I initially began my transition not by choice. Long hair was something that always eluded me, but when I was planning my wedding, I decided that I wanted to have long hair on my wedding day. My last experience with extensions was as a teenager when I asked my mom if I could get braids like Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice. I remember sitting for about 8 hours to get these braids. After wearing them for 1/2 a day, and having the worst headache/scalp pain of my life, my mom cut them out of my hair the next morning. (Thanks mom!!) So fast forward to two months prior to my wedding, I found a hair stylist online who could put in extensions. I must say I loved them. I'm not exactly sure how they were put in, but basically the extensions were just weaved in with my own hair hanging down. I loved how it looked. I became pretty good at many different heat styles. I went on YouTube frequently to check out different styles and received almost daily compliments on my hair.
My wedding day came and went and it was time to go back to her to get the extensions tightened again. I have not felt pain like that since that day years ago. My hair was so matted with the extensions, she ripped through my hair with a fine tooth comb. I looked in horror at all the hair on the floor. I touched the hair on my head, and to my surprise, my already fine hair was even finer and shorter than before. I had gone from almost armpit length up to shoulder length hair. With tears in my eyes, I let her put the extensions in my hair again (yes, what the hell was I thinking). A few days later, I noticed a quarter size bald spot on my scalp. The extensions were removed the next day.
In tears, I headed back home. I hated my thin, limp hair. I didn't want my new husband to see my hair like this! I called to warn him it was bad. He promised that it was not as bad as I thought, which he reiterated when he saw me. He has been my biggest supporter through this. Of course, I didn't believe him. I saw my hair stylist a few days later, and was again in tears. She also promised me it was not that bad. She gave me a fresh trim and told me we would not color or relax my hair until my hair got healthier. Thank goodness for her! This new hair was so foreign to me, not only because of how it now looked, but I had been relaxing my hair every 10-12 weeks for 20 years. I started coloring my hair in college for fun, then out of necessity when I noticed my first grey hair around my 30th birthday.
My last relaxer was April 29, 2010.
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