My natural hair journey was not an easy one after 15+ years of heat and chemical damage. Growing up in a Dominican household meant weekly blowouts and never learning how to properly care for my curls. This, of course, is due to Dominicans obsession with Eurocentric beauty standards. My mom was super strict, so I wasn’t allowed to cut or dye my hair until I was 18.
But when I finally hit that big 1-8, phewww chileee, I went crazy with my hair! I’m talking Walmart bought box dyes, DIY bleaching, and long bob haircuts. Yikes. I looked so raggedy during those days I’m upset my homegirls let me walk around looking like that. My curls were essentially nonexistent. The picture you see above is proof of my raggedy days. That was 2016. Year 1 of my natural hair journey.
My hair was so damaged that when I went to straighten my recently bleached blonde hair, a large chunk of it literally fried off. I was horrified. It was then I knew it was time to get serious about rehabilitating my curls. It was either that or yo’ girl was about to end up bald.
The first thing I did was throw all of my heat styling tools out. Starting with my flat iron that went as high as 400 degrees. It’s not okay to ever put your hair through a 400-degree flat iron. Ever. I kept my blow dryer because it has a cold shot button I use to diffuse, I also use it for hot deep conditioning treatments.
The second thing I did was put my hair in box braids while I figured out which products to use for my curls. My split form Pantene and Suave were long overdue. At the time I started off with Deva Curls but stopped using them years ago once I realized it was drying out my curls. Deva Curls is now being sued in a class action because their products have been known to cause hair loss, scalp irritation or other side effects. Please stay away.
Currently, my favorite products to use are Ouidad the blue (hydration) and green (Vita Curl) lines. This brand will work great with any curly hair texture. There are many curly hair brands out there today, I suggest you find a brand that works well with your hair texture and most importantly keeps your curls hydrated.
You should care about buying products that are paraben, silicone, sulfate, mineral oil, and alcohol free. And while it’s great to stay sway from these ingredients as much as possible, hair products will inevitably always contain a sister chemical of the one is says it’s free from. For example, a brand can advertise it’s paraben free but when you look at the ingredients of the label there is a less harsher sister of that chemical still in the ingredients. For a more thorough understanding of ingredients and how to read the label, read this article.
After settling on the proper products it was time for a chop, a big one. I decided to cut off as much of the blonde as possible. This meant my hair was shoulder length. I had a balayage at the time so it was hard to get rid of all the blonde in one cut. After the big chop, I religiously got trims every 3 months. One more time for the people in the back: YOU MUST TRIM YOUR HAIR EVERY THREE MONTHS. I still do this till this day because it keeps my curls healthy, bouncy, and growing!
So you threw your heat styling tools away, filled your bathroom with curl-friendly products, and got a big chop, that means your curls are now healthy and you don’t have to do anything else right? WRONG. Rehabilitating your curls after years of damage takes a lot of time, love, and patience. It’s an act of self-love.
It’s time to get to know yourself. This could be frustrating because it involves hours of research and scouring YouTube videos and Blogs to figure out how to deal with your natural hair. The work is so worth it. Stay strong, sis.
The most important things while rehabilitating your curls are: (1) weekly deep conditioning treatments, (2) keeping the curls hydrated, (3) staying away from heat, and (4) routine haircuts. These are non-negotiable ma’am, so get yourself together, please. The hardest of these is staying away from heat, especially when you’re trying to get your curl pattern back during those beginning stages.
Trust me, I get it. I was not cute the first year ½ of going natural, but my go-to hairstyle was a bun, braids, or wrapping my hair in a scarf, not a blowout! This is why I say it takes a lot of patience to nurture your curls. Every time you’re tempted to reach for the blow dryer or flat iron, pull up a picture of what your curls used to look like and remember your ultimate goal. I used to save pictures in my phone of curly headed girls who were my #hairgoals as a reminder to stay the course.
I’m 4 years into going natural and I couldn’t be happier with my decision! I am so amazed by my curls. My hair was never this curly, it has actually came back a completely different curl pattern than when I was young. I’ve even been able to get rid of the dry, nappy, batch of curls hidden in the back of my head. I could’ve sworn I was gonna have that patch for life.
Nowadays, I only straighten my hair 1-2 times a year as a length check (the shrinkage is real). But I no longer have the desire to wear my hair straight, I love my curls too much and have gone through hell and back to get them to where they are today to ever risk reversing their progress. They deserve to shine. I also get so many compliments for my curls, literally almost daily. I never received that many compliments when wearing my hair straight. That goes to show that God gave us our curly crowns for a reason, wear yours proudly! You were perfectly made, Queen.
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