Forever Tai ❤
Her Hairstory
❤Tell us a little about yourself
– My name is Tai (yes, like a bow tie), I’m 15 years old and I currently reside in Virginia!
❤When & why did you decide to go natural/transition?
– I got my last relaxer May 7, 2012. I had decided to transition from relaxed to natural hair because I wanted healthy hair. My hair wasn’t damaged from relaxers, but it was damaged from straightening it every single day. It had gotten to a point where it wouldn’t grow past my collarbones so I stopped using heat & it just made sense to stop relaxing my hair as well.
I was also curious to see what my natural hair looked like because I’ve never seen it before! I dreaded getting perms anyways, and I figured if there were to be a zombie apocalypse I wouldn’t be too focused on relaxing my hair, so it seemed like a good idea to just learn my hair in it’s natural form.
❤Were there any negative or unexpected reactions regarding your decision?
– When I first began to transition I got a lot of crap from girls at my school. They would say negative things about my hair as I was figuring out what styles/products worked and which ones didn’t. I could tell my parents weren’t really stoked about my decision either but they were still very supportive.
❤Did you big chop? If so, what was that like?
– Yes! I big chopped when I was about 13 months post relaxer. It was a very exciting and emotional experience because I’d never had extremely short hair before! I was scared on how I would look, but I just couldn’t deal with the different textures anymore.
❤Haircare routine? Type? Starting length? Current length? Goal length?
– I shampoo & do a protein treatment on my hair once a month, co-wash every day (unless I have a protective style in), and I moisturize my hair every single morning- dry or not (I would rather have over-moisturized hair than dry hair anyday!). The back of my hair is a 3c (maybe?), the middle of my hair is abnormally loose at a 3b-ish, and my front hair line is mainly 4a. Before my journey my hair was collar bone length and as of right now my hair is still collarbone length! So, I really didn’t lose any length, but my ultimate goal length is BSL.
❤Favorite products?
– Coconut oil & Shea butter are my must have products! They’re so versatile, I just adore it, and I love that they’re all natural and easy to buy in bulk. I don’t have to worry about what I’m putting in my hair or how it will react to it.
❤Go-to style?
– A high puff or two flat twists in the front with a ponytail. There are so many different ways to style updos and I just love accessorizing them with head wraps, bows, and scarves.
❤What was the most valuable thing you’ve learned while on your journey?
– I’ve finally learned how to love myself because of my journey. I always hid behind my bangs and hair when I was relaxed and now that I’m natural I have so much more confidence because there’s nothing to hide behind anymore! My face is also more exposed so I’ve learned to embrace my flaws, which I used to have a hard time doing. It’s also great knowing that nobody out there has hair like mine, it adds a lot of character to my look.
❤If you could do it all over again, would you? & what would you do differently?
– I would totally do it again! The only thing I would’ve done differently would’ve been to go back to natural a LOT sooner.
❤Any words of advice for a new natural or transitioner?
– Be patient and embrace yourself!! Love your hair regardless of it’s texture, shape, length, or whatever. Everybody is different and that’s what makes you unique!
❤Website or place to follow your journey?
Forever Asia: First off, Thank you so much Tai for sharing your story! You are our youngest Forever Feature! 😀 (as far as I know lol) I’m really glad you shared your story because you can inspire other young girls to go natural as well. YOUR CURLS ARE UHHHMAZING! @_@ *sooo shiny* I love your hair lol. Sorry to hear about your experience at school, there’s no point in paying attention to the negativity because you made a great decision for you and no one else & your curls are freaking fantastic so a big #SWERVE to the haters 😀
thank you very much again, and best of luck on your hair journey! – xoxo
.forever.as.i.am. 
Thanks so much for the feature! 🙂 I hope I inspire other teens to return natural as well! I think every girl should at least try to go natural once in their life. Especially girls like the ones that go to my school and maybe they’ll understand the transitioning/natural hair struggles lol.
Thanks again ❤ 😀