~seasonal hair~

Edowaye mentioned this in her interview, but hair is seasonal. There’s a reason why many of us black girls come back from a break, typically spring break, with braids. Except for that first year I “went natural”, I have gotten my hair braided every year during spring break. Why? Back when I used to get my hair pressed, it was very difficult to maintain straightened hair during the spring/summer months due to the heat. After spending hours in the salon, nothing was more disappointing than “sweating out your hair”. Also, I was a girl who loved to swim. For a long period of time, I loved swimming and straightened hair equally. So I made an obvious compromise: straightened hair in the fall/winter, braids in the spring/summer. This way I could swim and enjoy the my internalized oppression in the most practical way because I’m a girl who can do both! When I went natural, this sort of shifted but not really. Typically I keep my hair braided during the summer, but it isn’t a necessity like it used to be. I feel comfortable swimming with my natural hair for two reasons. The first being, I no longer swim as often as I used to, so chlorine wouldn’t cause extensive damage to my hair. Also, I know how to wash my hair--I can incorporate washing the chlorine out into a wash day since it already takes forever. So around July, I’ll braid my hair and then take them out in August. Sometimes I’ll braid my hair again right before school. Before I would straighten my hair before school so that I could stunt on everyone during that first week (you know the drill), but I love my long Kanekalon twists now. Then in the fall I’ll alternate between natural hair, braids that I do by myself, and professional braids. I like to switch it up for fun, but it typically is practical for the season as well.