You may or may not know, but out of the blue my face broke out for like 2-3 years. I had acne and scars from the acne and none of the dermatologists I went to were able to treat it. It was strange to me because my face was fine all my life and it just started when I was 25 or 26. The dermatologists told me that the reason for this was that this just sometimes happens to women in their 20’s. Really?! Unacceptable!

Finally I went to the 4th dermatologist, who someone recommended to me. She gave me a whole regimen and various products to use on my face. She told me I had to give it a chance and she mentioned a product I absolutely hated… Cetaphil. If you’ve ever tried Cetaphil, then you know it doesn’t lather. How can you clean something if there is no lather?

I promised her I would give it a fair shot for 2 weeks and do everything exactly as she said, despite my feelings toward Cetaphil and products like it. Don’t you know my face cleared up soooo nicely within those two weeks! In addition to that, the moisturizer she gave me for my face was aloe based, whereas most products are either water or oil based.

My point is… what’s true for my face seems to be true for my hair and scalp. As I’m reading up on hair products, everyone is recommending sulfate free shampoos, which apparently don’t lather. It’s less damaging to the hair and helps retain the natural moisture. I’ve chosen DevaCurl No Poo. I like it so far, but I do plan to try other sulfate free shampoos.

Since the aloe based face moisturizer worked so well on my face, I decided to buy aloe vera gel to put in my hair. On some sites, they mix it with conditioner and used it as a moisturizer. A friend of mine said she uses it like gel and that it holds her hair down better than gel. My hairline is extremely sensitive. I think aloe vera gel is a much better alternative than regular gel. I just hope it works as well on my hair texture.

June 5, 2010 – Almost 3 months after my very last perm. One side still curled when wet, the other side… not so much!

July 11, 2011 – 4 months into my natural hair journey. A twist out on mostly permed hair. Looking back, it lays much flatter than a twist out on my natural hair.

August 2010 – 5 months into my natural hair journey. This was a twistout again. The ends are still so straight.

September 12, 2010- 6 months of new growth, but considering how long my hair is, it’ll still take forever to fully grow out.

September 25, 2010 – 6 months of new growth on wet hair.

October 24, 2010 – 7 months of new growth on wet hair.

November 14, 2010 – 8 months of new growth. This was a nice twist-out and my hair looks pretty healthy.

December 12, 2010 – 9 months of new growth on wet hair.

December 13, 2010 – I blowdryed my hair. I was tired of wearing a ponytail so I put my hair down and took some pics. Reminiscing on my straight days.

December 21, 2010 – 9 months into the natural hair journey. I straightened my hair to trim it.

December 21, 2010 – Then I twisted it up for the night. I like my twists.

February 6, 2011 – 11 months of new growth on wet hair.

February 6, 2011 – 11 months of new growth on wet hair. I stretched it up to show the difference in thickness as well as the amount of new growth compared to the amount of perm.

February 18, 2011 – My 3C curls are coming in nicely. Wish I had more of it, but one day I will.

March 14, 2011 – Officially at the 1 year mark. I honestly expected it to take 2 full years to grow out my perm, but after examining my hair at the 1 year mark I realized it would take MUCH longer. I can’t lie, I was disappointed.