Every girl who has straight hair wishes it were curly and every girl gifted with curly hair wishes it were straight.
So it's a little early to crack jokes, but my hair has been through some trauma lately. I am really treading on thin emotional ice by trying to make light of the situation for your enjoyment, but there is a possibility that some of my advice may be useful.
Long story short I was getting sick of growing my hair out. I was a couple of hours away from chopping it off myself when my knight in shining armor came home with a hair relaxer and a chocolate cream pie! I have researched natural relaxers and so I figured it was the same sort of thing. WRONG-O. After the treatment my hair was completely damaged. Dried out, stringy, frayed...think of all of your worst hair days and combine them with your best friends worst hair day...and that is what I had. I was mortified. What ever would I do? I have had bad dye jobs before and have neutralized the colors with another round of dye, but it did not look like there was anyway to help my completely deflated curls. My scalp ached and displayed red blotches.
Christopher felt horrible. He kept saying sorry and researching what we could do. We returned to the store and picked out a perm treatment. If it's flat now and I want my curls back, I would have to put them back, right? WRONG. After rushing around to collect all the needed perming rods, I called my mom. I felt as though I was over the fact that my hair went wrong and I was on the way to a bigger and better curly girl head. She scolded me. Just as mom's do. Not the "you're grounded" kind (mind you I am an adult now) but the kind my parents were always best at "I am very disappointed in you". She explained to me that the worst thing I could do was put more chemicals in my hair. She warned me that my hair might fall out, my scalp may be damaged etcetera. She told me the only solution was to shave my head- immediately. I am not afraid of short, I am not even afraid of edgy shaved head hairstyles. But I don't think I could pull it off. Unfortunately I was in an accident when I was five years old and fractured my skull. As a result I have a scar from ear to ear which would be just in time for Halloween- the bride of Frankenstein. Ah! I can almost imagine. So I took a deep breath and decided to try and save my scalp.
I researched the undo-ing of a hair relaxer and all of the arrows pointed to shaving your head. "The only solution is no solution at all." The hair on my head has been chemically deconstructed and reconstructed to be straight and the only way to get my curls back would be to grow them back in. But I kept calm and decided to go natural. This was my plan in the first place and maybe since God made my hair curly and I should have stuck with the girls all along, I should only use ingredients that He created.
Below I have listed some of the helpful natural hair treatments that I have tried and the results I have had. I am far from being curly again, but my hair does look healthier. Moral of the story is, it is ALWAYS better to stay natural. And I am taking the pledge to stay as natural as possible. If you can eat it, then it is probably safe for your body.
1- Egg mask- Eggs contain balancing proteins (which is what my hair had lost) and will give your hair more volume and make it more manageable. You can mix the egg yolks with olive oil or honey or you can just apply the whole egg to your hair. One egg goes a long way, so mix and use one at a time. After this treatment my hair seemed to be a little more workable. This is a mask I will try again even if my hair returns to its natural state.
2- Avocado- I took the plunge and pureed some avocado. Avocado is one of my favorite vegetables. Not only because it is good when you eat it, but I always rub the pit on my hands because its natural moisture is so good for you. The internet said that avocado is very beneficial for both your face and your hair. Some people mix it with eggs but since I had already tried the egg thing, I went for the honey mixture. Honey is antibacterial, attracts moisture, and has a variety of healing properties. After mixing these ingredients, I massaged the goop all over my head and into my hair. Chris then fashioned me a plastic wrap cap (makeshift shower cap) and I scooted off to bed. When I woke up in the morning, I showered. While rinsing, my hair felt worse, but after combing and air drying it, my hair began to feel and look more lively. This mask had my favorite results of all of the natural remedies that I have tried.
3- Olive Oil- Every reviewer online raves about olive oil treatments. It seems a little Grease Lightning to me. But I am trying it all. I massaged the oil into my scalp and let it sit for a half an hour. Very messy. You can always wash egg out of your shirt, but oil is pretty permanent. I rinsed my hair with just water and it didn't seem to do anything. (DUH water and oil don't mix). After soaping my hair it seemed to start to dry and although it still felt oily, it really helped the sheen of my hair- building up natural oils that had previously been stripped.
4- Currently I am in a yogurt/mayonnaise do'. It is said to act as a great conditioner and helps with circulation. The egg in the mayo acts the same way as the egg mask itself, combined with oil. The yogurt has milk proteins which hair craves. I will have to see how it turns out!
Moral of the story is: Love and appreciate what you have!
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