PiNK Hair Journeys

BY: Celina P8

 December 1, 2007 was the day I made a lifelong decision to loc my hair once again. This time instead of going to shop to get them done, I decided to start my locs myself.

I've been taking pictures since I started so that I can monitor my growth as well as show off the different styles that I've worn. Hair has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl and I've been braiding hair professional since my college days trying to make some extra money(you know how college students do anything to make some money especially when they're far from home. I used to braid hair, type term papers and when I worked at McDonald's, I used to bring back to the dorms the left over sandwiches and sell them to my suitemates...I guess that's the NY hustla in me!)

The first 6 months of my loc journey were interesting to say the least. At one point my hair was just everywhere and since it was so short, there was only so much I could do with it.

I sported headbands until I had enough length to actually style it. It was rough for me because I was used to ponytails and being able to braid my hair but at this point, all I could do was wear a headband. I'm happy I passed the awkward stage :)

As my hair grew, I started getting more creative with my loc styles.

In this picture I braided my locs into about 8 cornrows after washing and re-twisting my new growth and left the cornrows in for a few days so the crinkles would set...this was the final result. I was extremely happy with the outcome.

I've seen alot of people that have locs with blonde in their hair, don't get me wrong, some people look nice with it but blonde tends to break your hair off much easier than other colors so I decided on Red. I love red especially as a hair color. When I had my hair relaxed, I used to get this color called Egyptian Clay. The most beautiful color I've seen and it looked so cute in my hair.

This was right before New Year's 2009 the very first time I let someone else style my hair for me, a loctician named Antwon (he did a beautiful job) I was very pleased with the style. Thanks Antwon! :)

 Here I found this Basket Weave style on YouTube by a lady namedShawnta715. Thanks Shawnta! Here's a link to her youtube page:Shawnta715

As my hair gets longer, I can experiment now with more styles, this Loc hawk I also found a YouTube byvnllawytchkltblndie he actually did the simple Loc hawk by just gathering your hair in sections and securing it withrubberbands. I just decided to do braids instead to put my personal twist to it. Thanks VWCB here's his link to youtube:vnllawytchkitblndie

Here I went to one of my favorite styles from when i used to wear my hair relaxed....1 french braid. I love the fact that my hair is to the point now that I can style it in so many different ways. 

So as December 1st approaches...I would be celebrating 2yrs strong of the most beautiful locs that I was blessed to have created. 

