<![CDATA[welcome

My nightmare
Imagine being so obsessed about having long hair to the point where you start dreaming about it. Have you ever dreamed that your hair was so long to the point where, it flaunts down your lower back, where you trip over it and fall? Well, I don’t have to because that was my nightmare for many, many years. I used to wake up touching my head searching for the nice beautiful, long hair I had dreamed of. “So frustrating”.

The real Battle
Growing up my Mother has always been my angel and I loved her so much, still do (bless her soul). I had so much fun being around her until it was time to do my hair. Then the theatric battle begins. I start to scream, fight and by the time I was 4 years old I already knew to tell myself “nope you’re not going down without a fight”. The usual scenery would begin, my mom would be pulling my hard, coarse 4C hair then my Dad and my brother would hide behind the house, barking like one pack of dogs. Finally after all the yelling screaming, I would fall asleep or too get too tired to cry.

The Deal
Later on I started to notice that some of the little girls in my neighborhood had nice little bun in their hair and of course, I wanted my hair to be done the same way, but my Mom had other plans. By the time I was six years old (in my smart little mind), I was ready to sign the deal of the century with her to later realize that she wasn’t down for it. The deal was “ok mommy if you promise to do those cute little buns for me when you do my hair, I would stop fighting and let you do my hair no matter how much it hurts: biggest deception ever.

I knew I had lost the battle, not the war. From then on, I started messing, pulling my hair every time it wasn’t done the way I wanted it to be done. After a week my mom started to realize that something wasn’t right. Why is my hair looking like I came out of the arena only 15 minutes after being done?

She then asked me what was going on with my hair. I told her that I thought she wasn’t doing my hair right so messing it up would make her do it right…
After looking at me like she was figuring out whether to whipped the Holy Ghost out of me or simply ignore me? She then calmly said you’re going to have to learn to do your hair on your own, you can practice on my hair, she said. To me, that was the biggest achievement a 7 year old could make and I was ready to prove to my mom that I could do it.
The following years weren’t easy. I had to have my first hair straightener at the age of 10 years old, which was a complete fiasco.

At puberty age, I started to hate my hair and wonder why God didn’t create me with straight long and beautiful hair just like those people on television. I started to tell myself if wanted it really hard it would happen. Hence, I would literally have dreams about having perfect hair. It was a real struggle and sometimes, I have to admit that my hair looked like a donkey had chewed on it.

It wasn’t until my late teenage years that I started paying attention to my mother and grandmother hair routines. They never once in their lives use any type of chemical on their hair neither silk pressing (none of that black hair ceremony type of thing). Yet they used to have that healthy, strong and beautiful hair, spending little to no money at all.
There are some things that my mother would meticulously do to her hair such as; washing every two weeks, always sleep with a scarf, coat her hair with castor oil. She usually touched it so gently, massaging the oil in. I now realized that, it was her way of relaxing and showing love to the queen that she was deep within.

My mother’s wash day routine;
Ingredients:
A piece of laundry soap bar
1 ripe avocado
12 to 15 hibiscus leaves and 3 flowers/ 5-7 Green Okras
1-2 oz. of castor oil
1 oz. of rosemary
16 oz. of water
1 large bowl

