As a part of transitioning into a new body, I have transitioned out of braids into wearing my hair in its natural state. Many people want to know why I didn’t perm my hair after I took the braids out. I had been thinking of this for over a year. I said once I lose weight, I’m getting rid of these braids and wearing my own hair.
On May 17, 2014, I went for a run around 8 am on this Saturday morning. After I showered, I planned to have breakfast then go to Brooklyn for the afternoon. As I was looking for something to wear since the weather was getting warmer. I decided to eliminate all of the clothes from my closet that I couldn’t fit anymore. I was on a mission after I finished, I had to decide what to do with them. I cried looking at all of my clothes. I love my clothes and I hate shopping. After cleaning up, I washed my face, looked in the mirror, and decided since I’m purging get rid of the braid, too. I called my Janica to inform her that I wasn’t going to Brooklyn and was taking down my braids.
I sat on the couch and began taking them down. I washed, deep conditioned and used a leave in conditioner in and went to bed. The next morning I was still fired up and decided to make an appointment to cut it off. I love short hair, can manage it better, and was ready to embrace the new Tiffany. I made an appointment with a barber in Harlem for noon and Janica accompanied me on this journey. Janica found him on social media. I felt so free sitting in his barber chair. He was kind and attentive. I was so happy with my decision. After leaving the shop, I was nervous of what others was going to say. I wanted to prepare myself for the negative comments from others. As the picture was loaded on social media, I wasn’t ready and didn’t want to think on it too long. Overall many people liked it, my biggest critic was my sister, Regina. She had lots of questions and I was able to answer them well. I was sad at first but as the conversation went I eased myself with all of the information that I held within.
Now a wash n go was the easiest for me, I am a product junkie. I try natural products and homemade concoctions. I will say that it took me about 10 days before I was comfortable with the face staring at me in the mirror. I had many days of walking past the mirror saying “who is that, oh that’s me?” I laughed many times at myself. I have tried different barbers and hair styles. I believe I am happy with my new hair style and my original barber in Harlem. I LOVE my kinks even if no one else does. I’m the one who has to walk around with them. Now I’m ready to experiment with hair color.