Making a Choice – My Natural Hair Journey

Hair Care - Bhooki

Natural hair, where do I begin? So, I made a choice to transition from relaxed to natural hair. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had relaxed hair. I had my first chemical treatment probably when I was 6 years and it’s been like that ever since. I’ve never had a haircut as well. My last one was at age 3.

From my understanding, natural hair was difficult to maintain and mama ain’t got time for that. The African ‘kinky’ hair texture was known to get frizzy and matted if not properly manged. To be honest, I personally didn’t like natural hair on most people I came across. Their hair had this dull colour and lacked shine and moisture. It looked difficult to comb and managed. So relaxing my hair was the only way to go.

For a western Nigerian (Yoruba Tribe), I had long hair. Some people envied me while some were jealous and took every opportunity to pull my hair. I loved my long hair and the attention I got from it. It was long and shiny. Once my natural hair (curls) started to grow out, I would waste no time in relaxing it. All I wanted was the silky well-laid hair.

My relaxed hair didn’t give me many issues asides having constant chemical burns (the price of beauty) and the occasional breakage. I rarely braided my hair but wore weaves from time to time if I wanted longer hair.

Fast forward to 2014 when I moved to the UK, all hell broke loose.

Natural Hair, hair care - bhooki

Firstly, making my hair was really pricey. I mean pricey. Secondly, finding a good salon was hard as most salons in Leeds don’t do African hair. So, I had to settle with people who were self-taught. This had a major effect on my hair; started losing my edges. If you know me, I would die for my edges. I have only ever done braids 10 times in my entire life because of my edges.

Precioussssss….

With a lack of protective hairstyles and money, my hair began to lose its density. It started to break so bad I genuinely thought I had alopecia because I would lose long strands of hair at an alarming rate. It scared the shit out of me.

I started hearing about people transitioning to natural hair and I began my endless research. After a while of researching, I said to myself – Hell No! Ain’t nobody got time for that.

I mean, I have to wash my hair every week, moisturise almost on a daily basis, learn which products suits my hair, what type of texture I would have, deep conditioning, blah blah blah…

Really?

I had to stop and keep relaxing my hair. If I lose it, I lose it. Thank God for wigs.

Fast forward to 2019, I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to have bald spots from breakage. My hair needs urgent intervention.

My natural hair journey starts now…

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3 Comments

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  2. 20/03/2024 / 10:46 AM

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