After wearing her natural afro kinky hair in cornrows as a childhood, Rachel began relaxing her hair as a teenager. To make it easier to style, according to her mother, she straightened her hair.
However, when it came time to have children, Rachel wanted to stop stretching, which can be extremely harmful to the health of the mother and fetus. During her hair transition, she turned to the most natural products possible, including a conditioner that changed everything about her.
Today, the young mother proudly wears her type 4a curly hair and tells us about her routine as a businesswoman with little time, but the right products and key game-changing actions.
How do you get along with the nature of your hair? And what was your path to accepting it?
In my time, as a teenager in the 90s, it was “ straighten your hair or shut up “. There was no information on how to treat your hair, in middle school straightening your hair was an almost obligatory ritual. And so it was parenting and the rise of the pro-diaper movements that motivated women like me to go back to natural .
My mother shampooed my natural hair until I was 14 because neither she nor I knew how to handle it, and no one wants to have their mother wash their hair as a teenager. There wasn’t that much information back then, there were no blogs, not even the Internet where you could get information and buy products online easily. If you wanted to find products for afro hair you had to go to Strasbourg-Saint-Denis and Château d’Eau (editor’s note: afro neighborhoods of Paris), and even then it was very chemical.
When I was ready to become a mother, in my twenties, I had a gynecological problem. I went to the gynecological emergency room for some sort of suspected cyst. The gynecologist immediately noticed that I was straightening my hair and told me:
“ Women who relax their hair are much more likely than average to develop cysts and variants. »
It scared me a lot and helped me realize that maybe straightening my hair wasn’t a good idea for me. I had time to think about it until I got pregnant, and that’s when I started transitioning my hair. I found that there was a dissonance between the fact that I was eating organic food while putting ammonia on my head to straighten my hair. I even stopped a little earlier, as soon as I started wanting to get pregnant, at the end of 2017.
How did your hair transition go, before/after the big cut?
At first I didn’t accept it at all, I wanted to let it grow naturally and keep the already straightened lengths. I had both textures in my head for a long time. But this coexistence of two hair textures, two different types, with distinct needs, rarely goes well.
Straightened and chemically treated hair does not have the same needs as natural afro hair. My straight lengths with frizzy roots broke very quickly. But I didn’t dare cut. I was afraid of ending up with a 3cm pixie cut. I kept this hair in two textures for 12 months, before cutting it, making my own big chop.
What is the “big score”?
THE ” big chop » is a hair transition technique which involves cutting relaxed lengths of natural hair from curly to kinky. This avoids having a double smooth and curly texture on the hair. The goal of big chop it’s starting from scratch, to find natural hair again.
All the people who saw me after my big cut thought the result was super cute on me, while I thought it looked horrible. I had a hard time accepting my hair like this until it was long enough to tie up. It’s been a long learning curve to learn how to take care of my natural frizzy hair, the right actions, the right products, the right tools, etc.
Today I am super proud of my hair, I love it and I teach my children who also have curly hair to love it and take care of it. I told him :
“ You have textured hair, you love your curls and frizz they are so beautiful! »
Is it true that you have become a point of reference for textured hair even among those around you?
Yes, I work in a very strict professional environment and I recently had a colleague come to me and say:
“I love your hair! Could you give me some techniques, some advice, because I would like to embrace my natural hair and I don’t dare, in fact. »
I experienced it as a consecration (laughs)! Now I love talking about my hair. Before, frizzy hair was a bit of a taboo, I didn’t dare talk about straightening, even if the straightening was obvious and visible. Since I wear them naturally and have learned to accept them gradually, I dare to talk more about them. I’ll release them as soon as I can!
Now I even wonder why I didn’t let my hair go natural sooner. Today it is easier thanks to all the training resources that can be found online, blogs, the media are interested in it, e-shops are multiplying, as are brands. Today I know fewer and fewer people who straighten their hair, so the diaper is more than a trend. Now it’s a well-established thing, and all the better.
15 months ago I went to the hairdresser to cut my ends and I took the opportunity to dry them with the hairdryer. Well, I hated seeing myself with straight hair! This is definitely the definitive proof that I now love my natural hair (laughs).
How would you describe the nature of your hair?
I have very curly hair and if we really want grades I would say 4th on the Walker scale.
What is your hair routine when you wake up/in the morning?
Your wake-up routine mainly depends on your bedtime routine. Different configurations are possible depending on whether I had my hair down or not the day before and whether I want to wear it down or not on the big day.
If I had my hair down the day before and wanted to keep it downin this case, I apply a little oil delicately so as not to break the definition of the curls and above all I trust in gravity, I let my hair reposition itself calmly.
If I tie my hair back (2 braids or a high pigtail), so I put rich hair cream + hair jelly. To reduce frizz, I always comb my hair before showering and put on a tight headband (which I remove after getting dressed), then a shower cap to keep my hair from getting wet.
If I want to keep my hair down and it wasn’t down the day before, so I moisten them a little, then I put on a fairly rich hair cream and a little hair jelly (or homemade linen gel, I alternate it every week). And it’s all in the gestures, and working in sections is essential to have a good result.
What is your evening/bedtime 4a textured hair routine?
If I had my hair down during the day and I want to keep my curls more or less well defined, I tie them quite loosely in a “pineapple” style before going to bed.
If I had my hair up during the dayI do 2 to 4 vanilla with a fairly rich hair cream and a little light oil like jojoba.
Whatever the configuration, I necessarily tie my hair with a basic elastic band (the marketing of the silk elastic band will not be completed with me). And I wear a satin bonnet + a satin pillowcase to prevent hair escape attempts.
What is your shampoo routine when you have little or a lot of time?
Before most of my shampoos, I do an oil bath first as a pre-poo (pre poop). Generally, I mix amla oil and mustard oil to promote growth and limit the appearance of gray hair. I leave the oil bath on for 1 hour, then shampoo twice.. Then comes the air conditioner.
When I have time, once a month I do a protein mask before shampooing to strengthen my hair.
And when I have time, in theory more than once a month and I want a moment of pampering, so I put on a mask after shampooing (which I never combine with my monthly protein mask). Also, I recently learned that conditioner should be applied after applying and then rinsing out a mask when you want to combine them!
What’s your go-to hairstyle for those days when your hair isn’t cooperating?
2 braids that I combine into a chignon
What’s your go-to sports hairstyle? And do you take advantage of it to do specific treatments enhanced by body heat during physical activity?
So, when I went to a sports club, I took the opportunity to apply an oil bath (then 2 braids or a high quilt with a band to limit the “tightness”), and I followed the sports session with a sauna session to enhance the oil bath. And I rinsed my hair calmly the next morning.
Otherwise, Personally, I’m against letting your hair down during training because it creates knots.. However, the more knots you have, the more intense and long the hair ritual will be in the aftermath.
What’s your hairstyle for special occasions?
Loose hair or loose hair with 2 braids on the front of the head to have a “headband” effect.
What product has revolutionized your routine?
I can’t name just one.
Les Secrets de Loly conditioner saved me just before mine” big chop “, because I had so many tangles with my old conditioner that I cut off entire strands because they were so tangled.
Today I love Kalia Nature’s hibiscus jelly on my natural type 4a hair. : defines very well, it’s light, it doesn’t leave white streaks, it’s perfect.
Finally, Waam Nourishing Hair Care is my daily hair cream and after my shampoos.
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Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
