As an African-American woman, my hair is a big part of my culture, which is why the CROWN Act is such a big deal. “CROWN” means “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” and California was the first state to pass the CROWN Act, banning hair discrimination.
Among the many issues people are fighting for nowadays, the CROWN Act is one of them.
As a supporter of the CROWN Act, I wanted to share my natural hair journey. I wish I could be one thousand percent sure, but I believe I have type 4C hair. With that tiny bit of information in mind, this is my hair journey.
Childhood (Up to 18)
I couldn’t give you the specifics of my younger years, besides I remember either wearing barrettes or the little clacking balls at the end of some jumbo twists. However, I do remember getting a relaxer at a decently young age and continuing to get relaxers up until I graduated high school. For years, I wore the same short, straight hairstyle with the side part. Somewhere in there, I decided to get bangs– twice– but we won’t talk about those dark days. By the time I turned eighteen, my hair was incredibly damaged.
I couldn’t tell you what kind of products were used on my hair; however, I do remember oil sheen spray being purchased a lot.
First Year of College
My entire freshman year of college was spent getting my hair braided with weave. I was beginning the transition to natural before doing the big chop; I didn’t want to be completely bald to start over. While my hair was growing, I still wanted it to look decent for school; instead of people seeing a clear dividing line between my new growth and insanely straight, damaged hair, I wore braids. They helped with the growth and made hair management pretty easy.
I don’t remember the products I used; if I had a coupon for it, or if it was on sale, I bought it.
Shorty
The big chop occurred in early June of 2018. When I returned home from my first year of college, I remember I kept telling my family “This needs to go. I need to chop it off.” Then I did.
From June 2018 to late December 2019, I kept getting my natural hair cut really short. It was purely for the convenience of it; not a lot of effort was needed to take care of my hair. The time saved not fussing over my hair was spent working on school stuff.
Over that year and a half, I used a variety of products my beautician gave me. The only brands I remember receiving are Design Essentials for the shampoo and conditioner and Cantu Leave-in Conditioner. She gave me an oil, but I don’t remember the name of it; it did nothing to hydrate my insanely dry scalp. In August of 2019, I started using Carol’s Daughter shampoo and leave-in conditioner and have been using them since.
Now
Not to sound weird, but sometime during the fall 2019 semester, I stopped caring about school. When I realized school wasn’t worth the stress and sacrificing my happiness, I decided I wanted to start growing my hair out. My last hair cut was mid-January of 2020. Since then, I’ve been getting my hair braided or picking it out into a mini afro so it could grow out.
I was still using Carol’s Daughter products when I decided to stop cutting it. In April of 2020, I bought the Jojoba Oil Serum from Pattern Beauty and fell in love with it; it does a really good job of cooling and moisturizing my scalp. Since I had success with the oil, I purchased the Pattern Beauty sample kit of the shampoo, conditioner and leave-in conditioner. I haven’t used them yet since they arrived literally the day after I got my current braids; plus, I haven’t completely run out of my Carol’s Daughter products yet.
Hair Inspo
As I really venture into the journey and process of taking care of my natural hair, these are just some inspiration images for how big I want my hair to get.
If you want more information regarding the CROWN Act or want to show your support, make sure you check out this link: CROWN Act
Be you. Be true. Stay healthy.
