40+ Naturals: Meet Michel!

NL: When did you decide to go natural and what went into that decision?

I decided to stop relaxing my hair last year. I have been a curly head all of my life and have often gone long stretches without relaxing but last year, I just decided no more. My last relaxer was in October of 2010.

NL: Did you transition over time or do a big chop?

At At this point I am not going to do a big chop. My hair is almost top of armpit length. When straightened and I have about 5 inches of new growth. I plan to keep growing it out and trimming out the straightened parts gradually.

NL: What are some of your favorite products and styles?

I have a lot of favorite products. When doing research on the internet and youtube, I came across people who were using castor oil, rosemary shampoo and organic coconut oil for growth. I regularly shampoo my hair with Rosemary shampoo and condition with Matrix Biolage with rosemary and Suave Humectant conditioner. I also use Garnier Fructis leave in Conditioner along with Hawaiian Silky. Other favorites that I use are Sally’s Silk leave in, Ojon Restorative conditioner and Eco Styler with Argan oil.

NL: Describe your expectations and feelings before you made the leap to natural. How did you feel post-transition?

My expectations before going curly was that it would be more difficult to style and take care of hair. While it has not been the same and I have to put in more work into my hair, I feel it is much healthier. I can see a big difference between the diameter of my hair shaft before and after relaxing. The relaxed hair diameter is much smaller than the new growth. I feel my curly hair growing in is much stronger than the relaxed portion.

NL: What have been the reactions of family, friends, etc to the newly natural you?

The reactions that I have gotten have been pretty positive. The best one was last week when my 20 year old daughter touched my hair and said, “Mommy I love your curls.”

NL: Describe what it was like to return to work after going natural.

The reaction I have received have been fine. I substitute teach at different schools and wear my hair both curly and straight.

NL: Overall, what has been your greatest discovery about being natural?

My greatest discovery about going natural is that, I love my hair, and it’s versatility and it has the ability to grow long when taken care of properly.

NL: What advice would you give to another 40+ woman who is considering going natural?

My advice to women who are over 40 and want to go natural is to “Go For It”! It’s a great journey of discovery and love. You learn to love and accept yourself for who God created you to be-Unique and wonderful. Curly heads have the benefit of wearing their hair in so many styles and can switch up whenever they want too. It’s a great journey!

Thanks Michel!

Natural Hair: Shelli's Hair Journey

Shelli from hairscapades.com sent me her hair story to share. She has gorgeous hair so check out her journey. Thanks Shelli!

Q: How long have you been natural?

A: I’ve been natural for about 11 years.

Q: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?

A: I guess I was a relatively short term transitioner, if you could even call it transitioning. I BC’d at 6 months post relaxer. Those terms and the idea of “transitioning” didn’t exist in my world or vocabulary at the time. I got my first relaxer and hair cut at 13 at a salon. From then on, either my mom or I relaxed my hair once every 6 months with a home perm. I could probably count on my 2 hands (maybe even 1) the number of times I got my hair professionally relaxed. I was too cheap for that. Anywho, at about 26, I had a bad experience with a relaxer that a “stylist” insisted she must put on my hair for a doobie at a Dominican blow out spot. I hadn’t had a relaxer in 6 months; my norm. The stylist (if you could even call them that, because it was like a huge factory assembly line in this spot) decided to pull that junk through almost the entire length of my hair and not just the new growth!!! My hair started to break off badly after that. So, that was it for me. Plus, I wore my hair curly even with a relaxer because I worked out 5-6 days a week and sweat like a race horse. I very rarely even wore my hair straight for that reason, because it would have meant putting heat on my salty hair on a daily basis. I knew that was a no-no. So, I relaxed my hair, but then I would use products to scrunch in the curls (my hair was never bone straight anyway). So, the decision to go natural was easy and practical for me. I didn’t wear my hair straight anyway and I was experiencing breakage, so at the point when I would have usually gotten another relaxer, I did the BC.

Q: What is your current regimen?

A: See my Regimen post.

Q: How do you maintain Length? Moisture?

A: I never struggled with maintaining length, but I’ve achieved my longest hair in the last year, which is about an inch past BSL. In February, I requested a “trim” that turned into a cut and it looks like I’ve lost a couple of inches=/. I have learned over the years that there are probably four things that stimulate my hair’s growth and allow me to maintain a healthy, moisturized head of hair. Those things are deep conditioning every time I wash my hair (once a week or every two weeks), applying a leave-in conditioner and combing through my hair before styling (learned from a Ouidad stylist – makes detangling a breeze the next wash session and keeps my hair moisturized), using a hair butter or oil to seal moisture into my ends and staying away from protein heavy products (conditioners, stylers and gels – thanks Nik;-). Oh, and there is one more thing that I think has been very important, but has not been in my regimen as of late. If I am wearing a WnG, I never re-wet/re-fresh with water. If I re-wet/re-fresh it is with a leave-in conditioner (like Infusium 23) or a regular conditioner diluted with water.

Q: Night time routine?

A: I sleep on a satin pillowcase and wear either a satin scarf, bonnet or both. I sometimes pineapple if wearing a TnC, but it’s still not the best solution for me. My nape hair is almost completely straight and I have to work to make it blend in with the rest of my hair. The pineapple can stretch that hair and ruin my blending efforts. However, given that I’ve been wearing a lot of protective styles lately, I haven’t had to worry about securing loose hairstyles.

Q: What would you tell a new natural, or transitioning diva?

A: You know, the most important thing for me to tell a new natural or transitioning diva is to love their own head of hair. I think we all have moments of curl envy as we see all the gorgeous heads of hair out there. You may think that someone has the most fabulous head of hair ever and that they couldn’t want anything else, but you’d probably be completely wrong. I drool over hair of all different shapes, lengths, curliness, kinkiness, thickness, etc. and wish for thicker hair, curlier hair, hair with more shrinkage, longer hair etc. But, at the end of the day, I’m good with my head of hair=). I enjoy it immensely. So, I think it’s important to look at these blogs and youtube videos with a healthy appreciation for all the variety out there, but a healthy appreciation for your own head of hair too. There’s nothing I hate more (well, that may be a fib … but, I’m trying to prove a point;-), then someone saying “you have ‘good’ hair” or that, if they had my grade of hair, they would have been natural years ago. It’s nothing against the person who says it, but I get annoyed that our world that has “taught” people this lie. I just want them to know that no matter the texture or length of their hair, it is and can be beautiful if they take the time and have the patience to learn how to treat their hair well.

Q: What’s the best thing about being natural?

A: For me, the best thing is inspiring others to go natural! My sister and mom both went natural shortly after I did. My mom rocked a short, tapered cut with a Jerri Curl for a couple of decades!! Long before I decided to stop getting relaxers, my sisters and I would constantly tell her she should stop getting Jheri Curls because the “new growth” at her shaved nape was full of gorgeous curls! So, it was very rewarding when my youngest sister, then my mom, went natural within a few years of my BC (though my sister recently told me that I didn’t inspire her, that she was already contemplating doing it and that my mom was inspired by her. Go ahead Shana, I know you want to say it. *LOL*). All of our textures are different and I constantly want to get my hands in their curlier heads to experiment with all of the styles that I’ve learned over the last year=)! Also, a few people at my job went natural after I did, and I think my natural hair may have played a little role in that (or maybe not). So, it is really rewarding to see others let go of the “chemical dependency” and embrace healthier hair.

_______________________________________________________________________