Lauren Williams

Marketing Consultant | Digital Producer | Media Personality

I made the decision to stop relaxing my natural hair late 2007. I planned to transition for several months when I decided hanging on the damaged straightened hair wasn't worth effort any longer, and in August 2008 I made my first big chop.

Twist outs, wigs and braids were my go-to for several months-- the attempt to still alter my natural hair texture was a side effect of the brainwash most women of color are subject to due to advertisements and the opinions of our misinformed friends and family. In July 2010 I attempted to apply a texturizer to my hair to loosen my natural coils and severely damaged my hair. I tried to work with this new 5-texture situation for a few months, opting to just flat iron it straight most of the time until I truly embraced what it meant to be "natural."

I decided April 2011, on my 23rd birthday, to truly love me as God made me and cut my hair off again. This time, I embraced the short phase and grew it out slowly. I am proud to share that I love my natural hair texture and have sense developed more patience and learned which techniques and natural oils keep my hair moisturized and happy the most.