Celina-MunecaLocs P8

My Journey to Queendom By: Octavia

I've had this secret natural hair envy since Erykah Badu came out on the scene in '96. As a curious permed, seven year old, I always wondered what was under the turbans she wore and when I found out I fell in love with her locs. They were foreign to me, but gorgeous & free.  All the women around me wore permed roller set curls, french rolls, and wraps. They referred to their permed hair as "natural" & the hair that wasn't chemically treated as naps that declared war & invaded the back of their necks & edges. Since children were to be seen and not heard, I didn't have a say so with what was done to my hair as long as it was permed. With that, my natural dreams faded and my obsession for natural hair became secretive. I was only able to continue my obsession through music and the few natural queens that graced my presence. As the years passed, I grew self conscious and felt inferior to the world around me. Beauty was skinny, long straight hair that blows in the wind, and a light, fair complexion. I was & had none of these. My view on beauty was conformed to fit the European standards that equals the equation: Straightness is next to godliness We know how absurd this is but growing up, I didn't think so. I followed suite in the generational curse & couldn't go more than 4 weeks without getting a touch-up and God forbid I had to wait six weeks. My mom made sure my hair wasn't a thick, nappy confusion of straight & kinks. I couldn't imagine life without that creamy crack. And I love my mama and mama always knows best, so what I was taught had to be right...right?  Lol, yea...right.                   September 2009 Fast forward to my first year in college & my first year having to get my hair maintained alone.  I must say that I was a horrible judge of what happened to my hair  & what happened to me as an individual. I went from attending church every Sunday and willingly participating in all church events to not even acknowledging my Creator, except for when I needed something. I took my frustration & ever falling depression out on my hair.  I burned it with flat irons & curling rods on a daily basis just to get that white girl swag. When I was tired of that I wore those ghastly, edge pulling micros or would get the from braided or twisted. Box perms became my best friends and I let any and everybody who offered to do my thick mane fight with it as I fought with myself internally. My ends were damaged & constantly splitting. My hair was brittle & I was shedding hair after every brush stroke. Sad part is, I refused to cut my hair. I refused to believe that my hair was damaged and every time the thought of cutting my hair would creep into my  mind, I would get emotional & start crying. It wasn't just over my hair but I felt that to cut my hair would be to cut away whatever this familiar thing was that had taken hold of my soul & convinced me that this was as good as it was going to get. I couldn't let it go so... my hair maintained one length and I was holistically stagnant. I finally gave into the calming voice that is our Father's and returned to Him in 2009, but I still couldn't let go of my hair. I talked about cutting it, envied the joy that the naturals had, & even went as far as lying to myself by saying that it wasn't for me and that it wasn't what I wanted when I knew it was. On September 5, 2010, I stopped playing with my own emotions, stood in the mirror, & exposed my true self. I haven't been this joyful in a long time. Being natural has given me so much freedom and insight of my own self that I can't help but smile in spite of the looks & whispers to why I cut my hair. My crown lies in knowing who's I am and who I am and adding on to all that I am,  I stand with many of my natural sisters as a proud natural member of Pi Nappa Kappa Sorority!                       November 2010                                 June 2011 NO REGRETS!!! Cut it off! By: Tona P18 "What?  Cut it off", I said in September 2006.  "You're kidding!  I'm not cutting off all of this pretty hear it took you years to grow because you think you want to be natural.  Do you know how much work is involved with being a natural?"  I felt like I was in the middle of a Terry McMillan movie.  Instead of turning around and slapping the teeth out of my beautician's mouth, I grabbed my things and left.  I wasn't even mad.  I knew I was growing and evolving and spending my money waiting for my time in the chair only to have my scalp suffer from burns all in the  name of what someone else had deemed "beautiful hair," was no longer my idea of fun.  I knew I had to do something because I had natural roots and permed ends and while I didn't want to shave my  head bald, I knew that having ratty looking ends wasn't going to do my hair any favors either.  