Creating my healthy hair journey

My hair journey started when I was a little girl, around age 3. I was laying on my bed, which happened to be right next to the baseboard heater. My hair was so long, that it was resting on the heater as I slept. I was startled awake by my mother and grandmother patting my head to get the fire out. My hair was severely burned by the baseboard heater, which were really hot and unsafe. My hair was short and I looked like a little boy, so I was very self conscious about it. As I got a little older, my hair wasn’t growing as fast or as healthy as my sister’s. She used to call me bald headed, because she knew it would hurt my feelings and make me cry. My mom tried all sorts of remedies, salves and oils to help make my hair grow back. Sulfur 8, Main and Tail, Pink Oil Moisturizer and others were a main staple in our bathroom cabinets. She took me to the salon and I got a Jerry Curl when I was about 8 years old. And they had the nerve to give me a tail, like a little boy! I had to sleep with a shower cap on , so sleeping was complicated with the sound of the plastic as I tossed and turned. When I woke up my tail was always dry and my pillow case and face was oily. Jerry Curl juice was the worst and thank God, it was short lived. Next, my mom started putting relaxer or perm in my hair to straighten it. I don’t know if my scalp was super sensitive, but it felt like acid was eating at my brain as I waited until she was ready to rinse it out. It was pure torture! Then on Saturday nights, I had the absolute pleasure of being scalp scalded with hot grease and the hot comb straight off of the stove. I’m surprised that the back of my ears aren’t permanently black from all of the times she burned me! I do admit that the end result was beautiful, but it was also very painful. My mom would put cute little balls, bows and barrets in my hair with triangle parts, twists and all kinds of nice styles. Once I graduated 5th grade, I noticed that the girls weren’t wearing their hair like that anymore so I begged to do my own hair. My mom finally let me, so I rocked a ponytail and that was my hairstyle for years. I began getting my hair braided and having extensions put in when I was a in 10th grade. Me again with my sensitive scalp, feeling like my brain was being braided, instead of my hair! But I learned to squeeze my butt cheeks together when the pain got tough, so nobody thought I was tenderheaded. That is a nightmare for a hair artist. No matter what, it was better than a perm so I didn’t cry. I rocked the perm as an adult, being able to rinse it out when I felt the sizzle starting. I also discovered that my hair grade wasn’t even that nappy, so 5-10 minutes was plenty of time to let it sit. I rocked that ponytail and sometimes braids for years until my hair journey led me to cut it all off in October of 2019. I wanted to go natural and begin locking my hair. It has taken me 2 years to get my hair healthy and for it to lock the way I want it. I have random parts because, I feel like that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Naturally parted. I have short locks now. To make them grow faster, I add hair extensions. I learned how to do that by watching videos on YouTube. Getting your hair braided at the shops are very expensive and people just don’t have that kind of money to spend these days. I start the process by separating the hair into two Sections. The hair I use comes pre-separated, so I just pull it apart to get the twists to the same size as my own hair. I wrap the hair around the lock, creating a box braid. Once my own hair is covered by the braid, I begin to twist the remaining two strands of hair to the ends. And that’s how I add hair extensions to my locs. It usually takes me a few days to finish my whole head. I leave the twists in for several months, in order to give my hair time to lock properly. Then I take them down, which takes a few days because my arms get very tired. Once they are all out, I wash my locs several times and condition them as well. I ring them out and pat them dry with a big towel. Then, I let them air dry. Once they dry, I use natural moisturizer such as tea tree oil. And that’s the whole process. My locks are now a little past my ears in length, but maybe longer once I retwist them.