Natural in Nature

It’s been years since I went hiking in the mountains and never before with my natural hair out _i.e. not braided. Never again. Part of my problem was not planning well. I was in church all day Saturday and tuckered out when I got home. I was just coming off of the flu, so I was still very low on energy. I went to bed without washing my hair and my hair needed it.


But I thought I had a bright idea. I’d do a wash-and-go in the morning with KCCC before we headed up to the mountains that afternoon. All was fine and good when I got in the car. The KCCC, along with the KC Knot Today left my hair nicely defined and moisturized. But the next morning, despite oiling my hair and tying it down with the satin scarf, it was poufy, and dry. I tried to revitalize it with some KC Spiral Spritz, but I don’t think I used enough. I put on a sun visor (which I hate because it has a Velcro clasp that catches hairs no matter how careful I am) for the hike. My hair was just not protected enough. Sweating in the dry mountain hair, my hair seemed to get bigger and bigger. It fell victim to every low hanging tree branch. I got a head full of pine nettles! My hair was a hot mess!

I had to wash it when we got back to the hotel, but I did not pack my wide-tooth comb. I co-washed with the hotel conditioner and detangled with my fingers. Not pretty. I squirted more KCSS in my hair, twisted it up in two big flat twists and used a hair clip to hold the ends. I wore it like that to dinner with my husband.

I felt more presentable in the morning when I untwisted it. But it still feels dry. Definitely doing a deep conditioning treatment tomorrow.


Next mountain adventure I’ll twist my hair up, and wear a scarf and a hat. No more naked natural in nature for me.

Shrinkage

I’m convinced you can’t really love your natural hair until you can embrace the shrinkage, until you love the ’fro. Isn’t that what a lot of us fight when we first go natural? I read blog after blog and watched video after video on ways to keep my curls from tightening up, and how to keep them stretched and defined.

It occurred to me what I was really coveting was that 3b curl, not the tight, fuzzy 4a-4b hair that is on my head. That I was born with. That God gave me.

But I’m getting over it.

Last time I was at the hairdresser, I had her blow-dry and flat iron my hair so I could see how long it has gotten. When she finished, we could both see the frayed and damaged ends, so I let her snip them off. Since it was straighten, the cut didn’t seem dramatic. But a week later when I washed my hair and styled it curly with MJ's Curly Pudding, I could see the difference. Free from those dead ends, my curls sprang up, and up and up.

But rather than grabbing the blow dryer and blasting the roots, I let it just be. It was still soft and the coils still wrapped lovingly around my fingers. A big part of accepting your natural hair is getting used to it.

But as the curl definition got fainter and fainter each day, I succumbed. I didn’t do another co-wash, though. This time I did dry twists with MJ’s Buttercream. I kept the twists in for almost three days. That also was something new for me. I had thought I didn’t look good with my hair in twists, but I liked these.

And now, after taking them out I have a fabulous twist out of stretched, defined curls.

   

      Like I said, I’m still trying to love the ’fro, but I’ not there yet.