The natural hair movement and why I went natural

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Why I went natural and have never looked back!

In 2011 while randomly searching the web I discovered the natural hair community and decided to go natural. I got my last relaxer on June 30th a date I cannot forget because it coincides with independence day of the DRC hence my independence from the creamy crack lol

I was amazed at the pictures of beautiful afros I saw and for a minute I thought the women with such beautiful hair were wearing wigs because how could a black woman someone possibly have so much hair. I mean I believed it used to exist but maybe before colonial times? In any case I had never physically seen anyone with that much hair. I eventually started reading up on natural hair and the benefits and realised that relaxers were not for me. From my first relaxer at the age of 7 that I had begged my mom to get to my last relaxer at the age of 18 I had gotten burnt every. single. time.

 Later big chopped but but it wasn’t just a big chop for me. It was a big bald chop. In the beginning I struggled internally but this forced me to redefine my standards of beauty and made me realise how much I measured and associated my beauty with my hair. It also made me realise how much the world was fixated on a European standard of beauty because after the chop remembered how I thought I was so beautiful after my first relaxer because “now my hair can sway :)”

Although natural hair is beautiful and just amazing I’d be lying if I said bad hair days will cease to exist or that it will always be a breeze to take care of. Frustration? That happens and sometimes you might feel as if your hair just won’t cooperate with you but when that happens you always learn a lesson  what not to do next time. It requires gentleness, patience and care.

On the other hand here are the amazing I’ve gained form keeping natural hair:

• Natural hair is beautiful and very flexible.
• You can wear it up, down, straight, curly without long-term commitment or changing its natural state.
• My hair is healthier
• I am more informed about my hair and health and have become a conscious shopper and this doesn’t ony apply to my hair product shopping but has extended to shopping in general. 
• I have learned to take pride in my hair, skin and origin. My black was always beautiful. This has just made me see this clearer
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