I've braided, weaved, wigged, colored, relaxed, latch hooked, wrapped, & shaved. Sometime before the Summer of 2009, I had enough. I decided to finally allow my hair to grow naturally. I had been wearing my hair shaved close to my head for the past couple years, so it wasn't a difficult decision to make. There was no "big chop" (cutting off processed hair) experience for me. As with everything, I began researching. I discovered a huge natural hair community on YouTube. Just search for "natural hair", "natural hair care", "natural hair styles", or "styles for short natural hair". I was so grateful to find other women of color sharing their experiences with their hair. I have a friend who had natural hair, but she struggled with her hair until she finally gave up and got her hair relaxed after a couple years. Natural hair is not EASY. I spent at least 30-40 mins everyday in the shower combing my hair out with conditioner. I owned gallons of hair products...I never found anything that was "just right" for my hair. The products were either too greasy, made my hair hard, or smelled bad. I was also careful to stay away from products with mineral oil and alcohol.
I was so fed up with my hair by March that I started seeking someone to braid my hair. I quickly changed my mind when I remembered how much work it is to take braids down. So, you see I am not patient. I wanted something low-maintenance. I always loved the look of locs, but I knew I didn't have the patience to wait for my hair to loc. I am also accustomed to wetting my hair on a daily basis. That would not work for the palm rolling method. So...I began researching dreadlocks. I discovered that there are several methods to achieving dreadlocks. After learning a bit about the different kinds, I choose to get my hair interlocked.
March 2010 I decided to loc my hair. I just new that when I searched for interlock salons, I would find a bunch. After all, I am in the Bay Area where everyone wants to be natural about EVERYTHING! I found just a few people advertising dreadlocking using the interlock method. Thank goodness for Yelp...that's how I discovered Beautiful Loks by Moraa. After reading the reviews from her customers, I knew she would be right for me. What really sold me was reading these 2 reviews:
I called and set up a consultation the following week. Bye bye comb!
I've had natural hair for so long (over 20 years)and it always fascinates me that there are "support groups" and the like for natural hair. I understand that hair is important but when I decided to cut my hair, I just cut it - not a popular decision at the time but I suppose I was a 'revolutionary".
ReplyDeleteNow I've had my hair loc'd for over 10 years and while I won't classify it as simple to maintain, I will say that I enjoy being able to get up and go without worrying about how long it is going to take to get my hair fixed.
I'm so glad that you found someone that you like to do your hair that is always a challenge!
Yay for the blog and for the locs!!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading more about your locing (?) journey. Like you, I'm in the process of getting to know my natural hair ~ it's been a challenge but I'm enjoying the process. Although I'm not locing (?) my hair, I do look forward to picking up tips and tricks from you.
ReplyDeleteMy heart is swelling :) Thanks for your support. I love my Twitter peeps!
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