I started watching every natural I came across, asking questions, looking for knowledge and finally ran across a fierce, I  mean FIERCE 60 something.  I HAD to know what she was doing, who she went to, etc.  She turned me on to a natural stylist.  A TRUE natural stylist in every sense of the word. This girl didn't play.  She didn't color, perm, straighten, nothing.  She ONLY did natural styles.  I met her, loved her and it was ON.  What I loved most about this lady was that she not only did my hair, she TAUGHT me about my hair; how it works, what makes it happy.  I thought I would go to her forever.  I remember telling her that I was her customer for life.  She told me she didn't want me for life.  Hunh?  "I want you to learn this for yourself, be self sufficient and move on."  Scusey?! "Nobody knows your head better than you." Ummm, oook.  I started finding resources on natural hair, reading books, mixing "potions" and youtubing every natural hair diva on the web.  I realized I could do this and it dawned on me what my natural stylist had been telling me all along was right.  I honestly and truly love my natural hair.  If my hair were a man, I'd have an affair with it.  I love the texture, the coil pattern, the flexibility of styles.  I know what my hair loves; what it hates; what it needs.  I even love my bad hair days.  I'm still learning, growing, and evolving and I always will be.  While my styles may not be the flyest, it's healthy, happy and mine.    Why did I go natural? By: Shea P84 October 10, 2010  My name is Shea brown. Congratulation to me. This day is finally my one year of being natural.  i have been relaxer all through my life. My mama misunderstood me and mistaken that i want a perm when i was 7 years old. Mostly during my teenager years, my hair was braided. So with me being natural, I have never thought of going natural but i have always wanted to go natural since three years ago. When the time is right, I most def. will do it and not to waste anymore time. Once I saw my girl Dorothea Williams going natural, she look absolutely beautiful and gorgeous. She encourage me to go natural, too but i was not sure if i am ready for it. I look on youtube, nappurality website and other website that is helpful. I fall in love with how beautiful was being so natural. I knew it was time for a change after graduation. I was so so so tired of perming my hair. I went to Dr. Drew therapy to heal my creamy crack. lolz. i finally accomplished this cracked n it worked.. it take me 9 months of hell to get rid of creamy crack. lolz. With that being said, hmmm,,,. i am no longer creamy crack. lolz On May 09, 2009, i decided to stop relaxer my hair and deal with the nap for the rest of the summer. There is some day that i am not my hair because of the two textures that I am dealing with. I feel like I want to pull my hair and scream my lung out. lolz. There was a time that I want to give up and perm my hair real quick but lucky, my friend encourage me with positive words. I just gonna have to stick with it. I will have to thank her later on. DOROTHEA WILLIAMS AND CANDACE MYERS, I THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS. LASTLY, I THANK MY BABY COUSIN.. THANK YOU GIRL. I wanted to do my BC in Aug 09 but I was afraid of how length my hair will be. Girl, you know that I have big head and people always calling me HEY, BIG HEAD. Lolz. ( I GUESS IT RUN IN THE FAMILY,LOLZ) I just couldn't do it. I decided to wait of couple of month until my gut tell me to do so. I did the bc on 10-10-09 and I am totally new to this whole Natural thing. A women at the salon told me not to cut it off and gave me a funny look. She almost had me not to do it. I care less about what she think because I came this far. I am learning more about being natural. I try not to waste any more of my money to buy too much product for my hair. I am started to become a product junkie. lolz. I am keeping my hair simple and start my hair regimen.  She is loving her natural hair every month. Many more months, many more years to come for the new growth of my natural hair. I surely can't wait. it had been huge challenge to get through the process. I want to thank you for your support. I will keep you updated. I am super excited that today is my one year of being natural. To be honest, i am missed being relaxer but i will not go back to relaxer. being natural give you a lot of work out but a lot of patience make it worth it..... Finally did the BC By: Shea P84 I have good healthy hair back in the day but I was ready and willing to let my relaxer day go and being natural for life. I tend to keep my hair cut because I look so cute in it and go the look for it. I don't think I will look good with long hair. I looked at my picture, I kissed you GOODBYE, relaxer on this day of October 10, 2009  Back in 2006, I saw my good friend visited me through college. I didn't even recognized her but she was rocking them pretty Afro good. I was one of those girls who asked a lot of question about natural hair but I am not one of those girls who turned their nose and talked ugly about it.  