As you can see in my photos I finally flat ironed my hair. Yep...took me 5 years to get brave enough to do it. My hubby bought me a flat iron for Christmas so that I could celebrate my 5th Napturalversary with straight hair. I actually got to see/use this present before it could get wrapped and put under the tree because he knew I wanted to be able to wear straight hair for at least 2 weeks during the holidays. Before flat ironing I was sure to wash my hair with a sulfate free shampoo, following up with a deep conditioning, hot oil treatment, and a blow out. I used heat protectant for my blow out then put my hair in chunky twists overnight. This helped prepped my hair so it would be sectioned already. The next day I added a tad bit more heat protectant to each section and flat ironed my hair. I was scared to damage it so I only used the heat setting at 300 even though it goes all the way to 450. I wasn't trying to get it bone straight but enough to be able to see the length and comb through it with ease. I was amazed at how much hair had grown back. It measured at around 13.5 inches. Here are pictures of my permed hair V.S. my natural flat ironed hair:
You may not can tell by the photos but my hair when it was permed was not as long, thick, and healthy like it is natural. When it was permed the ends were always thin, my hair was shedding like crazy, and I had constant split ends. The hair on my nape never grew long so the hair from my crown always covered it up to hide that fact. After I went natural that problem went away within a year and never to return. Another problem I had when it was permed was not being able to grow it past my shoulders. Now it's down my back. Don't believe me? Look at this:
The picture was taken before I cut and inch or so off to clean up my ends. The pictures at the beginning of this post is how I wore my hair afterwards for nearly three weeks. I enjoyed wearing it straight for a little over a week before I was missing my curls. I hung on a little longer and now I'm back to my curly self again. YAY! It was hard keeping my hair from reverting or my scalp from drying out. I had to be very careful not to use water based products or anything too heavy that would weigh my hair down. It will be a while before I put any heat on it again. While I have your attention I'd like to invite you to take a look at the pics of my hair from Jan.-Dec. 2015. Click on the photo below to see more.
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Well this is the final documentation of my 5 year natural hair journey. I’m not sure if I'll do anything new and interesting with my hair this year. As we speak I'm thinking of what to put on my list of things I need to buy for my yearly big purchase of hair products. My only hair goal as always is to keep a healthy head of hair and look my best in whatever style I’m rocking. I didn't reach waist length or 24” of hair by this 5th year mark as I had hoped (since the beginning). That's okay though. I realize taking care of a LOT of hair is very time consuming and hard work so why rush it. Thank you for taking time to stop by and read my hair journey update. I hope you have enjoyed learning about my journey. It was one of mental and spiritual growth for me. I learned a lot about myself and I've grown in ways I never knew I would. I even became more aware of what I was putting on my hair and skin as well as in my body. I'm eating healthier and drinking more water than ever before :-) Time for me to go now. May you and yours be blessed.
Btw~ You can read all about my other 4 years natural hair journey by clicking on each link below...
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
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