My afro hair journey

Almost two years ago, I started the famous hair journey, that is wanting to go from permed hair to natural hair.I remember it was on my way from work, I went to my hair dresser and just told her to cut the hair off and I started using wigs just because I still love long hair and really believe a woman should have hair,also I hated the idea of me being seen with short hair. I used get really scared that someone could just play some silly joke on me and pull off my wig or the wonderful winds of Liverpool will just blow my wig off!
 I spent time buying and researching different products that will be really good for my hair. I first started with shea butter which is very moisturising. Then a close friend of mine told me of castor oil and the wonders it does to hair growth. so I started using it. it was amazing, the smell was not that bad. Because I always had this image in my head that castor oil tasted and smelled nasty! thanks to looney tunes lol. well I kept at it and also every 6 weeks I would treat my hair, washing with tea tree and mint products and then conditioning with this amazing l'oreal product called kerastase. It made my hair really soft and manageable.

Then my brother's fiancee mentioned to me about using tea to rinse my hair after I had finished all my treatments. So I googled it or should I say, searched for it online lol and discovered that black tea is really good for the hair, has something to do with the tannins in tea, makes the hair darker and also strong and prevents breakage. The blend of black tea I used has some summer fruits in it and had this lovely fruity smell to it , made my hair smell gorgeous!
So a couple of months went by, I got married and the hair kept growing and growing, looking more healthy. I kept putting it in weaves and braiding it to encourage it to grow.

 finally after it was about 5 inches or so, i got so excited and thought i should relax the hair, this was after much deliberation because my hair had really suffered in the past due to bad weather conditions,stress and lack of proper management. so i relaxed it and it grew still, i was really excited and then the winter came, it started getting dry and brittle. my hair strands started breaking because of the harsh weather conditions. Now i am back on the journey again. i hope to stick to it and not waver , until i get results but the trick is maintaining those results. i may have to go au naturel all the way. One thing that makes me keep wondering is why is the world so fascinated with straight hair and not curly or kinky hair. I just really hope that most African women will learn to embrace their wonderful and natural hair, the way God made it. No offence to you if you have long straight or curly hair, its beautiful and i really do admire it but we can't all look alike. I really admire the writer of half a yellow sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi, I read recently on Linda Ikeji, how she loves natural hair and intends to keep her hair in plaits or braids, I was really impressed.

Especially with the wave of Peruvian, Brazillian, Mongolian and Indian hair waves hitting the Nigerian community, it can be a bit hard looking different if you are not a determined and individual sort of person, who likes her own style and not copying every fashion that sweeps across the globe. Till date, I am still amazed at the fascination with such hair, especially the cost of it, I won't deny I have seen some lovely ones but I am such a fan of true originality. Being honest I wonder why as Nigerian women, we have not really managed to love and treat our own hair with such dignity and pride, rather we are peddler's of other women's wares. Well I hope to practice what I preach, just do what is comfortable with you and be yourself.