Our Natural Hair Journies

It’s so funny how people assume that when you wear a headscarf, you don’t take care of your hair. In reality, covering your hair doesn’t mean you stop having hair. So we still struggle with taking care of what’s underneath the scarf too. This is especially true for women of color. When I was a little girl, all we knew was treating our natural curls with harsh chemicals, such as perms. We thought it made our hair more manageable, but more importantly, we thought it made us prettier to have straight, relaxed hair.

My Curly Struggle

I didn’t have a relationship with my natural curls because I never saw them. The women in my family didn’t know how to care for mine or theirs, so we were all convinced our natural hair was ugly. I didn’t start loving my natural hair until I started embracing it recently…as a grown woman.

My natural hair journey really started and ended with me chopping all my hair off. I cut it because I didn’t know what to do with it but then even after I cut it, I didn’t really know what to do with it. I spent hundreds of dollars (maybe thousands at this point) on different products to make my curls pop or keep my hair moisturized enough to see growth. So many of those jars are still sitting in a box, barely used.

My Natural Daughters

When I had Diari, I decided to learn how to take care of her hair and teach her how to love it. Now I have two girls, which makes THREE natural heads in my household! Sometimes it’s hard because I don’t feel like I do a good job styling Diari’s hair, but I’m trying. I’ll keep practicing and learning because I love our curls. Diari doesn’t like the process of getting her hair done (who can blame her with all the kinks?) but she loves the finished product. She always asks for a mirror to see what her hair looks like and she can’t wait to go to school to show off her new hairdo (*diva).

Like I said, so far, our natural hair journey has consisted of buying and trying a million different products that often don’t work. Dealing with the coils and kinks is such a frustrating process, especially for kids. There’s no better feeling than finding the products that work for your hair. I recently stumbled upon the Just For Me® Curl Peace collection and let me tell you about the huge difference it has made in styling Diari’s hair! Her curls love this collection and it is making all of our lives so much easier.

Wash Day Made Easy

This past wash day was one of the best ones we’ve ever had thanks to Just For Me® Curl Peace! Even though Diari made her usual faces when she was over it, there were no tears. I could actually keep her in her chair the whole time. The process was so much more gentle than usual. I laid her down on the counter and used the Ultimate Detangling Shampoo to clean her hair. It had two weeks worth of daycare dirt, ugh! Then, the slip from the Ultimate Detangling Conditioner made it so easy to comb through her curls.

If that wasn’t enough, the 5-In-1 Wonder Spray kept Diari’s hair detangled, shiny, and moisturized throughout the styling process. I parted her hair and used the Smoothing Ponytail & Edge Control and I could not believe the hold. This was by far my favorite product. It helped me control Diari’s hair long enough to tie it into ponytails. Then, I used the Braiding & Twisting Grip Glaze to finish off the style. I never thought I would have fun on wash days!

My favorite things about the Just For Me® Curl Peace collection are the natural ingredients and the fact that I can go to my favorite local stores and actually afford it! I’m also excited that it’s made for girls and boys so I can hopefully use this same line on the boy everybody keeps asking me when I’ll have lol.

Tips and Tricks

• When washing Diari’s hair, I use the kitchen sink because of the counter space where she can lie down. Plus, it has the extending hose that I can pull to wash her hair.
• I also place towels under her head as a cushion to make her more comfortable.
• Distractions like cartoons on her iPad, a toy, or a book help keep Diari busy while I’m styling her hair.
• Part natural hair into sections to make styling easier and less painful.
• Style your hair with the same products you use for your kids and see how you like them for yourself!