Friday 20 June 2014

Lets talk natural nappy hair


This is the second time i'm being asked to write about my natural hair journey. I don't have a journey to tell maybe we'll ask Adenike to write about that for us. Adenike has a really lovely 'fro. I can tell you how happy I am with my natural hair though. I'm not a fashionista. I love to match and wear nice pieces + look a million bucks. It's the wearing makeup, combing weaves every minute and sitting in a saloon chair all day I can't deal with. I don't own a powder or lip gloss and I refuse to be bothered. I do recognise good weaves, makeup and compliment.

I decided to reduce my intake of chemicals and started by trying out herbal teas, lime, honey, shea butter, palm kernel oil, coconut oil and black soap. Ehn, i'm bush like that. Bush with reduced chemicals, limited stress and happy :p I stopped perming my hair in early 2013. Shout out to Deeper life, New Testament and natural sisters. Natural hair is not a joke. I would make hairstyles that wouldn't leave my hair out like Rihanna and full closing. Braids and corn rows hurt a lot and wouldn't stay a few days before getting untidy. Combing or styling my hair wasn't funny. It got better when I noticed it was easier to manoeuvre when wet but it was still not easy. I wasn't ready to go back to perms and I was tired of dealing with it. I spent days looking up natural hairstyles and the only one that didn't need daily or weekly "homework" was Locs. I went on instagram and saw photos of people on locs. Forget your sentiments, locs are very nice styles that grow fast. It's natural braids that can be played with, coloured and packed into different styles. The (young) lady in Songs of Solomon 5:11 described her lover as "His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are wavy, and black as a raven". She "sabi" better thing.

People ask me when i'll take them off. That's the last thing on my mind, okay? It's not on my mind at all. Dh thinks it looks so good on me and can't wait for it to get longer. The other day I came back from the saloon and he thought I had removed the locs, he wasn't pleased at all. He is looking forward to a daughter with a head of locs (I'm not there o). I don't have to add chemicals to my hair, comb, straighten or anything. It is growing happily. The only advantage permed hair has over natural hair is that it is easier to manoeuvre. Easy isn't always the better option you know? There are natural hair saloons now that not only use natural products but style the naughtiest of hairs. Don't be afraid of going natural. We're naturally natural sef. I should say don't be afraid of embracing your hair and staying natural.
People's reactions have been very nice. I get 1 "anhanh, why did you loc your hair?" to 55 "I love your hair". You know how you feel when strangers tell you they love your hair? I get that feeling all the time, to think it's not long yet. Well, it may not be so easy getting a job in an organisation where the boss or head of HR is biased against locs. I don't know why anyone should be biased against locs and encouraging artificial weaves? I learnt a controversial new generation church doesn't allow her workers loc their hair but encourages bogus (afro) weaves and funny styles. Makes no sense to me. What we should love and appreciate is now what we're saying no to. Funny!

Go for whatever makes you sleep at night and don't look down on or judge anyone based on their choice of hair style. Oh please I don't want to see a rainbow themed hair though. We got nominated for an award. We'll talk about that tomorrow by God's grace. We also have a post from another blog reader. Whoop whoop. Thanks for reading and TGIF! Have a good weekend.

*Locs = Dreadlocks or sister locks
 HR = Human resources
 Dh = Dear husband
 Sabi = Knows
 'fro = Afro
 TGIF = Thank God it's Friday












11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I rock LOCS n am happy wit my hair.nice one Anuoluwapo

Anuoluwapo said...

Thank you :*

Esquire said...

Well, i am a married man and i think that married women should consider the kind of hairstyle thier spouses love. There is NO point saying LOCS rock if your dear husband is a fan of weavons. Its ok if you are still single. For me i dont really appreciate my wife on LOCS. I prefer braids and weavons. I love her becos she loves to do what gives me joy. Married Women, remember its not always about what you like sha

Anuoluwapo said...

I would say locs rock whether my husband likes it or not. I didn't lose my taste and person when I got married. Secondly, I really don't see why a spouse should force certain hair styles on his/her partner. If it's not an outrageous style, she can go ahead and do it. If I were to be fixing weaves because that's what my hubby wants, I won't be as happy as I am. Couples should learn to compromise, hairstyles, how the toothpaste is pressed, etc shouldn't give either an headache. If it'll make your partner happy and wouldn't affect the quality of your lives, let her be. You have issues like no of kids, schools to put kids in, to worry about

Esquire said...

hahahahaha.. Barr. Anu. i agree with u sha but what if i dont find my wife attractive when she does the LOCS that she thinks rock?? so for that period i would just pretend abi?

Esquire said...

And sorry i dont mean we should force our spouses oh on certain styles. i am just saying you should be bear in mind the styles your husband loves and put him in consideration. My wife"s attraction to me is as important as the schools to put kids in and no of kids oh.

Anuoluwapo said...

I said compromise not pretend. What if your wife believes perms and weaves are sins nko? You'll need to sit down, agree and compromise when necessary. Note to husbands : We love you, we're blessed to be your help mates but you're not God biko

Anuoluwapo said...

Yes, we'll put you in consideration, that's where compromise comes in. Your wife may have been attracted by what she saw but the ultimate attraction was your person. Else, she would have left you when you got a fat tummy from eating her pounded yam :D

Esquire said...

and she doesnt like the bulging tummy either. she has been saying it times without number to work on it. so u see. i am working on it seriously. Its not about being your God. She is not my God either if i choose to ignore her concerns over the bulging tummy and please my self. anyway I get your message. COMPROMISE is the word. This means the woman and man can bend to consider the concerns of thier spouse.

Anonymous said...

Lovely write up, as always. Would love to see a picture of you rocking your locs though

Anuoluwapo said...

Thank you, hmmm okay