Why the Change?

When I was 8 years old, I received my first relaxer. For those that do not know what a relaxer is; it is a chemical that straightens curly, kinky hair for up to 6 weeks or longer depending on the rate of a person's hair growth. My mom took me to her beautician and told her to give me a light kiddie relaxer. My mom was tired of having to find ways to straighten my hair with flat irons or having to pay for her beautician to hot comb my hair. Just in case your wondering what a hot comb is; it is exactly what it is called a "hot comb". A comb made of some type of metal that is heated by a stove (old school) or there is an electric one that basically acts like a curling iron. Anyway, I had a relaxer for 11 years and my hair was beautiful. My hair was constantly mistaken for weave (extensions). It was soft, silky, and long. I loved my hair. 

This is me at 15. I just left the salon with a fresh relaxer. 

I am in the brown/caramel looking dress. My hair was done the day of my senior prom. 

My sophomore year of college, I started to see a change in my hair one night while I was putting the finishing touches on my hair. It was still long, soft, and silky but it was thinning in the middle. I had never had that problem before. My hair isn't thick but it isn't very thin either. At that moment I knew I had to make a change before it got worse. 

After talking to my clustermate, who has been natural for about a year at the time, told me that it would be good for me to go natural. She told me that my hair texture didn't necessarily need tons of chemicals. She convinced me that I could go natural plus I have always wanted curly hair so I decided that I would take  the big step and go natural.