Happy New Years, Ladies!! Cheers to what 2013 has in store!
This holiday season I had an amazing time with friends and family and being able to relax a bit. Along the way I had some major hair changes. At 8 weeks post relaxer, I relaxed again just before the New Year. Things went off well and for the first time, I felt truly comfortable with the process. I have been self relaxing for about a year now, but I was still tweaking things in my routine. The type of relaxer, the timing, my relaxer prep routine were all still changing. This time I felt adept…skillful. After many years of feeling out of control of my hair, I finally felt strangely normal doing a process I solely reserved for someone professional. It was liberating.
I have been on this HHJ for ~18months and some weeks I feel better at caring for my hair than others. I get frustrated and just want to go pay someone to take care of it for me. But when I think back about how much I work I have put in, how much change I have experienced and how happy it makes me to be independent I realize I am worth the trouble. I am worth the trouble to do something that makes me feel comfortable and confident. I am worth the trouble of educating myself so I can be more effective at what I do. I am worth the trouble of finding what makes me happy and going for it full steam. These things are probably better applied to a broader context than just to hair, but it still seems applicable in and out of this context.
I’m not big on New Year’s Resolutions because I believe that every day is a new start and each day you can choose to do something different. But I do have some goals that I want accomplish this year with my hair.
- Use more indirect heat. (Roller Set, Steam rollers…etc.) Use direct heat once or twice every relaxer.
- Stretch relaxers to 10 weeks.
- Keep ends trimmed. Get a trim every relaxer and/or learn to dust ends myself.
- Work towards next goal of full BSL.
- Work on protective styles and styling technique.
Now onto my changes. I went back to the relaxer I had been using. (Mizani Butter Blends Sensitive Scalp) It was great. I know why I tried something different, but I appreciate the results I get with it much more than I did before. If it ain’t broke, I won’t be fixing it… for now at least, lol. I also went in for a pretty sizable cut to even out my straggling ends and get some layers in the front. With everything evened up I lost about 2″. All evened up, I’m loving how it looks.
What are some of your goals for your hair and life?