My girl really suggested me I should go natural and it is the best but it takes a lot of time and patience to go through once you chop off the relaxer. Once I had eyes on her hair and it got me mind blogging real hard. From that moment, I wasn't even ready for it because I was in school. I am going to wait until I graduate from university. After I graduated, I knew it was time for me to go through natural journey process. I think I could do it with God's help and my friend, too but    From this day, , I finally stop relaxing my hair and deal with two textures until I get my hair braided on August  until October. Dealing with two textures WAS not easy process. I look like a hot mess and my hair desperate need for perm. My hair doesn't curl at all when I hot curl my hair. Oh boy, My hair was working on my last nerve on that day when I was dealing with two textures. My hair was telling me to pull it or I had this urge or need to get a perm. I kept telling myself no, don't do it. I asked my friends and they encourage me to hang in there. ugh.. I feel like I couldn't take it anymore. That was the only option I had. I had to make appointment for my hair twist braid. So my need can be relieved. lol.  I took my braid out on the first week of October and it had gotta even worse. I couldn't even comb it because the root of my hair was too nappy. I had to wear a bandage when I go out. I don't want to look like a hot mess and it was not a pretty picture. My mom was like "are you going out with your hair looking like that." She had me rolling on the floor. I know it was a mess. I wear bandage for one week for my hair appointment in one week. I couldn't bear with the waiting of  getting my hair chopped off. I was beyond nervous and scared. The day had come, I had finally did the BC. I was so closed not to get a BC but I DID. I love rocking my twa mode.  I hope I will be able to find what my hair texture type is. I really don't waste any more of my money just to find a product which definite my natural kinky curly. I found the product for my hair and it work real good on my teeny weeny afro. Now since my hair grew so much length, I'm struggle to find the product. It is pretty frustrated to keep up the length. She is loving her natural hair at this moment. Many more months, many more years to come for the new growth of my natural hair. I surely can't wait.  ╔══╗ ╚╗╔╝ ╔╝(¯`v´¯) ╚══`.¸. my natural kinky curl ♥♥♥♥.......   I will keep you updated about my hair. Wish me luck on my natural hair journey. . Smile. here is the process of my natural hair journey from Oct 2009 to Sept 2011. I came so far. I am so proud of myself. i will add another picture of October 2011.  From Juicy Red Locs to Multi colored locs By: Celina P8 I had an experience with my hair color that changed completely. Before going to NYC to visit my family in 2010, my locs were a beautiful juicy red color.  But then me and the family went to the swimming pool at Rye Playland and the chlorine stripped away all of my red. (from left to right) My son Dioni, myself, my daughter Tatyanna and my cousin Paloma It was so much fun to be in the water teaching my kids how to swim and stay afloat LOL we had a blast! But then I went to the showers and saw that ALL of my red washed out  I had to lighten my locs with powdered bleach before getting it to the red that I was looking to achieve. So when the red was stripped from my locs, it turned to a reddish honey blonde color that I've grown to absolutely LOVE! Being that it was a semi-permanent hair dye, it didn't damage my locs but it did cause a few of my longer locs to break off (they were pretty thin due to the shells I use to wear on a few of my ends which caused those locs to thin out). I don't want to continue to stress my locs out adding additional color on top of what I had done so...this is what I'm left with: I love my locs more than ever now and I decided to let the color grow out so I can have the 2 toned look (black/dark brown at the roots and the color towards the ends).  I just wanted to share with my sisters...if you're deciding on adding color to your natural tresses, please be careful getting in the pool LOL *LESSON LEARNED!!!