Length check, comparison etc....I didn't know x_X

So, I was going through some pictures under a file on my laptop titled, "Hair Journey" and I was like, "Girl, your hair's GROWN!" lol
I remember having hair that was just at the middle bit of my neck, the nape of my neck, then a bit below that, collar bone length, just below collar bone length and now, well, it's about an inch and a half below my collar bone now. In the pictures I first saw, I had tons of relaxed hair and just a bit of natural hair at my roots, but gosh! did that hair look short and well...not as nice as it does now (natural rocks! :) ). I wish I could put up hair pics, but I don't have any current ones (plus, my hair is in braided cornrows as I type. I am taking them out tomorrow to DC, wash and get a photo of my hair for Matthew James (yes! Matthew James! The miracle working hairstylist in Birmingham, England - which I've never been to...yet)). Hopefully by this weekend, I should have some current pictures up for you and I should get some all-relaxed (I don't like seeing them) pics of my hair from my dad. I see those pics and I'm like, "Girl, your hair was STRAIGHT!" lol. I love how curly and kinky my hair is now even though it frizzes  like a fuzz ball no matter how much I try to prevent frizz with my all-natural products. So, I look at my hair now and I'm like, "Girl, your hair's CURLY!" and kinky, I must add :) lol I just absolutely LOVE my hair! I mean, I forgot what my natural hair looked and felt like, I had relaxed hair practically my whole life and now that I've seen and felt my natural hair, there's no way a relaxer's going on my hair again! :)

Things natural hair has forced me to learn:
1. Patience is a virtue
2. If something doesn't want to work with you, just let it be
3. A bad hair day is your hair being a toddler and having a hissy fit because she wants something.

"If you truly love something, you'll let it go and if it comes back, it's yours to keep." I loved my natural hair, I let it go, I've got it back so, yeah, IT'S MINE TO KEEP!


Things I've learned about my hair:
1. My hair needs moisture. I mean, MOISTURE!
2. My hair is such an actress
3. If I tell my hair I love her daily, she shows me that she loves me back by not acting up.
4. It's not that hard to achieve an AMAZING bantu knot out (or china-bump out as some people call it in England). All you need is to try it once, twice, thrice, you know the drill, keep on trying till you get it, it's definitely not time consuming, you just need some hours, maybe days, you might have to endure weird looking hair, you know, no biggie :)
5. I have 4 hair types (3c/4a/4b/4c with 3c around the back)
6. My hair likes protective styles (but only when my ends are held up and I moisturise daily)
7. Hard water is never the answer. Hard water makes my hair feel like it hasn't been moisturised in like a month (no matter how many moisturising treatments done). Bottled or filtered water makes my hair feel good! :)
8. My hair loves shea butter. :)
9. Shampoo (with sulphates) isn't needed (CG). Brown sugar scrubs, good ones, work pretty well to remove build-up and all that.
10. I can do without coconut oil, doesn't do much for me (well, I believe the one I have is refined, so I guess I just need to find unrefined coconut oil)
11. Extra Virgin Olive oil is so lazy! It just sits on my hair and does nothing, but make it oily unless I warm it up a bit like it's in a spa or something.
12. Rosemary oil, gosh! It's a miracle worker, Itchy scalp, dandruff, it gets rid of them so fast!
13. Perfume is terrible (for the hair, I mean), it dries it out so bad. Note! I did not spray perfume on my hair, my mum did. dunno y.

That's all for now. :)
I'll talk to you guys later.
~Sam

p.s I decided to never relax my hair again in early January 2011. It's been a year and 3 months since then and I haven't changed my mind or regretted my decision :)

Truth and Dangers of using Relaxers + 9 Months Old Baby Gets A RELAXER!

I'll start off by asking, "what on Earth can make someone put a relaxer on a baby's hair?!?!?" I know my mum started relaxing my hair at an early stage, but definitely not at 9 months. I don't even recommend relaxing a child's hair or anyone's hair for that matter. I've know what relaxer burns feel like and I just can't imagine a 9 month old baby going through that.

Please watch these videos. I hope they help somebody:

Truth and Dangers of using Relaxers^

Nine month old baby gets a relaxer. Are you serious!?!

People, relaxers are never the answer!

Proper hair care and research is!

And finally,

DON'T YOU DARE PUT A RELAXER OR SUGGEST PUTTING A RELAXER ON A BABY'S HAIR!

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1. What do you think about this?

2. What do you think about kids getting relaxers?

3. What are your views on relaxers in general?

SO! APPARENTLY, NATURAL HAIR IS NOT GOOD HAIR!

Okay! So, the other day, I was at work (yeah, work :) got a job...but only for 2 weeks! :) ).
Anyways, a lady that works here, she called me out while I was talking with my "co-workers." So, I was wondering why she was calling me, but I went to her and she was like, "why's your hair like this?" I was like, "like what?" She was like, "even your friend's hair is like yours," I looked at my bff through the window. She had her super kinky hair in a messy state, but she had most of it hidden under a beanie. That's when it clicked, the lady had seen my bff's hair before and I knew what she was talking about now, "are you talking about our hair being natural?" I asked, "yes," she said.

"Do you think your hair is good?" she asked, "do you think both of you have good hair?" I said, "yes," she went on to say, "you should go get your hair relaxed," I was like, "I'm never going to get my hair relaxed," she was like, "why? you think your hair is nice?" I said, "yes," she said, "natural hair is not nice. You don't have good hair, how do you even comb your hair?" I was like, "I have good hair, natural hair's beautiful and I comb my hair from the ends up to the roots," she was like, "what nonsense is that? So you'll just be sitting or standing and combing all this hair like that?" I was like, "yes," she then was like (and I hate this part),"look at how thick your hair is! Do you seriously think this is good?" I said, "yes," and she was like, "shut up! it isn't good. Look at how thick your hair is and on top of that, it's natural and you're telling me that's good?" and I was like, "yes."

My uncle (dad's bro), who happened to be in the office that day came over and was like, "what are you guys arguing about?" she was like, "she's telling me she has good hair," my uncle was like, "but she does, look at all this hair, healthy and natural." I should add that my uncle has a 2 year old daughter who's never going to get her hair relaxed (his wife has relaxed hair and from seeing my hair, she's considering transition. My uncle and his wife have decided never to relax, Neriah's hair). As for their almost a month old baby, they've started working on a good and healthy hair regimen for her, they haven't tested anything out on her yet (they only wash her curls with water for now). Anyways, back to what I was saying before: the lady was then like, "how is that good? her hair is so thick and natural," my uncle was like, "you haven't seen anything yet. You should see her rocking an afro," then he asked me why I didn't decide to wear an afro that day and I told him that my hair shrinks a lot now so he was like, "okay." We, my uncle and I, told her that my hair's so healthy now and that it's growing much faster and better now and that my hair hasn't been this long since I was little (when I had hair down my back and WAY below my chin- my dad cut it all off when I was 8-ish. Mind you, I only have below collar-bone length now, but a few strands of hair, stretched, go past bra-strap length - dunno y). The lady still wanted to argue with me, I totally felt like telling her that how thin, heat damaged and relaxer whatever her hair looks, is nothing to write home about or want to have. Instead, I settled for saying, "you should totally consider going natural." She was like, "so my hair would look like yours? Never. Why would I ever want my hair to be like yours? I've told you, you should go to a salon and get your hair relaxed. Look at your mum's hair, doesn't it look beautiful now?" My mum relaxed her curls. I said, "been there, done that, I'm never getting my hair relaxed again," and I walked away and went back to the conference room where I was with my "co-workers" and bff.

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Has this ever happened to you?

or something similar?

Tell me your story.