This month marked my 6 months since my big chop and making the decision to go natural. I have learned so many things about my hair and about myself and I am so excited to continue on this wonderful journey; however, as I type this right now, I am back to wearing a weave. There are a lot of people who would argue that I’m regressing or that I caved and went back to “the dark side,” but I completely disagree!

At first, I was really struggling with my choice to go back into a weave because I was sort of halfway listening to all of those comments people were making. I had started on my journey to learn to love my natural hair and learn to take care of it and appreciate it as a part of who I am, and I worried that going back into a weave after all this time would take away from that. My hair had visibly grown since I first started and I was so excited that people I knew and were following me on my journey noticed and pointed it out to me! I was getting a lot of compliments on my progress and how it looked on me in general, which was absolutely incredible to me and super fulfilling. I had finally gotten to a point where I felt pretty confident about working with my hair and really owning it and still feeling feminine and beautiful (which was really huge for me you guys). But..when it came down to it..I was super bored.

Those who have known me for a while, or even those who just follow my blog, if you read my post about my hair journey you can see how often I like to change it up. To me, hair has always been an avenue for creative expression and trying out new things; and, although one of the things I have learned to love most about my natural hair is its versatility, I was really missing having a pony tail and I was craving some color for summer. I’ve come a looong way in learning how to do some different types of things with my hair, but I was absolutely no where near ready to dye or lighten my natural hair. Guys, I’ve just been scared switching up the products I use because I’m terrified of losing all of my hard work! A lot of naturalistas out there are at the point where they’re willing to take risks and try new things because it’s just hair and it will grow back… but I can comfortably say I’m definitely not there yet (one day!). So getting this weave let me play around and do some fun things without potentially damaging my hair.

Another huge thing that a lot of people tend to forget is weaves can be a great protective style. I’m one of those people whose hair grows a lot when it is just tucked away and left to do its own thang without any manipulation by me. I also suffer from a horrible case of HIH syndrome (hands in hair syndrome) where I am constantly touching my hair and detangling and just getting all of those horrible icky oils from my hands onto and into my hair that just dry it out. So for me, weaves let me safely suffer from my disorder.

Lastly and most importantly, weaves make me feel so confident and good about myself. It was hard for me to admit this, because I thought it was a bad thing, but I’ve decided it’s really not. The whole point of the natural hair movement is to encourage women to love themselves and who they are while learning to care for their hair. If wearing a weave makes you feel confident and beautiful then I think you should do it! Everyone’s journey and personal situation is completely different and I think it’s important for people to remember that whilst on your journey, you should do what’s best for you. For me, I can say that this time around I am in a completely different mindset than when I would only wear weaves. Back then it felt like something I had to do to feel beautiful and now I know that that’s just not true at all. Big, bold hair will always always always fit with my personality and who I am, and I dream of the day when I nurse my own hair to get to that point. Until then, I am comfortable with faking it for the time being. Now there are also incredible brands like Runway Curls that create beautiful, 100% authentic human hair extensions that you can blow dry, straighten, dye, and do everything that you would want to do with your real hair without experiencing any of the damage or stress that comes along with styling. I work with this brand because of its dedication to the natural movement and teaching girls to love their natural texture, which I think is super important and is perfect for what I want in my weave right now! A lot of people also are hating on the Brazilian hair look, but I’m gonna be real with y’all and say that I don’t think it’s the most horrible thing. Curly hair takes a lot of work and effort and if your present lifestyle makes that difficult for you, or even if you just want a short vacation from the curly life and want to enjoy the luxury of being able to wake up and throw your hair in a pony and go, I say go for it (although I have found that having hair that matches your natural texture is so much better and easier when it comes to blending in new growth and keeping people guessing about whether you grew that hair or not)! Everyone is different and has different needs, and I think in the end we need to be focusing on encouraging people to do what’s best for them and their hair and makes them feel the best about themselves. Isn’t this movement about love and support anyways?!

Let me know what you think below!