The Tightly Coiled

‘Ohmg, so I LOVE your dreads, and I have been trying to be sneaky and take a picture of it, but I cannot from this angle…” That is how the lady with the partially shaved hair began talking to me on the train. While she continued to talk, I was conflicted to tell her whether or not they were legit; I put on my British accent and LIED to her because she touched my hair without my consent. This past year, there has been a sense of pride and “individuality”,for the most part when it comes to ‘The Natural Hair’. There are females who would rather pay over $300 for a good head of weave opposed to managing their own. In the NYC area, an increasing number of females have been striving towards the natural curls for big and manageable hair; ranging from ‘The Fro’ to ‘The Recent Big Chop’. Everyone loves the “easy-breezy-beautiful”, neat afro/loose curls, but taking care of natural hair is tedious. It is similar to caring for a child; children need to be properly cared and nourished for so they can develop healthily, just as natural hair. No one is born with the stereotypical cognition ‘BrilloPad’. It is a side effect of years of perming/texturing your hair will result in malnourished hair. Malnutrition is a big problem in the black community, most are unaware of how to properly maintain their hair and it leads to dry scalps. Learn your hair and understand the natural hair journey will be stressful, but worth it.

~Joni

 (Samio @Samiorenelda)