*  PiNK 4ever-3153 Peace and Blessings! Love my mini twist By: Shea P84 I know Mini twist is a beast and it require a lot of patience to get it done. I just love doing it and I sure do have a lot of patience. I do take a break in between so I can give my arm a REST. It took me eight hours to get it done. I normally twist my hair under three hours depend on the size I am doing. Some of my friends was like, I just don't see how you can do that. Oh well, I can sit on the chair for ten hours to get my hair braid, I can do it. It makes no difference. I just want my hair to be in twisted mode so I don't have to worry about being into my hair that much. Important thing I will do is put a lot of moisture on my hair and conditioner my hair. So I can leave my twist in for two weeks. I just learn a lot about my hair being so dry couple day ago so I need to take better care of it. Twisting is my favorite style to do and I LOVE it and the most part I hate is my hair frizz when I wear the twist out. Those mini twist be popping like crazy. lol. I have noticed that the twist in the back is very much longer then the front. I want my front to be the same as the back. Ugh, It is going to be another growth processing to the front same as the back. Once they get to the longer length, I am going to cut it even. I have oval head shape and it make sense. Left<---March 2010    Aug 2011----->Right  I am very much happy to see the growth that I am receiving at the moment for the past 22 months. It had been a amazing growth and I am looking forward to see more growth in another year. I thanked my girlfriends, my families, and my hair inspiration to keep me going and they are my motivation. I am so proud to see how much I have accomplished from a smaller twist to a longer twist. I have my ups and down with my BabyShea. Yea, that is my nickname for my hair. lol. She have been growing very beautiful. For the past couple of days, I thought I was losing my mind because I was worrying about how much hair I was shedding before I was twisting my hair. I pray it is a dead hair. I didn't have the time to look at the white bulb at the end of the hair that was shedding. Maybe I shouldn't be worrying about that as my girlfriend said so I should be fine. Human hair normally shed 50 to 150 every day and that is a lot. It is strange that my hair does not shed when it is in Afro mode unless I twist, or comb it out, that is where it shed. It just sitting there waiting for me to touch it or play with it. you can look at my video in sign language but I didn't left anyone out so I wrote a blog about what I was saying in the video.   <<<Please let me know if u can see my video>>>> I hope you enjoy watching my video. I pretty much said everything on my blog in this video I hope I have not miss anything yet. If I do, let me know. lol. the last part I said thank you for watching my video and much love.  "Many more months, many more years to come for the new growth of my natural pretty kinky hair." ---- Sexi Shea Bear I'm Renewed! By: Tona P18 I’m the first to admit.  When I started my natural hair journey, it was simply about growing my perm out, twisting my new growth and rodding my permed ends until I got the length I wanted to big chop.  A standing visit to my stylist to wash my hair, I was out the door and good for another two to three weeks.  Then something happened and what I realized is that my “growth” was about so much more than my hair. As my hair started to grow out post b/c, I felt a sense of renewal.  Suddenly, I felt as though I was being reborn.  While it may sound strange, I felt like I had a sense of clarity on my mental state, physical state, and spiritual state.  The minute I got rid of my hair, laden with years of creamy crack and all the other chemicals and who knows what, It became important to make sure that I was doing what was best for my body.  I had often heard that if you were healthy on the inside, your hair would reflect it.  Surely cutting my hair could not have this type of effect on my life. It’s just hair, right?  Wrong! Suddenly I'm making better decisions about what I feed this body, making sure I'm exercising, getting in my water, having a closer relationship with my God and I'm amazed at how taking shears to my head gave me this level of peace. I want to be better!  My cholesterol levels have dropped, my weight has gone down, and my skin has cleared up, all because I made decision involving my hair!  Rocking my natural hair is not a fad.  If that were the case, it would have gone out with my Jordache jeans and pink Nike high tops.  No.  For me it has been a lifestyle change. A change that I am embracing to the fullest.  Oddly enough, I have my hair to thank for my health.  Thanks Lailah!  I love you today, more than yesterday, and will love you even more tomorrow!  Mmmwwwaaahhh!!!  IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING By: Loc P113 WOW!!! MY LOCS ARE ALMOST 2 YEARS OLD (well they will be in Feb.), SO I DECIDED TO GO THROUGH SOME PICTURES TO SEE HOW FAR I'VE COME!! I HAVE BEEN CUTTING MY HAIR SINCE I WAS IN THE 8TH OR 9TH GRADE, AND BOOOOY DID I LOVE ME A SHORT HAIR CUT!! I WAS ON THE CREAMY CRACK AND I STAYED ROCKING THE LATEST STYLES! I LOOOOOOOVED MY CUT!!! MOST OF THE TIME I DID MY RELAXER MYSELF AND WOULD JUST GO TO THE SALON FOR MY CUTS! AFTER SOME FINACIAL HARD TIMES, I TOOK MY SON TO THE BARBER SHOP ONE DAY, AND TOLD HIS BARBER TO TAKE IT ALL OFF!!!!! SHE LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS CRAZY, AND I JUST TURNED AROUND AND SAT IN HER CHAIR.....AND SHE WENT TO CUTTING!AFTER GOING TO THE BARBER SHOP FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS, I QUICKLY GREW TIRED OF THAT. BAD ENOUGH I HAD TO TAKE MY SON....NOW I GOTTA SIT THROUGH THIS TOO?! DON'T THINK SO!! SO FEBRUARY 8 2010, I GOT MY RATTAIL COMB, SOME BEESWAX,  A BLOW DRYER, AND SET MYSELF IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR FOR ABOUT TWO HOURS!!NOW HERE IT IS, ALMOST ANOTHER YEAR LOCKED, AND I AM NEVER LOOKING BACK!!! DON'T GET ME WRONG, I PASS FEMALES WITH A TIGHT CUT AND HAVE FLASHBACKS...LOL! BUT I KNOW HOW MUCH BETTER MY HAIR LOOKS AND FEELS NOW! IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING, BUT THERE WILL BE NO TURNING BACK!!!! Growing up an Afro-Latina By: Celina P8 Me @ 4 yrs old with my sister/cousin Teresa Growing up in a Dominican household was not easy, especially being a first generation Dominican American (Afro Latina). At the tender age of 6, my mother decided to start relaxing my hair to reduce all of the screaming and hollering that went on while she tried to comb it. I believe this was after my first relaxer Me and my sister/cousins Teresa and Cynthia (bottom) So I ended up going from screaming because she was yanking my hair from the roots to crying every single time I saw a perm box knowing that my scalp was about to be ON FIRE! (scabs included). My mother's favorite saying was..."El que quiere mono bueno aguanta halones" which means if you want good hair you have to stand the pain. Her definition of "good hair" would be long, flowing RELAXED hair and if your perm didn't take i.e. bone straight, then they would blow dry it straight to make sure you had no curl pattern whatsoever in your hair. I've been traumatized and was brainwashed to believe that if you don't have long pretty hair, you were considered ugly. I grew up on an all Puerto Rican block in the Bronx (NY) and all of the kids (including my own cousins) would tease me and tell me that I was too dark skinned and that my mother left me in the oven too long. The girls on my block even had a female Menudo group (famous hispanic boy band from the 80's who I was in love with) and they had the nerve to tell me, you can't be a part of the group because you're too dark. My nickname became Crispy on my block (my cousins still call me that to this day). Imagine the hurt I experienced between the ages of6-18...doesn't hurt as much as it used to but I still have a sore spot in my heart about it.  Girl Scouts performance 5th grade my hair was pulled back into a ponytail (relaxed) In Junior High School I.S. 167 a friend of mine by the name of Renee introduced me to braids with extensions. I was finally able to let my hair rest from the relaxers from time to time...until I got to High School Jane Addams Vocational (which taught Business, Cosmetology and Nursing). I told my mother that I wanted to take the cosmetology course but she refused and told me I HAD to take the Business classes because I wouldn't make any money doinghair.....ARE YOU SERIOUS???? I was so intrigued by the cosmetology department that I spent most of my free time there and was letting some of my friends practice applying relaxers and my favorite high schoolstyle...finger waves and curls.  Freshman year in High School before I was introduced to the finger waves and curls My 16th b'day finger waves and curls As I went off to college, I decided to cut my hair really short...I mean...really short I asked a friend to shave the back for me but he didn't have any guards so I was bald in the back and Halle Berry short in the front.  I loved how my hair looked short but I was still using relaxers to help it "lay down" when my natural curls grew back. It wasn't until after I had my two beautiful children that I decided to go natural and loc my hair.  July 2001 But then my mother would tell me that my hair looked like Mojones (sh*t balls) and that I needed to cut them out. I loved my hair but unfortunately I was also suffering from massive migraines to the point where I couldn't close my eyes. As my mother cut the last loc out of my hair...my headaches were gone (TRUE STORY).  