By:  Najah Schwartz

Hey, everyone! I’m so happy that I have gotten the opportunity to share my natural hair journey with you all. I personally love being natural and still believe it has been one of the best decisions I have made in regards to my health and well- being. I would like to give a HUGE thank you to Monica for letting me chat with you all and to share my story on your blog.

I began my natural hair journey at a very young age due to having a scalp condition that caused extreme (and gross) patchy flakes to form on my head. It made getting my hair done a pain and nothing seemed to help aid in getting it treated. Looking back, I now realize it was due to me getting chemical relaxers in my hair that caused the scalp condition to form. Growing up with a hairstylist as a mom she explained that I would no longer be getting relaxers in my hair, but instead grow my curly hair to help my scalp turn back to normality. I was only in middle school and relaxers have been the only thing I’ve known.

Fast forwarding a couple years, I was presented with a full-fledged afro that was much different than my shoulder length flat-ironed locks I was used too. Honestly, I had no idea what products I needed, how to care for it and what I needed for it to grow. There were more questions than answers at that time and even though my mom was a skilled beautician she knew nothing about natural hair.

With all the confusion going on, I was determined to figure how to make it work. I looked at informational videos, visited curly hair forums and created a routine for my hair that I believed would work. Over time, I have tweaked and changed it to fit the current needs of my hair. Up to the date I have been through three big chops and now my hair has been the longest it’s ever been. I don’t plan on cutting my hair again though!

Back then, it never bothered me too much to have hair different than the other girls in my school. I did however have an issue with being self conscious and ashamed of my brown 4a locks. I used to wish that my hair was like all of the other curly girls out there, free and flowing! But I soon realized the beauty of who I was and who God made me be.

I feel like I have gotten a lot of advice from over the years on how to get my hair to grow and I finally found a hair routine that works best: I wash my hair every two weeks with co-washing in between. Using Tresseme Naturals and Bentonite Clay. For conditioners, I’m really liking the Tresseme Naturals Conditioner that matches the shampoo as well as the Shea Moisture Raw Shea Moisture Deep Treatment Masque. I find that my hair tends to be on the dry side so I deep condition two times a week pairing my conditioners with coconut oil. For styling creams, I’ve been experimenting with Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla Hair Smoothie, Kinky Curly Curling Custard, and Shea Moisture Weightless Fruit Fusion Hair Mousse. Since my hair has been growing out of the TWA phase, I’m now able to pull it back into a bun effortlessly, so lately that’s been my hair style of choice.

For all the naturals out there, I encourage you all to keep at it. It is, after all, a journey to get to the desired length/ healthiness you want. Embrace the process and enjoy the time you have with your hair at every stage.

Najah is a blogger based in Las Vegas, NV currently gearing up to attend her first semester of college this year. Najah is married and loves sharing her knowledge of writing advice with other bloggers on the web. You can follow her on Twitter(@najschwartz_) Instagram (@najschwartz_) Pinterest (@najahschwartz) and Tumblr (nschwartzwrites.tumblr.com) to keep up with her blog posts and topics.