A Little Bit of Me: Back to the Crack

photo by: clairolpro.com


That's right, I'm giving in. Giving in (for real this time) to the CREAMY CRACK!!! This Thursday, August 13, 2009 marks one whole year of being completely relaxer free! The longest I had ever gone before that was about 19 weeks just before my wedding day. Then before that probably 12 weeks. August 13th also marks the day I've scheduled my relaxer!!!

My mom started applying relaxers to my hair at home probably when I was about 8 or 9 years old and I had been getting them done every 4-6 weeks ever since until I hit my mid 20's, did a little research and realized that my regular home relaxing regimen was the reason why my hair has always been so short and thin. Faaaaar too many black women think their hair CAN'T grow or WON'T grow because we just have "bad" hair or because that's just the way it is. Soooo FALSE! Majorly! The reality is that so many black women simply don't know any better. We all grew up the same way, getting our hair relaxed once a month or so to acheive manageable hair.

Well, I've since learned the errors of my ways and have learned alot about my hair over the past year while stretching my relaxers. Yes, as several of you know I HAD intended to transition completely to natural. However, I've recently decided that since I now know what my hair does and doesn't like and now that I'm equipped with the right tools for healthy hair, I can go back to relaxing and have better long term results.

From now on I will NOT be relaxing very 4-6 weeks or anywhere near that! Now, it will be 2, MAYBE 3 times a year TOPS! Some black womens' hair can handle getting relaxers more often. Mine cannot. So for me, the least amount of times I apply chemical to my hair, the better.

I'm sure several of you will be sad that I have chosen to go "back to the crack". There are many black women out there who feel you should embrace your natural hair and love it in all its glory. I believe that to be inevitably true. I really SHOULD embrace my natural hair because that is the LEAST damaging option. Natural is almost always the better option in most aspects of life. However, I also do not feel that you should look down on a woman who has chosen to be relaxed instead of natural. I have struggled with this for the past year. I set an appointment for a relaxer a couple months ago and cancelled it because I just wasn't sure. I thought I was being a "sell out". But yeah now.... I'M OVER IT! I like the manageability of relaxed hair. I like not having to devote hours and hours of time on my hair. I straight up just like relaxed hair! And that's why... I'm going back!!! And hey, if I decide I was wrong and I really do want natural hair afterall, I'll just start my transition journey over again and I'm okay with that!

I will be giving myself a protein treatment tonight to add strength to my hair before the chemical application on Thursday. Then I will deep condition and air dry. I will be taking before pix tonight as well so stay tuned to see what a years worth of NG (new growth) looks like on my type 4a hair! Then make sure to check in on Thursday when I post the update pix of my freshly relaxed hair!!! I'm so excited!