Karla's hairstory...in pictures

I've been putting this off for months but it's a new year now, no more procrastination.

Kanika delved deep into her soul to write about her life and experiences with her hair MONTHS ago and I still haven't managed to post mine.

It's not that I don't want to share my story - the reason I decided to stop relaxing my hair which led to my frantic search for UK based Natural Hair blogs, which led to the creation of this blog - I just can't seem to find an appropriate starting point. As you can see, I've written about practically everything else I think about. The way I feel about pressure to be married already, my response to the 'OMG THERE ARE NO BLACK GIRLS ON GIRLS!' furore, yet my reason for joining forces with my friend to write about my coming to terms with my God given hairtype, I guess isn't immediately apparent.

So here it is in pictures for your perusal.


Once upon a time there was a little girl named Karla-Jayne who had 'soft hair'. Her mother would wash it with aloe vera that she would buy from Brixton market so it would grow long and stay soft.













Obsessed with an image on the front cover of Dark and Lovely magazine, the little girl insisted her hair was always blow dried in a long bob curling under. That part was very important.

Around age 7, her hair was relaxed. Finally she had the 'White Girl Flow' she'd always wanted. However, as she gained more and more control over her hair - learning to wash it herself, going to the hairdresser less with her mother, her hair began to break. However, she still insisted on wearing the same style - long bob curling under. Hairdressers had long since been telling her it was the 'best style to suit her face' so it became the stock hair do for the entirety of her teen years (save a year aged 14 after asking for a 'Rachel' hairstyle and coming away with a short, feathery bowl cut which she could only wear in a half ponytail for 5 months. Tears, tears and more tears.)

Who's the girl?! Kanika WORKING her fro...

University was spent with the major part in braids. Long braids which got their first debut when Karla-Jayne was aged 17 and spent a month in Thailand. The ease of not having to spend an hour and a half blowdrying after shampooing and conditioning was a revelation. So it felt easier to go to this style and be able to fit in with her wash and go counterparts instead of having to explain to all new housemates all the time WHY it took 2 hours from washing and styling and why hair wasn't washed everyday, what those oils were, why was the room always full of smoke after prolonged bouts of blowdrying....no no. Braids saved time and helped avoid the questions so they stayed.

And yes, I did the braids myself and yes, it would take a whole day. 

After graduating I decided to try texturising my hair. I was tired of the flat, relaxed hair look and decided it was time for BIG HAIR. Texturising was not all it was cracked up to be. I didn't know how to look after my new very big, very curly hair....

...so I relaxed it again. It grew longer as I learned 

more about the importance of conditioning, wrapping my hair up for bed, looking after the hair around the front, but the hair at the back of my head consistently broke off.

I went away to Brasil for 3 months and for ease, the braids came back. I would re-do them constantly, rubbing conditioner and various hair oils into the roots and the new growth to ensure less hair loss when the braids finally came out...but what I was realising was that I was really enjoying the feel of the new growth. The natural curls of my hair that I hadn't felt for 20 years. So while I was in Brasil, I made a deal with myself - once the braids were out, that was it. I was going to nurture and explore my roots. My natural curls.

Just me and some olive oil

Spurred on by the desire for an image change after a break up and with lots of advice from Kanika and MANY women on Youtube (Naptural, UrbanBushBabes and most notably HairCrush), that's exactly what I did.

A result of flat twists on dry hair taken out and styled

A sweated out twist out!

I'm now back in Rio and back in braids for now, but my journey to understanding how to get the best from my curls continues.

I've learned to feel sexy with my natural shorter, curly hair. I've learned to appreciate my hair type (having finally actually learned what my hair type IS). It was and still is a struggle - trying to come up with new styles, constantly trying new products to see what works and what doesn't - who to listen to and where to find the things these American bloggers discuss in the UK. Personally, I'd spent so long with long braids, being complimented and feeling very feminine that a change to short tight curls ensuing lots of "Why did you change your hair? It was so pretty!!" type comments did little for my self esteem. But I've learned being pretty isn't everything, but it is important. And it comes from inside of me so I just need to remember that people's opinions might sting a bit, but it's how I feel about myself and learning to love the woman I'm becoming, curly hair and all, that is the most important thing of all.

Thanks to Chris B, Megan P, Phoebe F-R and my very own baby sister, Charlotte for the photos.

Karla
xx