Thursday, November 13, 2014

Fierce Hair Feature

Kaki's Hair Story Part II: My Faithful Friend

Hello Curl Gurls, I'm excited to continue Kaki's journey as I share the next part of her hair story!

Kaki speaks of her hair as though she were reflecting on a person; a dear and close acquaintance. I have at times befriended my hair as well as kicked it to the curb in the way I treated it...I'm learning by Kaki's testimony to be more appreciative of my hair's own individuality and uniqueness.


The second thing that helped me over the fence and, really this was the nail in the coffin of relaxers for me, was I didn’t know my sister had also been considering going natural until we had a discussion regarding it one day. As we exchanged reasons we were considering going natural she said something that pierced me. She said, “I just don’t want to be a slave to the relaxer the rest of my life.” 

Wow! I had not seen it that way. But at that point I realized I didn’t want to be a slave to the relaxer the rest of my life either. And at that point we decided to take the journey together. There’s something about having your best friend take a difficult yet beautiful journey together with you! It makes the journey somehow easier, your destination more attainable.

At that time I began to devour books on natural hair care. It seemed to me a sad commentary of the lack of knowledge I had of something that had been a part of me all my life. I didn’t know my own hair in its natural state. I didn’t know how to take care of my own natural hair. But I learned. I am still learning.
  

Q: What do you dislike most about your hair?
A: Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

It shrinks something fierce it’s so curly. I get about 60-70% shrinkage when I shampoo it. It tangles more than a little after I shampoo it as the curls playfully entwine and coil up in one another and just stay there. I am able to overcome my shrinkage issue by wearing twists, which help to elongate my hair as well as give me styling flexibility.                                                                                                          

I simply gently pull the twists apart with my fingers and then gently still separate them more with a wide-tooth comb and put them in huge twists to prepare for styling. Once detangled,my hair behaves beautifully whether I put in twists, do a twist-out, an up-do, etc. And it does not tangle again until after my next shampoo, of course!

My hair is my faithful friend. It has always been beautifully there for me and I must say this is a wonderful journey of discovery as I move on to new challenges such as the wash-in-go. I know I will have super shrinkage and my hair will be super-duper curly but now that I’m learning to love my hair, I’m learning to embrace those teeny-tiny ringlets that I usually stretch out by twisting, doing up-dos or twist-outs, or the very rare for me braid-out. 

Finally, I’d like to encourage you all to love and embrace your hair just the way it is—kinky, curly, wavy, straight, natural, permed, relaxed, straightened, color-treated, styled in a weave, or fashioned under a wig—no matter the color, texture, or length; however it looks or feels—love it! If it is damaged love it to life and to health and to strength! If it is healthy love its vitality and fortitude!


Love yourself (not in a self-centered, narcissistic way) but in a God-focused, grateful-for-the-life-He-gave-you and He loves you just the way you are!


Thank you for sharing Kaki!
Curlies, what do you love most about your hair? Please share on our Face Book page. 

Until next time, healthy hair IS good hair!

Demi,
XoXo

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