popcornfeet

I've been meaning to get back to thermal straightening but last fall my scalp started to itch like crazy... I was due to get it done again but waited. By Dec. I really needed it but didnt... by Jan. I went to dermatologist who said - Hm. Your itcy...nothing really there... diagnosed me with a dermatitis and I started on a string of perscriptions that started with steroids...than stronger steroids... than something else...than tersa foam. Still itchy. I went from dandruff shampoo to dandruff shampoo with really no help.

By last week I just decided to forget it. I was going to try going natural - the curls arent frizz. The frizz is frizz... And the frizz had to be due at least in part from the chemicals...the flat irons... the harsh shampoos... the perscriptions...etc. And years of trying to contain my hair.

I thought back to an old pic of myself with blond ringlets... I must have been 2. Soft sweet ringlets... I guess my mom started brushing it and trying to manage it after that...and so it became her nightmare... my nightmare.

tuesday I got a haircut from the guy who does my hair - hes not a professional curl cutter but very good and I explained what I wanted ..why i wanted it...and how I needed it done and he did it even tho it was really against what he had been taught. The last time I 'shampooed' was right before he came that day...since than its just conditioning and some gel.

Funny but my hair isnt as frizzy (or at all frizzy) and isnt nearly as curly as I thought. And its been hot in NJ... More wavy really... softer in a way. Calmer, like i feel. I don't have hair agnst... I look in the mirror and think...oh hey, it looks fine or even good. and ive done nothing. except sort of love it....it look fine cause it is fine.

And as far as the itching...the less Ive done the better its gotten. Its so much better, mostly not itchy at all.

okay this was long, i know...hope no one minds. I sort of made peace with my hair this week.

mariag002

Congrats! How long is your hair now?

I have a friend that did thermal straightening for about 3 years and she really missed her curly hair. She's been transitioning for a year now, but she doesn't want to cut off her hair and be stuck with short hair again.

I had a chunk of hair that would frizz up and then when I cut it the frizz turned to curls.

__________________
- Maria

Big Chop: 9/23/07
Relaxer free for almost 5 years!

popcornfeet

Hi Maria,
Thank you for responding. I've posted a few times ...long posts like this... and gotten very few responses even tho many people viewed the post.

It gets disheartening when you write from your heart and get nothing back - so thank you for taking the time time to respond.

My hair is just around my shoulders - a little bit longer at its longest and around my chin in the front. But of course it curls up alot so its definitely above my shoulders when dry - especially since the hair at the nape of my neck it the curliest.

Im really wondering if some of the ends still arent 'thermaled'.... Im not sure really. The top layer is pretty long but the wave seems consistant all the way up.

Tracy