Hair Story?

Natural Hair- This term can go from having curly, kinky or wavy hair.  Basically it's the hair you were born with, self-explanatory.




THE BEGINNING

Sunny days in Arizona with my sister (6 or 7)

I never had natural hair all of my life, I had a relaxer once in my life (A relaxer is a process that involves putting chemicals in your hair to get a straighter look).  This happened around the time that I was 11, until then I was sporting what I would like to call "Dookie Twists".  I hated having natural hair so much.  At the time that my hair was natural I was living in Arizona and I went to a predominately caucasian school.  It didn't bother me all that much, until some of my friends would ask me "Cheyenne, will you take out a braid, I want to see it down".  In my mind I thought that this simple act would not cause a lot of trouble, until I thought about all the work my mom had to go through just to do my hair.  I would automatically respond with a calm and silent "no".  I hated the fact that all of my friends had silky, long, and straight hair, while I had this coily stuff that shrunk if one raindrop hit it; it sucked so much.  Of course, I prevailed because I had no choice, but I hated every moment of it.


THE RELAXER

7th Grade 

I got my first relaxer in middle school (I think I was in 7th grade), 6th grade was horrible, because I was still the only girl sporting "dookie twists" while all of my other friends had relaxers or had their hair straightened with a hot comb.  By this time my mom had moved my sister and I to South Carolina where most of my family lives.  It was something new, but I don't think it changed me too much.  This relaxer gave me more confidence then I ever had and I felt complete for time being.

HIGH SCHOOL

9th Grade

One of my Best Friend's, Delaysha & I

Around this time I was more conscious of things.  My confidence level had gone down by 80%; why?  I was never sure, but I think it had something to do with my weight gain.  I didn't have the natural hair anymore, but I was fat instead of phat.  I don't think I was enormously big, but in my mind I wasn't looking so good.  My hair still remained the same and I loved getting relaxers.  I was wearing box braids more often then having my hair straight.  I never realized this fact, but when I had my hair in braids it gave my hair more time to relax and grow instead of being hurt by chemicals.

10th Grade

A beanie on my head, but my hair was straight

Looking back on 10th Grade that's when I can see that I really went through a change.  I became a different person and I finally felt like myself.  I lost weight and that's when I thought about going natural.  It was all because my best friend was natural, her hair had grown a lot, my hair was breaking and I thought that maybe we'd have the same hair texture; I was wrong.  I wore hats/beanies alot and never wore my hair in it's natural state, because I was unsure of it and I knew a lot of people would judge me.  Whenever I told my friends about trying to go natural they would laugh at me and play around saying "Oh, you wouldn't last", "Cheyenne your hair is going to be nappy", "You'll be running back to the creamy crack".  At first I believed them and was going to give up, but for some reason I never felt like going back to the salon and I loved my hair texture.  It was something new and I was excited for every day that there would be more growth.

One of my Best friend's, Jasmine & I (She has natural hair)

11th Grade

The Lord knows that I was not ready for 11th Grade.  This is when I moved to Virginia and I had to leave all my friends of 6 years behind and try to move on.  I've always hated goodbye's and this one was slightly hard.  I was excited because it was a new start, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to meet anyone new.  I was content with South Carolina, palm trees and a cool breeze; that was all I ever wanted.  Two days before 11th grade started I finally got my hair cut, otherwise known as the Big Chop (Big Chop- Getting the relaxer cut out of your hair).  I was content with my hair and proud of myself for finally giving in and cutting my hair, but I was unsure of how people would take it and if I would still like it in the next couple of days.  By this time I had grown my hair for almost a year (Oct. 2010- Sept 2011) and it was still short.  I was still trying to learn my hair when I moved, so it was a lot of trial and error days. I can actually remember one day when I straightened my hair for the first time since I went natural and I was made fun of; my hair looked horrible.  The only reason why I remember that day so vividly was because two people made comments in regards to how I reminded them of Florida Evans off of the 1970s sitcom "Good Times" (If you don't know who she is, google it); Also, it was picture day.

Day Before Big-Chop

Day of Big-Chop

12th Grade

My sister & I; circa 2012

I can't believe I'm a Senior.  I knew this year was coming, but it was almost unreal.  My hair has grown, I've tried new styles and learned many things.  I'm still learning at the moment and hoping to evolve into more than what I am at the moment.  There have been multiple times when I had "Bad Hair Days" or people had something to say about my hair, but I kept moving.  My natural hair isn't a big factor into how I act or my personality, but it is a part of my whole being in a sense.

Excuse the face, I was at Night School & I was tired

Sorry for this long story, but hope y'all enjoyed!