My HHJ So Far: Feb 2009 - May 2010

So Id figure that I would do this post since Im kinda late on this whole blogging thing. I want you to see that everyone starts from somewhere and I just didnt wake up with the hair I have now. Ive had my trials but Im so happy and feel so blessed to be where I am now. So lets start from the beginning...



2008
March 2008, also my 21st birthday, I decided to transition to natural. At the time I was suffering form alot of relaxer damage and my hair was literally falling out in clumps. My relaxed hair was healthy before, between SL and APL, very thick.

RIP pretty hair -  summer 2007

 Two bad salon visits w. over processing and overlapping the relaxer sent my hair in a downward spiral. I was over it at the time.

May 2008 - Thin, lifeless ,over processed hair :_(

June 2008 I got braids. Of course I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing and once I took the braids out in Sept of 08, majority of the relaxed ends had broken off. I just let it rock, and continued on w/ the transition. Getting braids and taking them out every 3 months. Of course I didnt know ne thing about moisturizing, sealing, DCing, lol nothing. Sorry I dont have ne pics from this year of my hair outside of the braids. I have a complex about short hair on me and of course didnt want to document it. Just trust me it was short...really short.

2009
February I discovered youtube. I one day google searched how to take care of natural black hair, and tons of vids came up. I was so excited to see that I wasnt the only one trying to grow their hair out naturally. I was obsessed and started watching vids like everyday, learning the basics about hair care: washing, DCing, moisturizing, ect. In March for my birthday I took the braids down. Surprisingly w/ my hair being in braids for about 9 months w/ little to no daily moisture (except when I would wet my hair in the shower) grew from literally nothing to a little past shoulder length. I was sooooo happy. But I knew I had a long way to go.....

I continued on w/ braiding, learning as I went along more and more about my hair. June 2009 I found my beloved Long Hair Care Forum. It changed my hair life lol. I for the 1st time in my life was seeing  black women w/ waist length relaxed and natural hair. It was so inspiring. I was even more motivated to reach my goals. In July I took down the braids again. Coming  close to APL.....

Sept 09 Finally reached my 1st major goal. APL!!!!! I told my bf at the time how excited I was. He aint care that much...men...smh. 

Nov 09 finally decided that my hair was "long" enough to wear out so I took out the braids for good. Lol it was like all of a sudden I had a new head of hair. I never I had to deal w/ my natural hair all at one until now. I was overwhelmed to say the least. I wore buns, 24/7. I didnt really care for twists, or puffs. I tried to do twist outs or braid outs...no success.

Christmas 09

My hair was healthy. No shedding no breakage. But the de-tangling sessions took FOREVER. Literally at least 2 hrs. I was tired of the way my buns looked. I felt kinda confined to them, cause I didnt like ne of the other "natural" styles. I tried to flat iron but my 4b/c hair wasnt having it. Plus the shinkage was out of this world, shampooing was a pain. I grew more fed up w/ my hair. I had to be honest w/myself, even though my hair transitioned, my mind hadn't. I just preferred my hair straight. I loved the way straight hair looks on me. De-tangling would be soooo much easier, no worres about shrinkage.  Now Im not knocking natural hair by any means. Its a beautiful thing that more and more women are embracing their hair and knowing that they have options, that they can choose not to relax if they want to and the sky wont fall. But for me the pros of being relaxed were starting to outweigh the pros of being natural. I transitioned out of frustration, not because I truly wanted to be natural.

2010
Finally one night I called my best friend and told her "You know what Im gonna relax." For the past 6 months I have been seeing tons of women on the forum growing out their relaxed hair.  Thick, shiny, no breakage. I decided to give it a go again. I researched salons in my area and found a great one. (there was no way I was gonna do I virgin relax myself). After about spending the day in the salon my hair became this.....

Ahhhhh...the shine, the bounce, the silkiness. I was on top of the world. I knew with all the tools I had now I could def have the hair of my dreams. I researched, researched, and researched, and my hair continued to thrive. This is from April 2010.

I even learned to apply my own relaxers.Lol never thought I would be able to do that. After everything I had been though w/ stylists, I wanted to take my hair into my own hands. May 2010 was my 1st self relax.

Lol my mom hadnt seen me in about 6 months. She thought I had gotten a weave. She was wrong :)

I used think back on my hair trials and tribulations and would get sad or angry. Now I just look at them as lessons learned. If I had never seen that &$@!% ( lol excuse my french) and had my hair damaged, I never would of decided to transition, and if I never would of done that, I wouldnt of never been concerned about my hair health. Everything happens for a reason and its my past that has brought me to my present and has given me a bright future.

So yes folks lol sorry it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long. But yeppers. My fingers are tired. My journey thus far. Hope you've enjoyed it.