16-Year-Old Dajah’s Natural Hair Story

My name is Dajah and I’m 16 years old. I’m an army brat, so I’ve pretty much been all over! My hair journey began about 2 years ago. I had been relaxed my whole life before that.

How long have you been natural?
I have been natural for 1 year and four months.

What motivated you to transition? Were you a transitioner or a Big Chopper& why?
Transitioning for me began in 2011. I had been inspired by some Youtube videos of natural women. That is when I decided that I wanted to go natural. Best decision of my life! I was a transitioner. I had long hair, and I was not quite ready to part with it just yet, so I transitioned for a year.

Read On!>>>
How would you describe your hair?
I would describe my hair as big, crazy, and tangle prone. I have a mixture or different curl patterns; loose on top, curly in the middle, and even curlier underneath that.

What do you love most about your hair?
How versatile it is, how much attention it gets me. I can wear it as big as I want and have people wondering, I can pull it back, put it up, the possibilities are endless!

What has been the most memorable part of your journey?Has it been easy or difficult or both?!
Most memorable part of my journey was finally getting rid of the ‘dead weight.’ My journey has definitely been both easy and difficult. I’m loving it though!

What were some of your favorite transitioning hairstyles and current dos?
My favorite styles were bantu-knot outs and flat-ironing during transitioning. I was not quite ready to let go of the heat. My hairstyle now is the twist-out; it’s my go to style. Every once in a while I’ll do a wash and go, and very rarely do I ever straighten my hair. I last straightened my hair in August JUST for my mom before she left for Afghanistan.

What have your experiences been as a ‘natural?’ Any memorable reactions from family or others?
My mom looked at me like I was crazy when I told her that I wanted to go natural. I was 14. When I finally cut off ALL of my relaxed ends, she didn’t like it. My hair had shrunken up, so I had a moderate sized Afro. She kept pulling the back down to where she could see some length! My mom got over it though, she likes my hair, now.My experiences have been pretty awesome (outside of home). I wear my hair super big and always get compliments.

There was this one time where I foolishly wanted to get my hair straightened at the Walmart salon (smh) the lady had the nerve to say that I should get a perm. I brushed it off and was thankful that I had no breakage or heat damage. Never again.

What is your hair regimen (including fav products)?
It hasn’t let me down yet! I wash every week or every other week with a medicated dandruff shampoo, condition/ deep condition after, I put my hair in small, medium, sometimes large twist for a few days, and wear a twist-out for about a week. Sometimes I switch it up.

My favorite products are Tressemme Naturals conditioner, Virgin Coconut Oil and Olive Oil, Beautiful Textures: Tangle Taming Leave In Conditioner, Beautiful Textures Moisture Butter, Taliah Waajid Curl Sealer, and ORS Olive Oil Replenishing Pack.

What are some of your favorite natural hair websites,YouTuber’s, or blogs?
Black Girl with Long Hair, Curly Nikki, various tumblr sites (any really). Youtube: Naptural85, NaturalNeiicy, MahoganyCurls. Those are just a few of my favorites. I have many!

Anything you want the readers to know? Inspirational words?
LOVE your hair, what others think about you or your hair doesn’t matter and should be the least of your worries. Do you and love you.

Where can people find you for more information?
On instagram : dajamykal