Personal Narrative: My Natural Hair Journey

A decision I made that changed the path of my life was going natural. The decision wasn’t easy, I had a lot of doubts and concerns. Going natural was a huge step for me, not only did it change my appearance but changed my outlook on natural hair as a whole. When I first learned about natural hair and how to care for it, I became excited. Who wouldn’t become excited about having long, thick healthy hair? Once I started my journey, I immediately wanted to call it quits; but I’m glad I didn’t. With the proper tools and inspiration from other naturalistas, my natural hair journey was worth the ride. It wasn’t easy, I battled with myself and societies standards of what “good hair” should be. I believe all hair is beautiful, but to me natural hair is a special type of beautiful. The benefits are amazing and I don’t regret making this decision at all. Removing my relaxed ends, natural hair maintenance, and continuing my natural hair journey was difficult; but made me grow beautifully inside out.

I didn’t even know what “going natural” meant. I enjoyed my silky, smooth relaxed hair. As years passed, I began to grow tired of the same exhausting, tedious hair regime. I would have to straighten my hair daily with the flat irons, so my hair could look somewhat decent. I began to realize that the heat was causing damage to my hair from applying it so often. My hair also began to thin-- it began to lose its fullness and thickness. Getting relaxers were no fun, the burning from the chemicals was unbearable. After my hair was styled, I would feel sores all around my scalp as I finger-combed through my hair. From then on, I decided that going natural just may be the right decision for