My Natural Hair Journey

    At the young age of 15, I chose to use a chemical straightener (relaxer) on my hair. Neither I nor my mother could imagine what the consequences would be. Ten years later I realized the damage and began my natural hair journey. 

    It started one day when my mother noticed how thin my hair was, especially in the middle of my head. I stared at myself in the mirror and promised myself I would go natural and figure it out. Unfortunately for me, my mother does not have the same hair texture as mine. I did not personally know anyone who was natural so I turned to Youtube. 

    The videos I watched did not help to ease my anxiety surrounding this transition. My options were to do the "big chop" or to just slowly trim off the relaxed hair. I could never imagine myself willingly doing a big chop so I opted for the latter. I kept my hair in braids and as I took them out I would trim my hair before getting new ones. Sometimes I wore wigs but I was never good at making the lace disappear. 

    There were many trials and tribulations along the way but it was so worth it. My hair goals were heavily influenced by Tracee Ellis Ross. I first saw her in the early 2000s on the show Girlfriends. Although I was chemically straightening my hair at that time I knew I someday wanted to have hair like hers. 

    I have been natural for 5 years now and there is still so much to learn. I'm a product enthusiast and I love that there are so many options for natural hair lately. I created this blog to share the ups and the downs of my natural hair journey as well as life. I'm excited to grow and become the best version of myself. 

P.S. Tracee has a wonderful hair care line and it is worth checking out!

XO Ash