4 Reasons to Be in Love With Your Kinky, Coily 4C Hair

It took me awhile to love my kinky, coily 4C hair.

When I was a young girl, I always wondered how my hair was so curly when it was wet, but then “nappy” when it was dry.

Before the natural girls rock movement, most black women were wearing their hair all natural with minimal products, straight with a relaxer, or curly with a texturizer.

The minute your relaxed hair started to take on its curly natural state, you were clowned by classmates about having “nappy hair.”

I saw afros as outdated styles from the 70s and never had a desire to have one.

Fast foward to my late twenties, and I was sitting in the dermatologist office being told that my scalp would feel so much better if I stopped getting relaxers. Because it was a black women suggesting it, I listened to her advice, but it fell on deaf ears. There was ABSOLUTELY NO WAY I was walking around with a big afro.

At my next dermatology visit, I had made it 12 weeks without a relaxer, and I was still alive. I torture I had endured for relaxers no longer seemed worth it. I “sacraficed for beauty’s sake” but my scalp was irritated, peeling, itchy and scabbed over.

After cutting my straight hair off and doing the big chop, I slowly started to embrace the new me. The learning curve was tough, but now I’m so in love with my kinky, coily 4C hair.

Here’s why:

You Can Shock People With the Length

My daughters are 7 & 5 and they love commenting on things that are similar and different about us. My oldest daughter loves to tell me how short my hair is compared to hers. What she doesn’t realize is that 4C hair has major shrinkage.

So even though my hair looks short, it actually has a decent amount of length!

Styles for Days

When I first went natural, the thought of maintaining a thick head of hair was very overwhelming, so as my hair grew, I cut it. I kept it short on the sides and long on the top.

It was easier to maintain while raising 2 toddlers, especially on wash days. Now I”m trying to grow my hair as long as I can, just to see what it will look like.

Now I wear my hair in a variety of styles–braids, buns, puffs. You name it, I’m willing to try it!

Your Afro Can Get as Big as You Want It To Be

I love experimenting with different protective styles to manipulate the looks of my curls. Twist out provide amazing definition, and the opportunity for your hair to get bigger as each day passes.

And with 4C hair, bigger is always better!! If you don’t feel like rocking the super defined look, you can wear your afro as is!

Less Frizz

Kinky, coily 4C hair is very forgiving when it comes to frizz. If an older protective style begins to frizz, it only makes the hair bigger and more fabulous!