Reclaim Natural Beauty
By: Camille Jefferson
Copyright 2010 Camille Jefferson
Smashwords Edition
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This book is dedicated to all the beautiful black girls and women out there still searching to find themselves, and the inner fabulous that lives within them.
Contents
Mind Over Matter: The Significance of Hair, and The Good Hair / Bad Hair Complex
Mind over Matter: How Do Black Men Really Feel About Women With Natural Hair?
Understanding: Hair Structure, Textures, Types and Conditions
Understanding: The Relaxing Process
Getting Down To Business: Cutting it All Off (The Big Chop)
Getting Down To Business: Dreads and Sister Locks
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Expectations, Hair Growth, and Hair Don’ts
Caring For Your Natural Hair: First Things First - MOISTURIZE
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Combing and Brushing
Caring for Your Natural Hair: Shampooing and Conditioning Your Hair
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Hair Care Products
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Dying Your Natural Hair
Caring For Your Natural Hair: All Alcohols are Not Created Equal
Caring For Your Natural Hair: PH Balance and Restoring Porous Hair
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Your Ends and Protective Styles
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Heat Styling and Resisting the Urge
Natural Women Wearing Wigs and Weaves
Caring For Your Natural Hair: The “Hands Disease”
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Hairdressers
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Sleep Regimen
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Applying Extensions
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Combating Knots
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Daily Diet
Caring For Your Natural Hair: Combating Weather Changes
Caring for Children’s Natural Hair
Introduction
In recent times, there are so many women of color taking the world by storm with their beautiful, natural hair that it makes my heart swell with pride. More and more, you can see women everywhere you look with natural ‘fros, curls, twists, braids and dreadlocks. Despite this, however, there are still a great amount of women who have thought about going natural or may have even attempted it in the past, but were lacking information and really didn’t know where to even begin; which made them either frustrated after a few months or afraid to go natural at all. Then there are other concerns: how they will be received, how to care for it, their options for styling, among others. When I first started this book, it was because I realized from my own experience how needed it was. When I decided to go natural, I was truly lost. I was frustrated, impatient, confused, and discouraged. I turned to the internet for information, and found myself flooded and lost amidst a sea of conflicting information, opinions, and rantings.
Though I feel differently now, when I first went natural, it was not with the intention of reclaiming any beauty at all. I didn’t even know the “beauty” existed, I actually thought I was losing something. I had the same view of natural hair that many black women do, which oftentimes is unfortunately, not very positive. The only thing I did know was that I was tired and fed up of one thing: the chemical relaxers. For several years, my hair was breaking and wouldn’t stop. It was damaged from years of abuse and had no elasticity, and it would often snap and break off. I took the route of getting weaker perms, going to beauticians, cutting it, braiding it; I even went to a dermatologist. No matter what I did, certain sections of my hair would just not grow back properly. It never occurred to me in all the years I was having problems to actually stop relaxing my hair. Then one day I just got tired and decided I was done. If I wanted it straight, then I would just straighten it with heat, but I wasn’t relaxing it anymore. I believed that people would have a lot to say and not approve of my decision, but I just didn’t care because I couldn’t deal with the breakage anymore. The first several months were HELL (laugh), because I refused to just cut all my hair off and start over, so I was transitioning, and didn’t really know how to do that either (we’ll get more into that later). But after many months, I finally did my Big Chop, and the change in the state of my hair was like night and day. Then the reality quickly hit me: What now? I made the decision, but I really had no idea how to care for my new tresses. So I began to read. And read. And read some more. And the more I learned and implemented my newfound knowledge, the more I began to see positive changes in my hair that I never even knew could exist. Then something else happened: Gradually, my decision to go natural became so much more than not using a relaxer because of breakage. Instead of wearing my natural hair despite the way it looked, I began to wear my hair natural because I preferred it that way. This then morphed into a feeling that I would never perm my hair again. I think it’s a huge decision emotionally, as well as physically, when you learn to embrace your natural hair. I want others to feel the same way I do now about my hair, with a sense of pride in how beautiful their natural hair is or definitely can be. Every single woman I know that gets encouraged enough to make the change comes back to me and says things like, “I had no idea my hair could feel like that!” Or look like that, or grow that long; the revelations go on and on. It feels so good to see black women discover their natural hair and love it the way they do, which is usually such a big turnaround from the way they felt before. Even though it turns out to be as beautiful as I was telling them it would be, they really don’t believe it until they’re able to see and feel it for themselves.
