Happy Nappy

I've taken real pride in my hair lately. My hair, my crown, I have abused and ignored it for many years only occasionally raising a hand to my tender 'fro to braid it. After an abbreviated flirtation with a wig (blame my mother) it has been nothing but conditioning and cornrows for this girl. Releasing my hair once a month for a thorough shampooing and deep conditioning -- in conjunction with the light condition and rinse week-in and week-out. Each month of strong growth and minimal breakage had me sit up and take notice: if I'm good I can get the rocking 'fro I've always wanted! It's a 'duh' moment to be sure but there is a persistent myth in the Black girl community which says natural hair can naturally take care of itself. No one actually says that out loud; in fact, if asked we'll give the opposite answer but its a whisper in our heads that won't die an ugly death. I blame relaxers for the ugly rumor; they know after we see the mess we make out of our hair we'll run scared to the perm.

For full disclosure: there's nothing I won't blame on perm, nothing! It broke my hair from the first moment my mama tried it on me and since my mom was (is) a great believer in the perm, she never laid the blame at its door. Rather, it fed a deep-seated paranoia about the fragility of Black hair in general and the fear I (and she) would never reach her goal of shoulder blade-length hair; her dream, not mine -- from five through sixteen I was just along for the ride. Look, Black hair is fragile, at least more than most but not so much that it easily breaks when it's growing like weeds from one's skull! I stopped relaxing at sixteen and never looked back. So yeah, I hate relaxers. Besides I'm really suspicious of the origins of it all. I asked myself, why would I / should I relax my hair? Do I really like it, and if so, why? How do I want to wear my hair? Which styles do I like? Those questions led me to my 'fro which, at the time, was no more than a long restful pause between perms.

I'd do extensions -- love me some extensions -- in-between but here in Texas, on the outer outskirts of a major city, there's an awful lot of price gouging going on! I'm used to it now, my military tour having taken me to Alaska and it's dearth of skilled, reasonably priced braiders. I'm originally a Jersey girl and am too used to relatively cheap, fast, professional and good; there was too much available competition per square mile and so no price gouging. When I'm older the plan is to lock my hair and my anticipation of that day is so eager I may not wait.

For the most part I want my hair thick and wild, a carefully constructed unruliness. To that aim I'm taking my hair with a much firmer hand. I bought some stuff from Qhemet Biologics: hair oil rinse; leave-in conditioner; a moisturizing pomade for the scalp and general styling. I like mom-and-pop, particular stuff meant specifically for Black hair. I am well aware that a lot of off-the-shelf product is very good for Black hair. Suave, for example, is a great and very cheap shampoo and conditioner. A few years back Pantene came out with a hair-care line targeted for Black hair, for which a cry of "YES!" was let out. But I like to patronize when I can (or remember) these brave, home-made souls. Do your research, of course, but for the most part the owners and product-makers test out their stuff on their own kinky tresses before imparting it to the world.

Back to my hair! I did my hair in twists for the second time in my life, only this time without the extensions! I used my Qhemet Biologics for the first time and my hair feels baby soft. I'm pretty happy and pleased with the results. Ah, I can feel the new growth already! Cross your fingers for this nappy head!