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Jac - London meet-up anyone??

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Jac - London meet-up anyone??

It's official. I'm hair obsessed! The more I learn the more I want to learn and the more passionate I get about all things hair. Especially natural, kinky, afro hair - I've been known to drool helplessly at beautiful heads of healthy, beautiful, long kinky hair. Must be the discovery that this kind of hair CAN ALSO grow to lengths previously thought of by me and still thought of by many as hir that won't grow. Hence, there's no stopping me till I hit the longest length I can manage to grow my 4bz hair on this head of mine. I'm hoping for waist length eventually but will settle for a short term goal of armpit length by June 2010. Welcome to my albums, follow my story and feel free to offer support. All visits greatly appreciated!!!!!

My Story:

I've always, always longed for thick, long, healthy hair. Ever since I was a little girl. The first 18 years of my life were spent being natural. Mum took care of mine and my sister's hair in a very easy cyclical routine; wash, condition, blow dry, braid and leave for 2-3 weeks then repeat. Our hair kinda thrived but it was nothing to shout about. The few times we missed the routine, we'd wear our hair loose and cry tears of blood when hair day came as the hair was so tough and tangled and it was handled tough. I still have memories of running to dad with a comb as we preferred his gentle touch to mum's brutal detangling sessions.
At age 11-12, mum lost interest in hair (it was a church thing and women/girls had to cover hair, sigh). Plus, school did not allow braids, so I wore my hair short till age 18 when I finished school. At age 19 I had my very first chemical treatment - a curly perm. Moved to England with the style, but promptly changed it to a straight relaxer perm. I had no idea how to care for chemically treated hair (or indeed natural hair, sigh), so I had it straightened then got it braided 2 weeks later. I wore it this way for 2 years, but with lack of proper care, it never grew beyond 4-6 inches. I once had a nasty experience with chemicals burning my scalp so badly, so I decided to try natural. I quickly got frustrated as I wanted it soft and ignorance made me believe the only way I could maintain natural hair was with blow dries to straighten so I could comb it. My scalp was forever sore as a result so, I went back to curly perm. I wore this drier than I should have but this was the best period I had with my hair - it grew to shoulder length, but I hated the wetness, so I had it relaxed - again. I believed I'd found my hairdresser for life - she'd relax every 6-8 weeks, but this got shortened to every 4 weeks as my growth was 'too kinky to deal with', and my hair started breaking at 4 weeks. Wish I knew of protein treatments then. Continued on for 5 years, and in this time I had 2 stylists that I 'trusted'. The crunch came when my favorite stylists both became unavailable - the lady went off to have a baby, the man moved to NYC. This was in 2005. I decided I'd go natural again - I always wanted natural hair. It was a struggle though, as I was still very ignorant, and so was everyone else around me! I went natural but I had regular heat sessions to straighten the hair. Of course it split and broke and got damaged and crispy, so I had it trimmed once with 'thermal scissors' to seal the ends so it wouldn't split. What a load of rubbish! I grew it in this dry, crispy state for about 2 years, with regular braids and had kinky twists for the first time, but I succumbed to a temptation to relax again in August 2007.
I chose to texturise it but it was a disaster - one side of my head got over processed, the hair came off when I touched it, yet the other side was as natural and untouched as if nothing was applied to it. I wore it for less than a week then got hubby to cut it with his hair clippers on grade 3. It still looked pathetic, so I decided that was it. If I didn't want chemicals and wanted natural hair, it would have to be in locs. I waited a couple of weeks for some growth and had it comb twisted. Yet in my heart of hearts I wasn't ready for locs. Still, I put braids over the twists to help the hair loc and left these in for 3 months. Took them out in January 2008, and BC'd the locs and the still straight bits from the texlax in August '07. I was pondering what to do next when I stumbled upon a blog post comment by a fotki-er talking about the lengths afro hair could grow and the rest is history. I followed her to fotki and the hair forums and since February 2008, I've cared for my natural hair in the best way laziness and being busy allows me and I've learnt so much about my natural hair and I'm still learning more. I'm now nappy and healthy hair obsessed and wouldn't have it any other way. I love my hair, and my hair is in the best condition it has ever been in. I believe the best is yet to come - this hair will grow at it's longest length ever in it's natural loose form. So far, I've managed to achieve the holy grail that is 0.5 of an inch a month without growth aids. A year into my journey and I'm certain I've grown more than 6 inches - considering I've had 2 trims and a dusting. Goes to show - ignorance really is one's worst enemy. I choose to know about things I'm passionate about. Hair, skin, body, food, my job..... I'd rather know and make informed choices, than not know and make potentially harmful choices.

So, come on in, browse my open albums, comment positively and let's share this amazing journey together! There's no stopping me now - till I achieve 30 inches! I believe I will do it - just give me till 2012!

Bright Blessings and Happy Hair Growing!

Jac xXx

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