'I went natural because my relaxed hair wouldn’t grow' Mane matters with Chelsea

Hi Naturalistas,

How are you all doing? It's only two days to Christmas. Who's excited?

Meet today's Naturalista, Chelsea

Can you tell us who you are and what you do?

I’m Chelsea Gomez. I’m currently doing a Diploma.

What are your thoughts about natural hair?

Seeing women with their natural hair makes me indescribably happy! I love the versatility and different textures of natural hair.

What are your reasons for going natural?

I went natural because my relaxed hair wouldn’t grow, it was very thin and it was also very weak. There was absolutely nothing I could’ve done for it to just grow and be healthy! I was embarrassed so I never took pictures and now that I went natural and I recently flat ironed my hair it looked thicker and it was longer than how it was relaxed. (I sent a photo with it flat ironed looking all cray)

When/why did you decide to go natural?

I decided to go natural last year April (2014).

Did you do a BC or you transitioned?

I transitioned.

What was the experience like?

The experience was very… annoying. I had some good days and mostly bad ones; I could never find good hairstyles and it was hard dealing with two different textures.

What was/is your biggest fear about going Natural?

I really didn’t have a big fear. I was actually very excited because of watching how beautiful and BIG African women hair are! I truly just love it.

Do you have a regimen you stick to? What is it like?

I deep condition weekly and that’s basically the only thing I stick with. Everything else that I do to my hair happens whenever.

What emotional struggles, if any, have you faced since going natural?

While transitioning my boyfriend would often say to me “Why don’t you just relax it back?” So it had me a little sad that he wasn’t as excited for me as I was for myself.

Do you think you are in it for the long haul or is it just a phase?

Definitely the long haul!

There are people that definitely have negative comments about you hair, how do you deal with that?

I mastered ignoring them.