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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Feature: My Sister, Alison

My sister has been natural for quite awhile--on and off. I have decided to feature her on my blog and learn a little more about her natural journey. Enjoy!

Why did you go natural? Well, this is my third time going natural. The initial times I went natural was because I recognized early on that perms were not good for my hair (I was constantly experiencing breakage). But I would revert back to perming my hair because I never "went natural" emotionally and mentally as well...it was always just a physical transition. This last time I went natural, I was just overall disgusted with the issues that were resulting from having a perm. So this last time, I was mentally and emotionally changed into realizing that my natural hair (and natural self) was beautiful and need to be cultivated, not changed.

Are you a high maintenance or low maintenance natural? Why? I am most often a low maintenance natural. Honestly, that basically means that I am a lazy natural. All of my life, I've been very blase about hair styling. I like to look nice, but I go through phases where I am just completely laidback and uneager to do anything to my hair. On those days, I just wear a scarf, headwrap, or just rock a textured afro (where I've only wet it and pulled it out with my fingers). But I do have days where I put in effort to style my hair. Even then, these styles are usually not that difficult or require very little upkeep and maintenance.
Would you ever straighten your hair again? Never say never, but I have absolutely no desire to straighten my hair again. I've come to truly feel that natural hair is beautiful. So if I'm ever wanting to "do it up" or look especially beautiful, I don't feel like I have to get my hair straightened to accomplish that...I can just do an updo, braids, or whatever. Some people think you have to straighten your hair for special occassions like weddings, but I don't feel that way at all. Also, the only other reason I feel one would straighten their hair is to see how long it is, but I can accomplish this by just stretching it out through braids, twists, or ponytails.

Would you ever BC again? I don't feel a desire to BC again right now, but I can see myself doing it later in the future for various reasons. Basically, I've noticed that a lot of older women tend to rock TWAs because of the low maintenance...I can see myself doing that if I were married with children and felt too overwhelmed to constantly keep my hair up.

What is a hair move (ex. hairstyle, color, etc) that you would love to try? Well, I can't wait until my hair grows longer, to about my shoulder blades, because I love a lot of the updos and formal styles that I've seen people do with long natural hair. French twists, coiffed ponytails, individual twists styled like straight hair...so many options! So that's what I'm waiting for.

Any advice? For anybody who is attempting to go natural, I suggest that they transition in more than just the physical sense. While growing out your perm, visit natural blogs and websites often and take notice of all of the beautiful women who are natural. Then, once you feel an overwhelming desire to be all natural...cut it off! I also recommend that people surround themselves with positive influences when it comes to being natural...fellow natural friends, books on the subject, print out of pictures and webpages....whatever it takes. Though the world has evolved in a lot of ways, there is still a lot of ignorance when it comes to black women wearing their natural hair...don't let the ignorance of others discourage you. Instead, use it as a source of inspiration to remind yourself that you are no longer in that category, but have achieved a level of beauty and appreciation that they still need to catch up to:)

Any blogs? My blog is at http://naturalcommentary.blogspot.com/

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