Natural Hair

A few days after the hubz birthday, I decided to do the "big chop" and rid myself of creamy crack forever... okay, maybe not forever, but I am hopeful! For anyone that doesn't know what "creamy crack" is, it is the evil relaxer that black women torture themselves with every six weeks in order to have straight, manageable hair. I say manageable hair, because all of my life that is what I had been brainwashed to  believe. I was taught to think that my hair would be easier to manage if I "tame" it. Looking back, I absolutely hate that way of thinking. Why should altering my hair type be considered the right thing or BEST thing to do? Is my hair... the fabulous hair God blessed me with wild and barbaric? I think not! I think that my hair is a treasure that only a few of  us on this earth have the pleasure of possessing. The only problem with my hair type is that there is such a lack of knowledge and education about how to care for it that most women find it easier to just take another hit of the crack. I have so much to say about my natural experience that the following rants will be completely random... which is fine and easier for me because that is how my mind works.

• Petroleum and mineral oil are not good for the hair or body. As a matter of fact, I will be glad when they are removed from store shelves. Petroleum jelly is made from gasoline (petrol) and mineral oil is the bi-product of it. Because petroleum jelly manufactures could not figure out how to dispose of the waste product from making it (because it can not be broken down or destroyed) they decided to market it as mineral oil. So many "black" hair and body products contain these ingredients, because they give the false sense of moisture and shine. However, neither of these products can be absorbed by the body and actually block pores and follicles from ridding the body of toxins. Learning this blew me away because I used to actually "grease" my hair and body with Vaseline and baby oil thinking I was providing moisture... Hahaha! The joke is on me! The most frustrating part about it, though, is I can't share this knowledge with my peers because their cousin's aunt or their grandma's grandma always used it and they had long, healthy, and flowing hair....
• On that note, I was in Ulta Beauty Supply (my new secret refuge) looking for a hair product when I mistakenly asked the women working in the salon how I could figure out whether or not a product was water-soluble (they didn't know.) Somehow the conversation led to me stating that I didn't use products with petroleum or mineral oil. That's when the woman holding my hair stuff stated, "Well this has corn oil in it and that is a mineral. I'm sorry ma'am, but I don't think you will ever find a product without mineral oil in it. Aren't minerals good for you?" The other stylists all nodded in agreement.... "yeah, corn oil is mineral oil!" they said. *facepalm* and walk away...
• I really hate hearing, "that looks really good on you, everyone can't go natural. It doesn't look good on everyone." What do you mean? I am sorry, but I am inclined to disagree with that philosophy. I think that everyone can rock whatever grows from their scalp. It's all about how you care for it and presentation. God don't make no mistakes! I am pretty sure that if he felt that tight coils did not look good growing from our scalps, he wouldn't have blessed us with them. Side note: I only hear this from black people addicted to the creamy crack.
• I was giving a ride home to two beautiful girls last Wednesday... one, a dark-skinned black girl with short hair and the other, a light-skinned black girl whose hair touched her back. I heard the darker girl confide to the other girl that she hated her hair and wished it was long like hers. My heart broke. I decided though, to save my "All women are unique and beautiful" talk for another time. I am working on how to integrate that into a future lesson for my girl scouts.
• My mother has hair that most black women would die for. It is long, touching the middle of her back, and wavy. My baby sister also has beautiful hair. She has never had a relaxer and her hair is soft, curly, and somewhat short. It wasn't until I made the decision to cut my own hair that I realized how brainwashed my own family really is. My mother was devastated when I told her my plans. She told me that Black natural hair was ugly and nappy (that word makes me cringe). She said my husband would "step out" on me or possibly even leave me if I cut off all of my hair. My sister was there listening to the whole conversation. She even added in her own two cents and said that short hair was ugly. It wasn't until then that I realized that my sister hated her own hair. Even though she has some of the most beautiful hair I have ever seen, she is afraid to show it off for the rest of the world to see. She spends hundreds of dollars every year on weave to cover those soulful locks of curls growing from her scalp... and my own mother encourages it. I immediately left my mothers house and headed straight to the beautician. "Cut it all off!" I told him. Twenty minutes later I felt free and liberated.
• I find that my hair is more manageable now than when it was "relaxed." I no longer have to run from rain or dread Georgia's humid summers. I am no longer a slave to the flat iron and my weekly hair washings take half the time it took before. I know that sounds backwards, but when you don't have to worry about blow drying and flat ironing anymore it makes life easier.
• I have gotten the most positive feedback from White men. They tell me my hair is beautiful and compliments my dark skin. They tell me that when every black woman wears her hair straight, that is equivalent to a white woman dying her hair blond. If everyone does it, no one stands out. They tell me how weaves look dirty and uncomfortable. They, these white men, tell me what black women need to hear from black men.

They tell me that my Black is beautiful and so is my Black, naturally  curly, and

nappy

hair!