Her HairStory, Brielle - Guest Blogger

My name is Brielle, I’m from Chicago Illinois, college student now studying multimedia journalism at Jackson State University. I started blogging to document my journey and get a head start on my portfolio for journalism, I recently just began blogging again because I found a NEW love for my natural hair and of course I missed writing! My blog is called CoilyCurls at www.coilycurls.blogspot.com and originally I decided to blog to record my journey and to help other naturals out but recently my sister and I decided we would document together because like me, she is natural too, well…she has not found much time because shes a full time mommy but I still write almost daily.

My hair journey is crazy and sad at the same time, my last relaxer was roughly July of 2009 then I began to transition from relaxed to natural, my hair was VERY damaged so my hair was growing at a very slow rate, For some odd reason I decided to dye my hair, it was a great idea until my hair began to fall out. My mother applied the color as well as a “booster” which is nothing but bleaching the hair, the bleaching and color damaged my already relaxed hair so at this point my hair was extremely weak but as my new growth grew in I became bothered because I hated the two shades in my hair, I was so full of myself with that “Honey Blonde” color I thought I was too cute so again I begged my mother to apply the color again, so she obliged but applied the color not only to my black roots but all of my hair which definitely was the WRONG idea. This was roughly around December of 2009 my hair became weak and dry and this is when I decided that I’d go natural from relaxers and Colors!

I waited patiently for my relaxer and color to grow out and by prom time June of 2010 my hair was still transitioning so I decided to get a sew in, I kept it in for about one month but sadly it seemed the relaxed hair broke so easily that my hair wouldn’t grow, I went away to school and bought some CERAMIC FLAT IRONS, mind you I still had relaxed hair - smh. My regimen was wash, condition &flat iron WEEKLY! By the time I went home for summer break which was in May of 2011 I sat in my kitchen called my mother in after I blow dried, and told her to clip the two inches of heat damage(by this time my hair was chemical free), and all of my split ends off, I got on youtube and searched natural hairstyles and found bantu knots, I wet my hair and did a bantu knot out & kept to this style all summer, August rolled around and I was back at school with the same regimen, only sometimes trying a wash n go, my go to hairstyle all sophomore year was a PUFF& I discovered MahoganyCurls and went CurlyGirl and my hair has blossomed ever since. I went natural for the health if my hair, but after being natural my reason for STAYING natural is to truly stay myself and not to change for someone else’s perception of beauty, to embrace myself in every way, being natural to me is not only my hair but instead it changed into my lifestyle. I’m Naturally me, the way I was intended to be.

What do I wish I knew before I went natural?

I wish I knew how to DETANGLE I spent a summer ripping my strands out, jeesh! I also wish I knew how important MOISTURE is regarding length retention, I do have a hair goal so that would have been very helpful and I can only imagine how much better my hair would have been if I moisturized well. Lastly I wish I’d known my hair better, I wish I’d known the effects of sulfates and silicones on my hair because being SULFATE and SILICONE free has aided my hair in moisture retention, even detangling is easier.

About her regimen

My regimen is pretty simple. I follow the Curly Girl Method so I am sulfate and silicone free, however I do clarify my hair every 4 months with a low-sulfate shampoo diluted with water. I cowash every other day or when needed. I Wear Wash n Go’s for the most part because with the CG method you’re supposed to let your curls dry undisturbed. I wake up in the morning (usually M,W,F) massage my scalp with tea tree oil and co-wash my hair in the shower, finger detangle while hair is drenched in the shower with conditioner, rinse out 90% of conditioner out and squeeze excess water out of my hair, tie a shirt around my hair to dry my hair some more because I do not apply my products to drenching wet hair I found that for me that leads to shrinkage and longer drying time, after that I section my hair in about six sections and run regular conditioner through each section as my leave in, grab a spray bottle of water, shake my hair and spray as I shake, it helps to distribute the product and about 4 hours later it is dry and defined, I sleep on a satin pillowcase, pineapple at night leaving my sides and bangs out because I don’t like them to be stretched too much because the sides and edges are more fine than any other section of hair on my head. Wake up, moisturize with spray bottle then I shake and go, and the next day do it all over again, unless my hair is too cute to mess up lol!

Her favorite products

Tresemme Naturals Conditioner, Suave Naturals Conditioner, Tea Trea Oil.

Words of wisdom for other naturals

MOISTURE,MOISTURE,MOISTURE, I promise the better your hair stay moisturized the better your hair will feel, it’ll be easier to detangle, it’ll be more healthy, even your styles will look better, and most importantly it’ll reduce breakage!
 

You can find me on my blog, Instagram: Bhaylee, and twitter @Bhaylee.

A HairStory is the history of your hair and the story it tells.  Everybody has one! Would love to hear from all - relaxed, natural, whatever! If you would like to share, please send me an email with "my hair story" in the subject line. Don't forget to include great photos! Tell the history of your coils in your own words or answer a series of questions I will provide.