Back To Natural: 1 Year Update

So around this time last year I did my own version of a “big chop” by letting my friend Sequena cut my hair. Sometime in the fall of 2017 I messed around and straightened my hair myself and used a blow out lotion to help; but I used way too much and left it in way too long, ruining what was left of my already weak curl pattern.

I thought that I was doing fine since I would only get my hair straightened once a month but I realize I was mistaken. From October 2017 to February 2018 I didn’t use any heat on my hair, so when my friend came to trim my ends she noticed I had 2 different patterns. Thus my decision to chop.

Before

During

After

In the past year, I’ve noticed that the curls in the front of my head were almost nonexistent while the back curled with no problems. I learned that my hair doesn’t like coconut oil or rice water, but it does like shea butter and Wild Grow. I’ve used various products from Design Essentials, TGIN, Cantu, Lotta Body, Curls, NaturallClub (I found that one on Instagram), and some others I have forgotten. I went through 5 bonnets and 3 satin pillow cases. I’ve used Jamaican Castor oil, Jojoba oil, Almond oil, Avacado Oil, Vitamin E. I even got to a point where I would mix a bunch of the oils and just use them all at once. I buy hair gel by the tub full. My sister introduced me to the Denman brush. And even though my hair is short, it still takes about 2 hours to do and I only know about 3 hair styles.

Hardly any curl definition

Over the year, I’ve noticed how much fuller and longer it has gotten in the back. The front part of my hair is curling like the back now and I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten rid of all the dead ends. My hair is almost as long as it was before I cut it (almost). I’m really glad that I did this and I’m excited to see how long it can get. I can actually get my hair into a ponytail if I tried.

Now, more defined curls

One of the 3 hair styles I know 🙂

Front is starting to curl

My sister wants me to stop with with wash and goes and embrace an Afro; I guess I’ve been avoiding it because I just LOVE seeing my hair curl up. It looks like waves to me; I’m almost addicted to it. If my scheduled allowed it I would have taken more time to document the process. But for now I’ll just continue to scroll Pinterest for style ideas that I’ll never do and products that I probably won’t buy. And I’ll go to YouTube for tips and information that I may only consider after I’ve consulted with my personal hair gurus (my sister and my friend).

I will be try to be better with documentation, even though this year has been a trial and error year and I’m sure I was going a lot of things wrong, I’ll share the journey.