Unlike what’s been inbred in many of us from a young age, our hair is not ugly. It’s not bad hair, it’s not unruly, it’s not unsightly, and it’s not hard to the touch. If properly taken cared of, our hair is soft, manageable, can grow as long as other cultures, and is absolutely beautiful. To think that I had to be a grown woman to see what my natural hair really looks like due to a lifetime worth of dyes, relaxers, curling irons, and just plain abuse (and I didn’t even know I was doing it) – like many of my fellow sisters, is sad. I was shocked to see how curly and soft, long and manageable my natural hair is. Had I stayed on the path that was all around me, I would’ve never known. We think we have to relax our hair because it is coarse, dry, and unruly; but this is because we’ve spent a countless amount of years altering it from its intended state – and it is, quite simply, weak and damaged. It is thirsty for moisture, and it’s longing for proper nutrition, softer hands, less harsh chemicals, and overall proper care. Within only one year of giving my hair what it needs, it went from a short afro to longer than it’s ever been in my life. There were no tricks needed, no chemicals, and no special pills – only a change of thinking. An alteration of perception in what I thought my hair was and its potential; and once my mind was there, the physical aspect followed. It was as simple as that. There are some who actually made the decision to go natural and have been for many years, yet are still not aware of what their hair needs to be healthy and blossom. These women have been left thinking that dry, coarse hair is all they could hope for. This is so very far from the truth. One example is a sister I found on a popular video-sharing website; she had been natural for over a decade with a dry, coarse, short afro that would never grow long or do anything but break. After reading up on the subject and gaining knowledge, her hair reached her bra strap within a year and a half. She had curls she’d never even seen in her hair before, and her hair was soft and manageable. Some people at this point, think, “Well that’s her hair, not my hair.” Well get ready, because it’s YOUR HAIR, TOO. It doesn’t matter how thick or coarse your hair presently is; it can thrive, grow, and be beautiful.
Many women who are natural have very strong opinions on the subject of women who have a relaxer, so let me start with this: this is not a militant book. It’s not a book meant to bash any other race, creed or belief, nor is it meant to insult people who aren’t natural. This book is only meant to let you know that you DO have a choice with your hair, and after you learn everything you need to on the subject, you may find that being natural is a choice you would actually want to go with. Many people relax their hair because to them, it’s the only choice they have to look good and put together. And nothing is wrong with wanting to look your best. Every woman should. Furthermore, everyone does things to “enhance their looks,” if you will – from waxing your eyebrows to shaving to wearing makeup. I’m not knocking hair weaves, or anything else you may want to do to your hair. I wear braid extensions when I want to give my hair a break, and for protective styles. But are you doing it for a break or a change, or are you doing it because you don’t think your hair can look good any other way? To know that black women are a minority, making up less than 10% of the population; yet despite these figures, according to industry statistics, we make up 34% of the $9 billion dollar hair care industry and over 60% of the hair weave industry (more, depending on which study you use), I think it’s safe to say that black women spend a great deal of time and money altering the crown of their beauty from its original state, and we have to wonder why. Although many of us chalk it up to simple choice, the truth is, many of us believe that wearing our natural hair is not a feasible option, and we would not look as attractive if we did. The only thing I’m offering with this book is this: unlike what many may think, altering your natural state is not your only option for looking good or feeling beautiful. With this book, I want to give you the tools needed to transition your hair, nurture your hair, and allow it to reach its maximum potential.