The struggle:
Everybody who knows me knows how much of a struggle my hair has been over the past few years. Honestly, I love wearing weave but it got to the point where my hair was starting to thin from the perms, glue, braids, thread, etc. Soooooooo, I stopped getting perms. 11 months later I BC’d (Big chop) and wore a little fro for a month. Then got a sew in. I played that game for 19 months.
I’ll be honest going natural wasn’t as amazing as I envisioned. I thought I’d have a HUGE fro that I can do all the cute styles with like twist outs and fro-hawks. As you can see, I didn’t have that at all, lol. I’ve finally come to accept the fate of my hair. Its not the fullest, it’s not the kinky-est but it’s healthy and it’s mine.
Embracing what is:
I’ve decided to go ahead and get a smoothing treatment to help my hair be more manageable when both curly and straight. I was going to get a Keratin treatment (again) but while doing research I found out about the agave treatment. It’s basically the same a a keratin (temporary 3-6month protein treatment for your hair) but is less harsh and doesn’t have formaldehyde (which some brands of keratin does).
Some people argue so what it has formaldehyde so does other common beauty products such as nail polish. For me, that wasn’t the final factor. I was excited about finding a Black natural hair stylist who can help me with my hair and knows how to do whats best for it. When I did my Keratin I went to a Dominican salon and they fried my hair to death in the process and I didn’t want that experience again.
Thus far, I love my Agave treatment and my hair was more manageable and less frizzy. Oh and I did get my ends clipped (They haven’t been cut since I BC’d). Below you’ll find pictures of the process. I tried to do a video but iMovie wouldn’t show the whole picture and I got flustered. Anyway, enjoy and if you have any questions leave a comment and I’ll respond. =)
Thanks for reading.
Here they are: starting from the morning before the treatment to the finished product. The last picture is comparison of my hair 14 weeks ago to now.
Hey Ashley, I may be coming to Miami next week and I would like to know. The name of the salon and stylist. Thanks
I went to Runway Kinks in Davie. It’s off of University and Sterling near Spares bowling alley. The stylist’s name is Sasha. Ill inbox you her number.
Okay, so after awhile your hair will return back to it’s kinky ways? Because I know someone who got the keratin and it left their hair permanently straight. I’ve been wanting to try this but I’m scared I’ll have straight hair forever.
Yes! My keratin experience was horrible like that too. My curls looked Jerry curl-ish, lol..
But it will curl back, when she washed my hair after doing the process it still curled up like my Afro. It was a very slight drop in my curls.