I am proud to say that I am now Team Natural! I had my big chop (I cut off my relaxed hair) last week and I love it!

My last perm was in June and my big chop was on August 30. For those who don’t know what a perm is, it is a chemical that straightens my hair. I decided that I wanted to put a stop to the relaxer and to grow out my hair as it grows out of my head. I talk about embracing my height and loving myself the way God made me. But yet I am not embracing my natural hair texture. That might sound very superficial but it’s true. Before now I had no idea what my natural hair looked like. I decided to change all that. I decided to go natural.

If you haven’t realized by now, this post is not going to be about my height but about my hair. You have my permission to leave now if you wish. I won’t blame you.

My hair through the years. (left) About 20 yrs old. Probably the longest my hair has ever been. Don’t you love my braces? (middle) About 21 yrs old. I always wanted to cut my hair. When I finally did I loved it. (right) 23 yrs old. All natural.

I have had my hair relaxed since I was I want to say about 10 years old. It was always a lot more manageable when doing my hair when it was straightened. Not to mention that I was very “tender-headed” as a child. My hair never grew past my shoulders and most of the time I kept it in a ponytail. I got tired of that so I cut it first into a bob then a shorter cut. And boy did I love my short permed hair. But I’m ready for something new. I am tired of having to spend all day in the salon and paying all this money. I am ready to start taking control of my own hair care instead of depending on someone else. I am ready to embrace the fact that all of me is beautiful including my natural hair. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against other women who have decided to relax their hair. It is their choice and their hair. I just feel like this is what is best for me. I know that everyone may not like my decision to go natural, but I am doing this for me and no one else.

I decided to do my big chop sooner rather than later because I was tired of hanging onto the relaxed ends. It also didn’t help that my hair was already short so it was hard to style to camouflage the natural new growth. I love my natural hair. I am looking forward to growing it out and experimenting with different styles like twist outs, braids, bantu knots everything. I may continue to write about my hair journey here on the blog (let me know if anyone is actually interested in reading that). I would be interested in doing that just so I can look back years from now and see how far I’ve come.

Do I have any other naturalistas out there? Anyone else thinking about going natural?

Loving the Natural Me!

Elayna