Though I consider myself pretty internet savvy, it never occurred to me, until now, to start my own blog. I'll be honest - the idea of starting a blog came before the idea of what my blog would be about. While I was on vacation recently, a magazine I was reading advised that bloggers should blog about things that they're truly interested in, passionate about even. Seems easy enough, right? Well, not for me. I'm interested in, lets see... weddings, event planning, shoes, hair & home design just to name a few.
Out of these, I find myself talking about hair the most. I laugh to myself because I can just imagine how my hubby would be rolling his eyes if he was reading this. He thinks my hair obsession is way out of control. Maybe he's right. Maybe I missed my calling. Growing up I was what some called a "kitchen-tician" & what my cousin referred to as a "Trudy." I think my last "kitchen-tician" gig was doing my cousin's hair for her wedding back in 2000/2001. In case you're curious, I did a full weave (can't front, they were glued in tracks - I never learned how to do sew-ins), cut & beautiful curls. She loved it & so did her husband.
Anyhoo, on to the point of this all. Even though I've always been into hair, I never really knew much about healthy hair until the last 8-10 years or so. My hair was always really thick (maybe I'll post somewhat of a pictorial timeline later) & I was able to camouflage all of the damage I was doing to it. From hot curling every day with spritz to using Sun-In to lighten my hair to wearing a bleached blonde natural to the weaves & braids, I've prettymuch done everything that you can do to your hair. EXCEPT get a curly perm. No I was probably one of the only females in my family that did not have a curl back in the day. Even my stepdad had one. My mother's hair grew really long. Heck, my stepdad's hair grew really long, too.
So the curl was replaced with the high top fade & seemingly it went out of style. So maybe you're visiting my blog today, not because you have a curly perm, not because you're interested in ever having one but simply because you want to know why I would want to get one in this day & age. Currently I'm natural. I received my last relaxer May 2006. I went natural because I thought that would help me grow really long hair. Boy, was I wrong. I chopped off my relaxed ends August 2007. So basically I've been completely natural a little over a year & a half. Wish I could tell you it's been blissful but if that was the case there would be no need for this blog.
At first I was intrigued with my natural hair & then it seemed the longer it got, the more it turned on me. Let me pause right now & get this off of my chest. Please don't come on my blog preaching to me about loving myself, loving the hair that God gave me, self-hate, the slavemaster, wonk-wonk-wonk-wonk. I don't have any problems with loving me - as a matter of fact, I get along quite well with me. I respect all hair decisions & all I ask is for the same respect. It is my sincerest belief that a curly perm is as legitimate a hair decision as a relaxer or being natural, even. You're entitled to feel like my self-perception is warped. Hey it won't be the first nor the last time that someone feels this way. However, I didn't start this blog to debate with anyone about what I've chosen to do with MY hair. Now where was I? Yeah, me & the natural hair. To be blunt & brief, hated it! But at least I figured out why - I have at least 3 different textures residing on my one head & each one has a mind of its own. Also, it was so hard to get the proper moisture balance to the kinkiest of these textures. So I'd be walking around with moist curls in some spots & dry, tight afro in others.
I contemplated going back to relaxers but decided I just didn't want to do that again & I began to have my natural hair washed/silked (a.k.a. flatironed) every other week. I can admit I love my hair when it's freshly silked. However, it's like a covert operation to shower or wash my face without a hint of moisture getting to my edges, hair in general. The minute my edges smell water, it's over. Then it wasn't just the water avoidance. What about working out? I could stand to lose at least 20 pounds but who the heck wants to sweat their hair out? And no I'm not making excuses for not going to the gym, I'm just being real.
So after some soul searching & internet researching & lengthy talks with my stylist I concluded two things: Number 1, I want wash and go hair (but not my hair in it's natural state) & number 2, my best answer would be a curly perm. I've decided to blog about all things curly perm: the history, the major companies out there that produce them, maintenance, styles, products & anything else I can come up with. I would love to highlight ladies out there who have curls & would like to share their stories. I won't lie - I have a tendancy to go overboard with alot of things. Well this is no different. Just like people have afro tees & are proud of their natural hair, I envision a community of ladies with curls who are proud! Hair technology has advanced & having a curl no longer means walking around with a dripping, greasy hair do.
I have an appointment to get my very first curly perm on Wednesday. I'm excited, as well as nervous. I will post pics of my new hair as soon as I get home.
So without further ado, I give you the CKC - Curly Kit Chronicles.
