Jumping into Spring with bold colors, sassy smiles, and big curls!
This Just Makes Me Smile! :)… If barbie can do it, then so can we!
According to this article, Natural Hair is the hair trend of 2012. What are your thoughts?
One of My Favorite Blogs
As a blogger, I am always asked to talk about blogs that I love and follow. I follow MANY blogs but this College Curlies is one of my favorites because it gives tips about how to manage, grow, and style your natural curls without breaking the bank. The founder of the blog is also one of the cutest women you will ever know and I hope to one day have the opportunity to meet with her. (I think we would be friends :) ).
Look over the blog, get some new styling tips, and have fun with your naturalness!
Hair Story: Curls From Philly
Rameerah Anderson
21
Stanford, CA
When did you fall in love with your hair?
I didnt fall in love with my hair until recently. I cut my hair off on August 6, 2010 and I probably didn’t appreciate it until September.
Why did you cut it off?
I cut it off for many reasons. I was definitely a “perm girl” growing up. I always had perms and always took very good care of my chemically straight hair. In August, I officially decided to go natural so I cut off all the perm to have a fresh start.
What prompted your decision to go natural?
It was a hard and long decision. Before I cut off all my hair in August, I made a decision to stop perming my hair a couple of months earlier. I am from the East Coast and I moved out the West Coast to go to college. I didn’t have a hair stylist in California and even though I heard of some people in the area, I just didn’t trust anyone with my hair but the person that I went to back home. So if it was going to be permed, I had to do it myself. Then with my crazy school, I realized that I didn’t have time to take care of my hair. During the summer of 2010 I didn’t perm my hair, started to let it grow. The roots grew naturally and I had straight ends. In August I cut those ends off.
What is your favorite part of your hair and why?
I like the texture. My mom is very fair skin. She has always had really long and curly hair. My older sister has very curly hair as well. I always thought my hair was going to be nappy and really kinky because I only saw my naturalness when my roots would grow in from my perm. But after I started to let it grow and stopped straightening my hair, I began to realize that it is very similar to my mom’s hair.
Have you witnessed a hair complex in your culture?
Yes! I think the hair issue is just as important and as prominent as colorism in the Black community. I was raised in Philly and everyone wears weave in Philly. I never put weave in my hair but I always straightened my hair. I remember people asking me if I was mixed because I didn’t wear weave in my hair. Even now, people ask me “What are you?” because of the natural texture of my curls. They can’t believe that I am African American because they assume that my hair is going to be course and nappy. I am African American and just because my hair is not a stereotypical afro does not make me less African American. Just because the girls who can rock the afro don’t have my hair, does not make them less beautiful. This is the issue.
What does it mean to be natural?
For me, I think it is a mixture of everything. At first, people think it’s a statement. Everyone thinks that people with natural hair are unique and revolutionary. I think many adults assume that when their daughter or female relative goes natural in college, she is trying to find herself. But sometimes going natural, is not about starting a revolution with the world. I did a lot of growing up in summer 2010. I spent my summer doing an internship and for many reasons I feel as though I grew as a person. I actually even got a tattoo to memorialize my summer and my growing up. Part of going natural was part of that. I wanted to be the new me and shed some of the past by getting a new hair style. My new hair style just happened to be my natural texture.
How does your natural hairstyle effect your attractiveness to other people?
Well, I am part of the LGBT community, so I think attractiveness is different in my circle than it is in the stereotypical circle. In the LGBT community short hair is usually a big signifier for being butch and/or a lesbian. I am currently in the West Coast so everyone loves my hair. My hair is cool and part of the trend. I’m in the Bay Area so anything that is edgy or different is cool and amazing. However, on the East Coast it is different. When I go home, I get stares. People are used to weave. I mean, even when I had my hair long, people would ask me why I didn’t put weave in my hair. It’s the East Coast, that’s what you do. You wear weave.
What was your parents reaction to your new hair cut?
My mom is always the “but” person. So whenever I do something different from changing my hair style or getting a new a shirt, she will say “I like it but…” But when I cut it off and came home, there was no “but”. She was very supportive and she loved it. Soon afterwards, she cut her hair off too. So now we look the same. Now that she is used to it, she will ask me why I don’t blow it out or straighten it anymore. But I just say I don’t want to. She is very supportive.
