Curls of Joy Challenge; Week 1: Know Your Hair, Love Your Hair Challenge

Joining the Curls of Joy Challenge has inspired me to knock the dust of my writing skills and start blogging! So, where do I start? 

This might be good..

Yup, that hair is mine! Let us rewind back to December 2010 real quick.. 

I will never forget the day that I watched Good Hair. I was at a friends house studying when we stumbled on it. Before I ever watched this documentary, I was always told I had a decent grade of hair. I didn't think so. Truth was, I just actually knew how to take care of it. I kept my ends clipped, washed it every 2 weeks and permed it every 3 months. That's how everyone does it, right? It wasn't until I watched good hair that I realized how bad perms were! After that I vowed to never perm my hair again! 

My natural hair journey started the day I watched Good Hair and ended like a week later, lol. It was almost New Years! I wasn't going out with my roots looking like sheep booty so I permed it! Good idea? Wrong!! I had the visual of a perm eating through a soda can the entire time I was doing my hair. I had to have jinxed myself cause it was a wrap for my scalp when I was done! That was it, NO MORE PERMS!!

After transitioning for 5 1/2 months, curiosity led me to see what my curls would look like if I were to big chopped. (Sigh...) I knew better than to go into that bathroom alone cause I started off with a small piece of hair in the middle of my head... and ended up looking like this!

June 15, 2011

I didn't necessarily hate it but it wasn't what I wanted yet. Reality kicked in when I realized I was suppose to be going to dinner that night. Not only that, I still had to explain this hair to my mom. For an hour I played in it trying to come up with something. This is what it looked like.

Later that evening

Today, i'm 14 months post relaxer and approaching my 10th month post big chop. Going natural has been one the best decision i've ever made for my hair but it hasn't been easy. I have days when I absolutely love my hair and other days I get tired of it. It's taught me patience and more importantly how to appreciate myself. 

The Curls of Joy Challenge couldn't have come at a better time. This hair challenge is encouraging naturals everywhere to create a goal they would like to meet over a 12 week period. My personal goals are to maintain moisture and growth retention. By the time this challenge is over I will have reached my 1 year post b/c. 

Stay tuned for more blogs, tutorials, reviews and pictures!

Happy Growing's Naturals!

Napturality 101