Introductory

Hello world! To anyone who's reading this, thank you for visiting Nappily Ever After! This blog is dedicated to keeping track of my natural hair journey. I'm currently transitioning from relaxed to natural and I'm post relaxer since October 2011 (6 months yay!). This blog is for me to document my experiences and share them with you. I'm open to giving advice (with the little knowledge I have about naturality) and open to receiving advice too! My eyes light up when I see a natural girl in the crowd. Just simply embracing natural beauty, don't be alarmed...

Well, to tell you a little about myself..my name is Simone. I'm a 19 year old rising sophomore in college. I'm a communications major with a concentration in journalism. I'm from Albany, NY. I have a wonderful family, a loving boyfriend, and some pretty amazing friends. Without them, it'd be pretty hard to get through this transitioning process with ease...

I begged for and received my first relaxer when I was 8 years old and boy, was I in love. Before then, I would go to my grandma's house to get my hair straightened by a hot comb heated up on the stove (if you're a black girl, you most likely know what that's all about lol). My hair from ages 6-8 was pretty long, from what I can remember I'd say bra strap length. But until I received my relaxer, all I can remember is that it'd come out little by little. Infatuated with the new straight, flowy hair I had I ignored the fact that my hair was falling out. Therefore, I just kept getting them because it's the only thing I've ever wanted...

It wasn't until 6th or 7th grade that I realized I had thinning hair problem. Sure my edges would lay down perfectly, but my hair was never full so I really couldn't do much with it. It always pained me to see other girls (regardless of race) with long, beautiful hair because that's something I once had that I could never get back, all because of that creamy crack...

I started wearing braids & weaves to achieve my lengthy desires but deep down, it still wasn't self-satisfying. My real hair would often grow nice & healthy. But then I'd do something crazy to it like glue in a weave or dye it myself, and it'd all fall out again. My hair was thinning, my hairline was receding, I had uneven hair lengths. It wasn't until my freshman year of college, specifically winter break, that I said "enough is enough, I'm going natural!"

Now my story about wanting to become natural isn't really different from the next black girl's, but my journey through this transitioning process is what I believe is a story worth telling. It's hard to maintain confidence when people are constantly are telling you, "You look a hot mess" "What happened to your hair?" "You need to go to the hair salon and get that taken care of". Most people in society don't view having hair styles like bantu knots or twisted locks as professional. It's also very hard to maintain a style when the roots maintain a perfect coil pattern and your ends just weren't having it. But, I'm making a promise to myself that I will get through this WITHOUT the big chop! (No offense to the ladies who have gone through it though, more power to ya)

I guess what I'm really trying to say is I don't need somebody to tell me that my hair is nappy. That is something I already know. All I need is some coconut oil, a wide tooth comb, and an excellent support system of caring individuals. By this, I will live Nappily Ever After.