The Taming of the Do

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Experimenting & Being All Natural

posted on Jan 5, 2010 by mislorac

I've been playing around a lot with products, color, and styles. As of the New Year, I'm all natural. I did the "big chop" (really not too big since I'd already cut a lot off), and I'm digging my texture. I know my coworkers are like "What on Earth..." but I am enjoying this new found freedom.

The below photo was a mix of my two textures. I've been doing two-strand twists a lot lately and this was the result from one of the times.

And this one is my hair now, all natural. I just stayed a bit of water on my hair and added gel. Not a big fan of how it turned out, but I'm experimenting so hopefully I'll find something easy and cute.

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Curl Love

posted on Nov 10, 2009 by mislorac

So, I'm really getting into this natural journey. I'm still transitioning from with just shy of 2" of natural hair and 3" or so of relaxed. As far as styles go, I've been straightening my hair once a week and rolling it nightly so I can just run my fingers through it in the mornings and go. On weekends I've been playing with twist-outs. Some times it comes out pretty good considering the two textures have minds of their own. Below are a few new photos.

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The Journey for Change Begins

posted on Oct 5, 2009 by mislorac

Back in the day, I remember my grandmother using the hot iron to tame my hair. I also remember how afraid I always was of getting burned (which occasionally I did). Deciding to end the drama, my mother and grandmother sent me to a beautician for my first relaxer. I believe I was in the 2nd grade at the time. I think back in horror of sitting at the sink as a 7 year-old in tears waiting on the beautician to wash it out. The adults would say that I was supposed to let it sit in for a little longer so it will be straight. For me, it was the equivalent of going to the doctor to get a million shots at once.
When I started going to a new beautician at the age of 10, she would base my scalp with grease and the pain from the relaxer wasn't nearly as bad. However I'd still go home with painful scabs and I'd have sections of hair that would literally be pasted to my scalp for days. Sometimes I'd even have a headache the entire day after I'd come home from the beauty shop.
This went on for years until my 3rd year of college when I had friends apply my relaxers so I wouldn't have to go home every month. The store bought stuff was sometimes worse than what the beautician used, but I tolerated it because its what I was taught, to keep my hair straight every 6 to 8 weeks.

(My hair in 2008)
    After college, I rarely went to beauticians, preferring to do my own relaxers, color, and cuts (and it saved me the $25-$60 expense). I'd learned the relaxer tricks: base your scalp, work quickly in 4 sections, use a thin comb to go through the sections, and condition, condition, condition.
    In March/April of this year, I decided that I'd had enough. I started to ask myself, why am I doing this? I still occasionally would get scabs and if I'd been scratching a bit too much, my scalp would be on fire by the time I'd begin to smooth out the sections. My own mother had cut out her relaxer and gone natural, why couldn't I? I even began to think, what if the painful migraines I've suffered from since 3rd grade had anything to do with receiving relaxers at such a young age? I gave it a lot of thought and started researching online what I could do to slowly change.

(July '09)
I put in my last relaxer in April. I knew then that this would be it and breathed a sigh of relief. From there I let my natural hair grow and in June, I paid for micros. Last week I took them out and decided to ease myself into embracing my hairs natural texture. I've cut my hair into a short bob and plan take it one step at a time. I don't know yet if I'm ready for the "big chop" but I'm loving the possibilities of whats to come.

(Today - 10/5/09)

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The Taming of the Do

by mislorac
I'm a 31 year-old married woman living in Alabama (originally from Atlanta, GA). This past year, I've really grown tired of relaxers. I'm tired of the pain, the expense, the sores, and the damage. I'm excited to go on this journey to accept my natural hair.