So 6 years went by before I decided to leave the creamy crack alone for good this time and I decided to start my own locs. I made them much smaller and more uniformed this time around so that my short cut would be "accepted" in Corporate America. January 2008 with 1 month into my loc journey My hair is thanking me for not applying that creamy crack (relaxers) to my hair anymore and it started to grow longer and healthier than I've seen it in years...but yet again...my mom would say to me...Porque no te cortas el pelo y te lo deriza para que se te vea bonito (why don't you cut your hair and get a relaxer so that you're hair would look pretty)...so I toldmom...Sorry mom, not this time! I LOVE MY LOCS and they're here to stay!! :) My aunties and cousins (male and female) tried to convince me to relax my hair because it looks morenatural...SMH natural TO WHO??? NOT ME!!!  I'm proud of my hair and all of the styles that I have been able to achieve with my locs with a lot more to come. I've been documenting my journey with photos and treatment recipes that I've come across...even used a deep conditioner that my mom taught me when I was younger (cholesterol, mayo, egg and spiritu de canela [essence of cinnamon] with a plastic cap and a scarf over it to help contain the heat so I didn't have to sit under a hot dryer).  I would love to convince my mom to go natural but I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future...she's still attached to her relaxers and attachable ponytails (I wish I had the picture of my mom back in the 70's rocking an afro...it looked so beautiful on her). So as I continue to document my wonderful loc journey via blogs and pics I welcome any comments or suggestions as well as your stories about dealing with family and your natural hair. Us Afro-Latinas need to stick together and give each other encouragement when you feel you have no where or anyone to turn to. Here are some of the sites that have helped me through my journey: Nappturality.com Lock University Afroniquely You Black Girl with Long Hair Mahogany Butterfly Curly Nikki iRockLocs Fuchsia-Soul Mahogany Magazine There are so many sites that I have researched that I may have to do a blog on just sites and YouTube channels :) Stay tuned...more information to come.  Are you loced and loving it or not? By: Wendy P123 Hey Sorors on the 24th of this month I will be one year loced!!!!! Hooray for me ... This has been a definite journey .. That has taught me to have the patience of Job and to really learn to love myself in all of my not so perfect , frizzy glory at times . Lol I absolutely love my hair , I nurture my babies as well and talk to all 105 of them( yes I did count them). They have their own personalities . So tell me if you are locing how is your journey going ,what products are you using, and overall what are the comments of your friends and love ones... Are they positive or negative ? I want to hear from you... Cause either way this soror is your support system... Hollla back loced Sistaz! My Hair Story By: Monica P91 On July 18, 2011 I decided to “mini chop” my hair leaving me with a 1/2 inch of new growth.  I don’t like to call it a big chop because I only had about 4 inches of hair to begin with. I've been rocking short hair styles for the last 8 years now so this wasn't a drastic change at all.   I do have to add that this was also the second time I decided to go natural but not having the information on how to take care of my hair...I went back to the creamy crack. This time my natural hair is here to stay. I made this decision for mainly one reason.  I felt that my hair was unhealthy and thinning as the months went by.  I do my own hair, and furthermore I was simply tired of cutting it every week to two weeks just to maintain a certain length or style.  I also became tired of making sure that my hair ALWAYS “laid down” in the nape. I felt like my hair had to be "perfect" before I walked out the door. It seemed to be that my hair was dictating my life, and my attitude, among other things.  Regrets??? No way. I can honestly say that I love my twa!  It’s getting full and it’s healthy, most importantly.  I can’t say for sure if I will keep it this length for awhile, or let it grow out. I can say that my main concern is having the healthiest hair possible.  I finally found my staple products that work for my hair.  Thanks to all the hair forums and YouTube videos…it definitely made it easier to find out what products are out there.  I especially want to thank CurlyNikki.com. I also have to say a special thank you to my husband of 9 years and my family.  They have been so supportive of my “natural journey”.  Even my 8 year old son says, “Mommy I love your tight curls”…that there just warms my heart. Going natural has made me more aware of myself, my body, and the foods that I’m eating.  It’s been a great change for my mind, body, and spirit.  I love it and I can’t wait to see what my hair has in store for me.  The good news is I fell in love with MY hair, not someone else’s.  That’s one tip that I would share to anyone who is thinking of going natural.   Everyone hair is different, that’s the uniqueness of it all…so embrace YOUR curls!!!