It was a very simple routine; my mother would firstly prepare what we now would use as a leaving. 12-15 hibiscus leaves and the flowers in a large bowl, and then add 16oz of tap water. She used her hands to squish the leaves until the water turned green. (The more slippery the better).
Her favorite pre-wash ingredient was mashed ripe avocado that she used as a mask all over her hair. Sometimes, she would also use it as conditioner. My mother used the laundry soap bar along with water to thoroughly wash her hair. After rinsing and making sure it’s clean, she then goes on applying that lovely hibiscus or/ okra water generously on her hair detangling it with her finger until it was all soft and ready to be combed. After squeezing most of the water out of her hair, next step, oil application castor oil or rosemary oil. Mom most often used castor oil because it was the easiest to find in that part of the Caribbean where I grew up.
The geniuses
After doing some personal research about those ingredients that my mother and my grandmother use to put in their hair, I came to realize that they were geniuses without even knowing it.
We were created and placed under the well-equipped care of Mother Nature and there is a good reason for that. We have every element we need to essentially keep ourselves healthy and beautiful right to our reach. If only we were aware of them. After reading many books whether in material or over the internet, I have acquired a better understanding of why those simple things used to work wonders for my role-models (mom and grandma).
Let’s take a look at the ingredients;
Avocado
Avocado is full of protein essential for your hair. Loaded with potassium and amino acids, this creamy power food is hard to beat. Need protein? Avocados contain about four grams, among the highest of all fruit. In addition to being an amazing, avocado is like a superhero for dry hair. Lots of vitamins A, D, E and B6, avocado is also high in proteins, amino acids, magnesium, folic acid, copper and iron.
Using an avocado conditioner promotes hair that feels soft and more elastic. The high-fat content of avocados makes hair less dry and prone to breakage. There are so many benefits to using avocado.

Hibiscus leaves
In addition to the frequent use of the flower tea for reasons like; cold, flu, immune support and hypertension, the hibiscus leaves are widely used in the Caribbean as well as other parts of the world for their hair and skin benefits.

Hair benefits
Hibiscus plant is known for:

·       Preventing hair loss
·       Reduce premature gray hair
·       Lessens frizz
·       Promotes hair growth
·       Helps balance scalp’s pH
·       Reduces scalp inflammation and redness
·       It detangles hair

Green Okra
Okra or okro, known in many English-speaking countries as ladies' fingers, ochro or gumbo, is a flowering plant in the mallow family.
Raw okra is 90% water, 2% protein, 7% carbohydrates and negligible in fat. In a 100 gram amount, raw okra is rich (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) in vitamin C and vitamin K, with moderate content of thiamin, folate and magnesium. Magnesium is crucial to nerve transmission and cell formation. Thus it has the ability of promoting new hair growth.
Castor oil
Castor oil carries ricinoleic acid and omega- 6 essential fatty acids, which accelerate blood circulation to the scalp, hence increasing hair growth. It brings nutrients to the scalp and strengthens the follicles.
Castor oil also contains anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and antiviral properties. These properties reach out to fight pathogens and micro-organisms. It’s very effective against scalp infections and issues such as bald patches, itchy scalp. Additionally, it is known to be a miracle worker when it comes to clearing off dandruff.

Rosemary oil
When applied over the scalp rosemary essential oil helps stimulate hair growth. Many people also claim that it can prevent baldness, slows graying, and can be used to treat dandruff and dry scalp.
Some of the benefits of Rosemary oil are;

It has antioxidants
Can be used as antibacterial
It’s an anti-inflammatory
It fights oily scalp

One of the most important qualities of rosemary that make it great for hair growth is that it is a powerful stimulant, which when applied to the scalp induces blood circulation to the hair follicles. When the hair follicles are supplied with a greater amount of nutrient-rich blood, faster and healthier hair growth occurs.

I am beautiful
It wasn’t until my late teenage years that I began to understand and accept myself as I am, for who I’m, a beautiful petite, intelligent and loving young woman. I don’t have to dream about things that I don’t have any more. I’m beautiful and proud; this is what I tell myself every single day. Sometimes, I would catch my mom looking at me in admiration doing my own or a friend’s hair. She was always so proud of me.

There is no rocket science to it. Long hair starts with genetics but healthy hair is all about loving and caring for it. I’m not saying that one cannot achieve long, beautiful tresses. Simply keep in mind that from my experience I believe that hair type is 55 percent genetics, nutrition and health 35 percent, care and treatment 10 percent. It is crucial to know oneself and learn what it takes for you to achieve beautiful hair and most importantly loving yourself whether with long or short hair.
It’s an everyday experience, the sooner we understand and accept ourselves, the smoother our lives run.