If you weren’t thinking about transitioning to natural hair before COVID-19 hit, the last few months of 2020 might have been a big wakeup call for you. With hairstylists in uncertain limbo around the country, squeezing in a salon visit is no small feat. Our current moment has caused countless people around the country to slow down, take stock of our beauty routines, and do it ourselves. We’re cutting our own bangs! We’re waxing our own legs! Our beauty routines are taking on a pointedly DIY feel, making now the perfect time to experiment with (or rediscover) your natural hair.
I transitioned from relaxed hair to natural after my first semester of college in Boston, where the Black and Afro-Latinx community at my alma mater kept a closely-guarded list of the six (!!!) tried-and-true salons in the entire city that could be reliably trusted with our locs and natural curls. The prices were extortionate, and the results were often inconsistent. It wasn’t long until I jumped headfirst into a sea of YouTube tutorials, endless product reviews, and weekly misguided trips to Ulta.
I’ll admit, my natural hair journey began in earnest more out of practicality than a desire to unlock the powers of my natural texture, but the last 10 years of self-discovery have been more revealing and affirming than I ever could’ve anticipated. Still, there are few ground rules and natural hair tips I’ve picked up along the way that would have been helpful to know from the get-go.
Burimi: glamour.com
