. AND BOY WAS THAT A DUMB IDEA….

 

Fast forward to 2008 my 2nd year in college. I volunteered to be a hair model for vidal sasson, and home girl flipped OUT when she got me as a model. Sure I went in with my hair straight, but as she washed it, and it began to curl and she began to cry. The instructor encouraged me to wear it naturally curly, but I refused. Besides what kind of hair modeling gig is a hair wash? Unfortunately, she went scissor crazy and took my shoulder length hair up to my ears. What you can't see is she also buzzed the front. I was bummed out, and I cried.

 

FORTUNATELY, It was the perfect transitioning time. I still didn't feel like curly hair "suited me" so I wore extensions, and continued to cut off my dead relaxed ends. I also started dying it, all the colors I could! (this would be 08-09)

2010 was a big year for me. I got my first apartment, and I started wearing my hair curly. But want to know the real reason? I got tired of feeling dirty and having a constant brigade of breakouts! So my only option, WASH IT. And washed it I did, and my curls started to come back (after some years of heat training) In 2011 I lived in New York and Paris for a while. It really changed me. When I went to Paris for the first time in my life did I feel beautiful and like a NORMAL PERSON. I didn't look strange to anyone, I just blended in. In fact my mom would lose me in the waves of mixed frenchies like moi. My hair was no longer a style of convenience, it was a piece of who I was.

When I got back to Chicago I started blogging BIG! And I felt like my "new hair" incorporated the new me! But as all curly girls do I started using too much heat on my hair to stretch it and dry it in Chicago's cold never-ending winter. So after it got FRIED UP, I had to start again.

 

That's when Hair Rules contacted me to model for them in Chicago, I got a consultation and a much needed cut. My curls sprung back with SUCH LIFE! It was better than I have ever imagined! Even the texture changed!

2012 had some trims, but I tried to make sure I was deep conditioning! Keeping things simple allowed my hair to grow. Overall, it was a simple year!

2013 I started to get my health back in order (if you look carefully you can see my pack on the pounds and then start to lose them over the timeline, HAHA ^^"") I started eating raw more, juicing, and my hair and skin responded well!

 

TODAY, well.... today I think I learned to let it go. There was a time where I wished my hair was perfect, big, long, mermaid-esque. And sure we all get hair envy, but I want to love this person that I am. I like my messy curls! And even though they aren't like so and so's…they are just like me.

What's your story? I would love to hear it! Plus I've been debating doing a hair video, what do you think?

Questions? ASK AWAY! If you want to get a hold of me directly you can contact me on instagram @avantblargh. (discreetly: usagiskitchen@gmail(dot)com)