Tha ish: Day 21... I made it!!!

Just in case you haven’t been reading tha ish religiously (*shame on you! LOL), I’ve gone on a 21 day challenge to live without my extensions, aka “fake hair”.


I’ve been natural for almost 10 years, but I’ve rarely worn my own hair. I did a couple of times (when money was tight), but for the most part, I’ve worn extensions and ponytails. (I haven’t done a full on weave, but I am actually quite curious about it...)


Over the past 3 weeks, I’ve gone through a million emotions. At the beginning of the journey, I felt daring and confident when I showed off my big ass afro. Then, my confidence took a beating and I felt a lot of frustration, anger, and feeling very unpretty.




My frustration came from not looking like my old self and not feeling attractive. To combat this feeling, I basically banished myself from the world over for my 3 week experiment (I only went to work, the grocery store, and I did a little bit of shopping). Yep, I’m serious. I tried to come off as confident and owning my look, but I’m not that good of an actress.


Believe it or not, I looooove natural hair. It is gorgeous and sexy when you have the skillz to style it. Unfortunately, my skillz aren’t on point, so I was pretty much irritated and frustrated for most of my challenge. My hair never looked good (or so I thought), so I never felt good.


I know a lot of people didn’t like my choice of hairstyles—I was actually told that to my face, (people can be soooo rude!), but I am glad that I challenged myself.


Well, I am getting ready to wash my hair. I have a hair appointment tomorrow morning and I’m getting my hair twisted. Yeah, I’m getting my extensions back. I honestly feel like those hair obsessed women in Chris Rock’s film, Good Hair : )


As much as I love my extensions I am glad that I was able to go outside my comfort zone and expose the real me to the world and myself. Naps and all!


Thanks for reading!


xxxoo

Tha ish: Day 16 - I’m sooo damn annoying

I must apologize to my mom, my sister, my friends, my co-workers and anyone else who has had to listen to me dwell on the trials and tribulations of my hair. Sorry, y’all. Just think, there are only 5 more days to my self imposed 21 day extension-free challenge!!



As much as I irritated everyone who has come in my path, I am soooo glad that I did this challenge. I’m glad that I got to be natural and love (not all the time) every inch of me. But I will save that speech for my last hair entry.


BTW, today was a relatively good hair day.  I rocked a cute side afro puff that is braided in the front. Sounds funky, but it came out pretty nice. I’ll try to post a pic soon.


anyways, time for bed.  Good night!

Tha ish: Days 9-12 of embracing my natural hair- aka "I miss my extensions!"

The uncomfortable feeling that I had on Monday pretty much spilled over the entire week. I had major hair issues. I wasn’t really feeling the style I was sporting, (sorry ma—my mom twisted my hair for me), but I had to keep it because I had no time (or skillz) to do anything else, and I also thought my frustration was part of the process of understanding my natural hair. My hair won’t look the way I want it to all the time, and that’s something that gets a little frustrating. At least I know which styles I like and suit me, and which styles I plan on never wearing again!!



I came thisclose to getting my hair flat ironed, but I didn’t want to give in and punk out. I need to embrace my nappy hair!


I did get lots of encouragement from a friend who is also a natural girl. She gave me a daily dose of support and tons of product knowledge on the various products out there for black hair. Thanks OQ!


I plan on rocking my fro for the last week of my challenge. (psst ....my 21 day challenge of being extension free officially ends on August 29th, 2010. I miss my old style (I wear my hair in twists with the aid of extensions), but I like wearing my own hair. I like the way it feels, the way it smells. Even though it drives me crazy when it does the things it does (FYI black hair is probably the only hair that shrinks!!!! ), I definitely love my hair.

Tha ish: Day 8 Sexy hair?

It’s funny (or weird), that since I’ve taken out my extensions, I actually feel like those crazy ass women on those makeover shows who freak out when their hair is cut. They think that they won’t be attractive anymore and that their husbands/boyfriends will no longer want them. I know my hair hasn’t been cut, but I kinda feel those women's pain.  I am now exposing the real me by unleashing every kink and curl to the world. Seriously, it can be overwhelming at times.



Today wasn’t such a bad day though. I spent the afternoon shopping (I didn’t buy anything) and trying to get used to my twists. I had to check myself out in every mirror that I passed to make sure that I looked okay. Yep, I’m neurotic!


On one hand I like the new style because the twists give me a cool, edgy, badass vibe, but on the other hand, I kinda wish my hair were longer so that I could feel a little more girly. Yes, I said it. I know it’s stupid and ignorant, but it’s how I feel. I know that my style looks good (my mother keeps telling me how good it looks. She’s such a mom!), but I still want to feel sexy and attractive. I am a single lady!


I guess I need to get used to the new version of me. I’m trying.

Tha ish: My big ass afro

My big ass afro made its debut today. I normally wear my natural hair in twists with the aid of extensions, but after thinking about doing something different with my hair for the longest time, I decided I should let my natural hair take center stage.



I have truly loved being chemical free for almost 10 years (my 10 year nappiversary will be Dec 2010), but the thought of not having my “fake hair” scared me. Seriously. I’ve been protected by extensions for so long that being without them made me feel a little vulnerable. During the 10 years of being natural, I never took the time out to appreciate my nappy hair! : )


So for the next 21 days, I plan to be extension-free! I hope I can do it.


Don’t worry; I will document my day to day hair issues.


p.s. I liked the way my hair looked today. I got up extra early to tame my crazy hair, but all in all it looked cool. Here’s a pic of my ‘do.

Tha ish: Good Hair review

This review might be a little late, but I was compelled to speak about Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair.   I finally saw it over the Christmas holidays and I had to provide my 2 cents. 

First off, I liked it. I enjoyed it sooooo much that I actually watched it two times within a span of 24 hours.  I identified with most of the content that I felt l like I could have been a participant in the film.  Being a black female, I am a bit preoccupied with my hair. I.can’t.help. it. I am a black female!!!  There is so much we as black women need to do to make our hair manageable (by manageable, I do not mean straight—I’m a happy nappy girl). 

Though I found the movie immensely entertaining (listening to the black actresses talk about getting their hair wet was priceless—I was the same way when I had permed hair!), I did find some of the information a little insulting and misleading.  After watching the movie, I found that it made us look as though we hate our (natural) hair and crave long straight hair.  It also made it seem as though all black women are willing to torture ourselves with perm to achieve a specific image of beauty. That soooo ain’t the case with me.

Throughout the film, Chris Rock mentioned that we (black women) permed our hair, wore weaves and wigs to look “white”.  I am personally offended by that statement.  I don’t think that I’m trying to look white by the hairstyle I choose.  I wear what I find appealing. (FYI, I wear my hair in twists with the aid of extensions. And I’m not shy about rocking a shoulder length ponytail either!).  I like both long and short hairstyles and I don’t judge someone if their hair is natural, permed or whatever.

I had a talk with a friend who is in the black hair industry and he did not like the film at all. He felt that it was a little deceptive. The scene that really bothered him was when Chris and the scientist watched a pop can disintegrate in a vat of sodium hydroxide—one of the chemicals used in relaxers/perm.   My friend said that perm is a mixture of carefully measured chemicals and that the scientist ONLY put the can in a tub of an isolated chemical to show the bad effects of that chemical which he kept calling "perm". He found that misleading, because perm does not consist of that one chemical. Although I won’t ever rock a perm, I thought my friend raised a valid point.

Overall, I liked the film.  I just didn’t appreciate how the film made black women look insecure, frivolous, and willing to sell their soul for some “good hair.”

p.s. wasn’t it funny to hear Ice-T speak about perm?  He reminded me of ME when I used to perm my hair.