CurlsandClothes: June 2013

To this day, it still surprises me when random strangers stop to ask questions about my hair. "How do you get your hair like that?"..."What products do you use?"..."Where can I get those products?"...

...and while I'm surprised, I'm still elated to hear these questions. I love "hair talk," especially about natural hair, and the fact that anyone deems me knowledgable enough to give them even a bit of advice makes me feel like I'm doing something right in this crazy natural hair game!

HOWEVER... I WISH that at the end of every conversation the voice of that guy from the AllState Insurance commercials (you know...the love interest of Whitney Houston, in Waiting to Exhale) would bellow from the sky, and quickly say in auction style, "Individual Results May Vary from Curl to Curl and Kink to Coil"

Let me make a quick point...I love to help empower women all over, -especially young women- to either create or nurture their self esteem, and develop an awareness for their own natural and inner beauty. So, please know that these thoughts don't come from a lack of wanting to stop and answer a few questions... They come from the experience of knowing that in using beauty and hair products, not every solution is EVERYONE's SOLUTION. ...and unfortunately, many people do not know this, or just plainly don't want to hear or believe it.

I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how many different products I've tried over the years... Not only have I tried different products, but I've tried different methods. Different ways of shampooing, conditioning, executing hair masks, oils treatments,detangling methods... long term regimens, short term regiments... I mean... the list goes on and on, and I've only been natural for about 2.5 years! Sometimes my hair has turned out exactly like the youtube video tutorial I watched... other times, uhh... not so much.

My first attempt at KimLuv's 40's Protective Style (2.5 yrs ago) View it HERE

I've even gone to a salon that a natural hair celebrity swears by, because of the 'treatments' and 'methods' they use, only to end up with hard crunchy hair, a mushroom style (it was very unattractive,trust.) and water down by back from a bad shampoo job. This place will remain nameless.

Furthermore, this isn't a newsflash, but I need to say it...All hair is not the same. The hair on our own head varies from section to section. The outer perimeter of my hair, for example, is tightly coiled. Some may classify it as 4a. The center of my head however grows in a loose wave....and then there is a random chunk of strands at the center of my right side, parallel to the tip of my ear. This chunk of hair is BONE STRAIGHT. Water, curling pudding, gels... NOTHING can make this strong band of solders march. They just hang in military order until I bobby pin them into submission against my scalp.

So, I say all this to explain that the hair you see on top of my head is a result of many tried and failed operations. This however is the beauty of the process and journey of maintaining natural hair. Trial and Error...Learning, is the key to having fantastic hair. This is the FUN part!

One of my first attempts at FusionofCultures' Twist Out/Roller Set. So tiny! (2 years ago) View the Tutorial HERE

I am in no way advocating seclusion when it comes to discovering natural hair products and methods. In fact, I am all for it! My advice, however is to strive for good results, know that you will have to experience trial and error, and don't necessarily expect your results to be the same as someone else's. We are all different and our hair, like our bodies, react to different treatments. Test out some things and see what works best for YOU! -SBG