A Shark's Hair Journey Thus Far: Braids, Twists, Natural, etc
Every Black woman has their own personal story, struggle, and triumphs with their hair. My hair is my superpower. It’s the one thing I’ve been able to creatively mold to however I want, no matter where I was in life. I went from bleaching, flat ironing and blow drying – turning my hair into a damaged mess – to actually caring for it with different natural hair care methods. I taught myself how to braid, twist, and faux loc with bundles of braiding hair.
I have a whole album sketching out my hair journey in photos from the last 5 years, but I wanted to publish a physical timeline of my hair journey. Let’s start all the way back in 2015.
The Brief Sew-In Era/Heat Damage
From high school pretty much until 2020, the flat iron was a staple in my hair routine. Yeah, I burnt the shit out of my hair pretty much every day to get that flat, silky, straight look that was the opposite of my nature curl pattern. 2015 was the year I got married and I wanted longer hair, so for that wedding weekend I had a partial sew-in that I LOVED so much, I went back to get my first lace frontal sew-in weave. It was blonde with purple, pink and blue pastel color.
That weave was great until it wasn’t. The hair was so fried and had zero moisture so I ended up looking Bride of Chucky-ish after a month. After I took that out, I continued to grow my hair out but the itch to go blonde had been planted by the weave!
My Blonde Ambition
Going blonde is a TUMULTUOUS QUEST. Especially if your hair is black and especially if you’re Black. The roots must be protected and the process has to be done in two or more parts otherwise, hair loss is almost certain. Special shoutout to my hairstylist at the time, Paris, who helped me with not only this but a lot of my previous hairstyles. The first phase was a copper/orange look that I didn’t hate but I wanted the full platinum blonde look, which we achieved with the second treatment a few weeks later.
I had a lot of fun being blonde but I already knew it wasn’t going to be sustainable for me long-term because of the cost of upkeep and awareness of the damage it was doing to my hair overall. I still got some cute ass photos with the style though and I will forever appreciate this time in my life. My Marilyn era.
Unicorn Hair, a Rainbow Exploration
Once I decided I wouldn’t touch up my roots anymore and have to start the long journey of going back to black, I wanted to have fun with it. Thus began the coloring phase of my hair life. I went through SO MANY COLORS and had a blast. From purples to blues to gray/silver to hot pink and rosé, I was all about the next new color no matter what damage my hair was sustaining, and baby, it took a lot of hits during this era.
My hair kept breaking off and getting shorter and shorter, but I didn’t care at the time because the blonde was slowly retreating, which meant I had little time left to explore with color! Little did I know the new skills I was going to pick up in quarantine later on.
Pivoting to Braids
As my blonde grew out and I experimented with colors, I decided to look into protective styles as an alternative to just waiting out the blonde. (Cutting my hair at this point was NOT an option.) Paris helped me with a couple braided styles, cornrowed boxer braids and regular cornrows in a blue-green aquamarine color that matched my hair dye at the time. She had fun experimenting with my hair, so I loved going back to her.
A huge thing happened to me whilst on this particular leg of my hair journey … we moved to Las Vegas! In 2018, I left Ohio with my husband and dog and had to readjust all my hair plans with the loss of my fave hairstylist. That fall, I got my first set of box braids from a Senegalese braider who was NOT kind to my edges, but it was my very first set of box braids ever – and I was THRILLED. Finally, I found a style that was both protective and let me add/play with color WITHOUT damaging my hair further.
DIY Featuring Friends
I was addicted to long braids and twists after some of my fave actresses started getting braids the summer I moved to Vegas. Luckily, I didn’t have to keep going back to a braider that didn’t care about my baby hairs. My two friends, Lexi and Thaina, were gracious enough that year to twist and braid my hair for free. Lexi did a really cool look that was black and purple in rope twists and Thaina did fat jumbo braids that summer. These two moments were huge pieces of motivation for me to start doing my own hair eventually.
