At my hair salon not long ago, I was asked why I decided to go natural - what was it that made me forgo relaxed hair, which is relatively easier to manage. I thought of saying that it was because I wanted healthier hair, or that I wanted my African roots on full display. Neither would have been entirely true on their own. What really inspired me was the natural hair movement that was in spring, which combined the two. I wanted in.

Before deciding to make this transition, my relaxed hair was about thirteen inches long and for someone who had sported short hair through their teenage years, this was a big deal. Once I left university, several years ago now, I discovered the fledgling movement in the USA. This involved pictures and videos of African-American women chopping off their relaxed hair in defiance to the Western ideal that straight, sleek hair is better than the alternative; an idea that they too may have once subscribed to. Most importantly, they were embracing their natural God-given hair and encouraging other black women to do the same. While I found this movement very fascinating and sympathised with their cause, I couldn’t bring myself to shave off my hair for two reasons.

To explain the first one, let me take you back to my school days where school rules and regulations required every student to have a shaved head. Meaning that I was practically bald for at about seven years. Later on then, as my hair grew to shoulder length, it is no surprise that I was reluctant to let go of all that progress and return to ground zero.

Secondly, when I was in primary school my natural hair was such a chore to manage because there wasn’t enough information at that time about how to deal with natural hair. Most hairdressers would just end up relaxing your hair according to their training. My mum however was adamant—she would not allow her children’s hair to be contaminated with the harsh chemicals in hair relaxers. It didn’t matter how much I pleaded with her. I had two options: either to cut off the hair completely, or deal with the incompetence of my local hairdressers. I opted for the latter, which meant many painful tears at the hair salon. Naturally I looked forward to becoming an adult so that I could have the sleek, pain-free hair I’d always dreamed of. Although I admired the courageous ladies who were shaving off their hair online, I balked at the idea of going back to the struggle of my preteens.

As the natural hair movement gained traction, some companies took advantage of its spring to start marketing hair products which catered specifically to kinky, curly hair - as is often the state of natural hair. It wasn’t long before these particular products were as commonplace as the chemical hair straightening ones in your local Afro-hair shop. There also developed a knowledge pool of what products worked best for people with different curl patterns and hair porosity levels.

Armed with this new knowledge and the wealth of new hair products to choose from, I had no doubt that managing my natural hair wouldn’t be a painful exercise and I was spoiled for choice when I needed to buy the right products for my hair. It just so happened that at about this time my younger sister had begun growing an afro and her hair looked healthy and luscious. Everything was urging me to take the plunge, or the chop.

Because I didn’t want to shave off all my hair again, I decided to wait until I had a few months of new growth before cutting off what was left of my relaxed ends. The whole exercise was fairly painless, except for the sadness I felt at having to let all that hair go. Thankfully, this was soon superseded by the enjoyment that I found in looking after my hair. It was growing quicker than I ever remembered and it was very thick. Due to its unique texture, it was fertile ground for a variety of hairstyles. I took full advantage of this and my colleagues almost couldn’t recognise me every Monday morning as I turned up with a different hairstyle each time.

Predictably, the road hasn’t been easy, time and money having been the two biggest obstacles. I have spent countless hours researching hair products and finding a care routine that best fits me, which has involved plenty of purchases as I sifted through what did and didn’t work.

With these matters sorted, I put more time into finding an adequate hair salon that could put my routine into practice. Of course this was more costly than doing it all by myself, but it would also take twice as much time, and one hundred percent more energy.

To this day I am still enjoying my hair’s natural beauty, so much so that I don’t feel like I need to have it permanently straightened again. Three years in, I haven’t even had to flat-iron it. To those who’re still on fence about taking the natural route—if my own experience is anything to go by, you’ll be happier for it. But do some research first, considering your own personal needs. Happy chopping!

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