I’m thinking about going back to the creamy crack.

It’s been about 2 years since my last touch up, and my hair is thicker and healthier than before. Natural hair looks good on me and I don’t feel any less attractive than I did with a perm. The thing is, it’s a lot more work to get my hair to do what I want it to do. When I had a TWA, I could wash and go easily. Now I’m at that terrible in-between stage where you can’t do anything with it but a side part or slick it back and slap a headband on it. Except my natural hair will NOT be parted or slicked back. (There’s not enough gel in the world for me to get a sleek puff.) I also fight a constant battle against dryness. Product application used to be a breeze, so I could stay on top of moisturizing and sealing without breaking a sweat. Now, even when I section it out, it always seems to be thirsty before the end of the day. Detangling is a nightmare. No matter what I do, I get knots. I can take a 1/2 inch section of hair, and go through with my fingers, wide tooth comb, and rat tail comb. But in the time it takes to grab my bottle of leave in to get some product, the hair has RE-TANGLED ITSELF. Where they do that at?!?! O_O

FInally we come down to the pure vanity of it. I’m a quiet, reserved person and my style reflects that. I go for the classics–stripes, florals & solid colors. Blouses, khakis, loafers and understated jewelry. When I did the big chop, my afro had an almost perfect circular shape. Now it just flops around and sticks out every which way. It’s a mop top and I’m not a mop top kind of girl. I’m not wild so why should my hair be? It drives me crazy I tell you!

Now I’m sure that some of you, meaning well, will suggest a different product. A different regimen. A new styling technique. And if you’re thinking about pulling the whole “Going natural changed my life” story I’m going to save you the trouble and tell you I am not here for that. Being natural is just not important enough for me to struggle with my hair for several hours a week. I’m after manageability and convenience. Weaves and braid styles cost money and I’d have to find someone who could do them right, not to mention I just plain don’t like them that much on me. And with all the things going on in my life, spending hours teaching myself different styles just isn’t something I’m willing to do.

So here we are. I don’t want to cut it all off (although Jess did so recently & looks amazing). Although a relaxer would solve my problems, I’m not dying to get one–they made my scalp really dry.  The only thing left to do is try heat training, so I’m going to do that until the end of the year (straightening twice a month) and then reassess.