It was during this time, I was still flat ironing my hair but I started trimming out the remaining blonde and damaged ends because they were peeking out of my braids and twists, looking a mess, so they had to go. I went to a different braider at the beginning of 2020 for twists that I loved, but the set-up was sketchy … and then, well, everyone knows what happened next:
Pandemic Forced My Hand
Like everyone in the world, COVID-19 rocked the foundation of my world and changed everything. The lockdowns in Vegas nearly ruined our lives and I am not even exaggerating a little bit. One of the few good things to come out of being stuck inside 24/7, was learning how to do my own twists and braids with braiding hair. BIG DEAL HELLO!
In April 2020, I finally decided to chop off the dead ends of my hair and start fresh. That was about 7 inches of hair gone. Some parts of my hair were literally 2 inches long at one point. It was terrifying but also quite the relief.
With the help of another friend, Dia, I started doing twist outs on my hair before I eventually dove in, bought bundles of hair and did my first set of boho/island twists. Not knowing when I’d be able to get to a hair stylist again and worried about finances, doing my own braids and twists was a game changer.
The aforementioned friend was super helpful in a special way, because she’s Afro-Latina like me so our hair was exactly the same curl pattern. She showed me her method of twisting her own hair, a lightbulb moment for me.
Experimenting & Leveling Up
From my very first attempt at twists which started in tears (shit is hard!) to where I’m at now, it’s like night and day. Obsessed with the look of twists when I first started, so I mostly did those for the first few styles and then eventually did my own box braids. A lot of stuff I picked up from numerous YouTube videos, but honestly trial and error is the best way to improve. I learned which hair was best for what style I wanted (coarser hair like Marley hair was best for thick twists, pre-stretched or water wave hair was best for braids) and what type of technique were best for my roots and edges.
I’ve done knotted braids, braided-in twists, rubber-banded twists, faux locs and knotless braids. (Some of these names I just made up based on what the actual technique is, they may have more official names, who knows.) I went from preferring thick twists over time to wanting thinner knotless, feed-in braids that are easier to maneuver and style like loose hair.
This is also the better and safer way to add color without dyeing my hair. I’ve done blue, red, purple, white, blonde and plan to do more this year. Being your own braider is a powerful feeling, for real. I encourage every Black person reading this to start learning how to do your own hair. It’s an untouchable feeling of control.
Is it time-consuming? Yes. Can it be frustrating? Yes. Are the parts perfect? Nope. But when you’re doing it yourself (and not paying for it!!), the relief of knowing you can just redo a messy braid is almost overwhelming.
Going Natural
A side effect of the “Big Chop” and learning to do my own hair was the rate of growth and improvement my natural hair is going through. I’ve seen my bestie, Tempestt, go through her own “Big Chop” years prior and her hair has blossomed ever since. As I write this, my hair is in its natural Afro state. My hair is naturally a 3c texture but years of bleach and heat damage nearly flattened it to 2c. After cutting all the damage off, my hair is back thriving in its natural 3c state. Thankfully, my roots survived the near 20 years of damage.
I no longer put any unnatural heat on my hair. Any heat that touches it, is from a hot shower or the Las Vegas sun. I apply the LCO/LOC method to my hair depending on what style I’m going for that day/week. The LCO method is usually what I go for: Liquid, Cream, Oil.
Wash and condition with a tea tree oil-based shampoo and Argan oil-shea butter based conditioner.
Lightly brush out my damp curls and apply a curl custard thoroughly from roots to end. (Aunt Jackie’s Curl Custard is my fave.)
Olive oil moisturizer and a light Argan oil spray on top of that.
Everyone’s methods are different but this is the one that I find my hair thrives under the most. My edges are moisturized and healthier than ever. I’m usually in my natural state for about 2-3 weeks in between my sets to protect my hairline and let my hair breathe.
What’s Next?
I’m going to keep growing out my natural hair until it’s back to long. I used to have curls down my back until the 4th grade, when I got my first haircut, so the goal is to try and get back there. Continue to braid and twist and try new techniques on my hair.
Styles I’d like to attempt: goddess braids, faux butterfly locs, passion jumbo braids, jumbo twists.
Colors I wanna play with: shades of green, pink, silver, lavender and yellows/oranges.
This is all contingent upon whether or not I get pregnant soon, so we’ll see! Stay tuned, because I will keep updating with new styles every time I try them.