Creating Divas: My Hair Story!

My Hair Story

For as long as I can remember, I have always oodled fabulous hair. As a child, I remember dissecting En Vogue, Mary J Blige and Queen Latifah’s hairstyles and heading to my bathroom fully equipped with a pair of electric curlers and crimping irons so that I could replicate their looks. My mom, a stern African-American woman would always shout, “Girl, you better not mess up my bathroom!” from the staircase of our small apartment and my four younger sisters were always an “experiment” waiting to happen.

By the age of fourteen, I had already set up shop in my momma’s kitchen, and everyone in the neighborhood knew who to come to if they needed their weave tightening or phony-pony recoiled. And even though my momma made me give her half of what I made, it felt good to have my own money for doing what I loved--hair.

As I got older and the world of “weaves” got better, I started to experiment with my hair more. I would dye, fry and blow-dry my locks before I knew how to properly care for my hair. Chile, there were times that I looked a hot mess and thought I looked fierce! Hey, we’ve all been there, right?

When Beyonce hit the scene in the late 1990’s with the super group Destiny’s Child, you couldn’t tell me anything. Every hairstyle I seen rocked by the fabulous Beyonce I tried my hardest to recreate. I would spend hours just looking at her hair in the magazines and trying to get every cornrow, swoop and curl just right. When I found out that she wore lace-fronts-- I had to get my hands on one.

It would take me another five years to venture into the secluded world of Remy hair and lace-front wigs. Lace-front wigs were rarely mentioned in the early 2000’s, but I had one before you could find them in the beauty supply stores. Matter of fact, that's where my love-hate relationship for lace front wigs manifested. You see, the custom lace wig that I paid hundreds upon hundreds of dollar for, was all wrong. I often referred to myself as Jackie Chan's little brown sista! LOL -- It' was just that terrible. But you live and you learn, and I've definitely learned my lesson, and that is -to stay far away from lace-front wigs; my head is too big for all of that jazz! :)

Over the past fifteen years I have cut, curled, dyed, weaved, braided, blew out, straightened, twisted, and crimped my locks. I’ve been natural, and I’ve had a relaxer. In fact, there has been a time, that I have rocked relaxed and natural hair at the same time. (It’s a long story!) I’ve dealt with hair breakage and hair growth, and I’ve even done the “big chop” on several occasions. I love my natural hair, but I love having the option to change it up a bit with a weave. I am my biggest hair critic and I have critiqued many heads. I love my mane and glory because it’s part of my character, but it does not define me. I am more than the hair that I wear on my head. I’m a brown sista and I embrace that --wholeheartedly.