Hair chronicles: Getting started with Miss Jessie's

Sigh. Me and my hair. (laughs) What a journey it has been so far.

As a little girl, I did not like my hair. I did not enjoy those long Saturday sessions with my mother and the hot comb. Burnt ears and tears is truly not a way to enjoy the weekend. Luckily for me, the 80's came along and brought with it the miracle of the jheri curl.  I rocked that slimy style throughout high school and into college. And there, I really realized that my hair was not the same as the hair my white roommate had.

Years of soul searching and trying to figure out why I couldn't wash my hair everyday like my roommate, or why my hair would shrivel up at the thought of water... basically sent me to the new addiction of the hair salon.

I became enslaved to the salon. I had to have my hair done all the time. And I could not do it myself. It was too complicated, too intricate... more than I could handle. So, even though I hated it... I trekked to the beauty salon. And when I didn't feel like it was right, I found another one. And another one. And another one. Until I realized that I was losing a lot of my life sitting in salon chairs and spending money that could have done other things... I started to get angry but there wasn't a way out of the trap.

But there was.

One tragic trip to a new hair salon caused me to have the knee-jerk reaction of going to the barbershop and cutting off all of my hair. I went natural and had the BC (big chop) without even realizing there were terms for that. (laughs)

I experimented with rocking a short fro, a low ceaser, braids... anything that didn't require going to the hair salon on a regular basis. Eventually, I found my groove and the ceaser fade was it for me. I rocked that "baldie" for 12 years and loved it. Going to the barbershop was FREEDOM. I didn't have to make an appointment. It rarely cost me more than $20. I would be in and out in less than 30 minutes -- an hour if it was busy. It was fabulous. Getting my hair done no longer had to tie up my whole day. Glorious freedom and sexiness too. Loved it!

So, now that I'm growing my hair out after chemotherapy took it all out... I am at a loss about what to do. I have brand new hair. It is not the same hair that I had going into chemotherapy. The texture is different, the color is slightly different and its very soft and fragile. I've been listening to my natural hair friends and have learned quite a bit. I kept hearing a buzz about Miss Jessie's products for naturally curly hair and I finally decided to take the expensive plunge and order some products. http://www.missjessies.com/

One trip through the website (be sure to watch the videos) convinced me that this may be what I've been looking for. Something that will tame and control these curls and give me some of my sexy back.

Of course, after I placed my order I learned that Miss Jessie's now contains ingredients that I may not want to put on my hair -- mineral oil, petroleum, and parabens (known links to cancer) -- but I've decided to give it a try anyway. My oncologist told me last year that I could not dye my hair or put chemicals in my hair. So, I'm definitely searching for ways to manage my curly hair without falling back on old habits of feeling forced to straighten my hair.

If I'm going to embrace a new me, embracing my curly locks has to be a part of that.  2010 will be the year of "redefining my sexy".

I'm going to give the products a try and I will let you know how it all works out. (They were having a fabulous sale at the end of the year, so I got a lot of products to try)