Living the High Life with Sheena

In celebration of the recent NY Times discovery that Black people wear their hair natural (who knew) I’m introducing you to the delightful Sheena High and her magnificent crowning glory.

Sheena first thought about wearing her hair natural in 2010. One of her sorority sisters had been flaunting a riot of kinks and curls for three years and counseled her to “get rid of the creamy crack.” (“Creamy crack” refers to the chemical relaxer many Black women rely on to straighten their hair.) She responded, “My hair is straight out of Africa, it’s not gonna cooperate,” although she had long admired the styles and textures of unprocessed African hair. But when her hair stylist, a beneficiary of the unnatural hair business, said that her hair would look better natural she decided to make the change. Besides, making and keeping appointments for touch-ups was becoming a hassle. 

She didn’t want to do “The Big Chop,” cutting off the relaxed hair while transitioning from chemically processed to natural hair. (The “Chop” is gutsy, and is often immediately followed by the purchase of fierce statement jewelry and screechingly bright lip color.) So, she gave herself three years of graduate school for this “experiment.” The growing out process took about a year and she admits that she wasn’t wild about the big chunk of new growth. “Although [my hair] was natural I was still straightening it. I wasn’t comfortable with how it looked, or with styling it.” She found that putting heat on her hair made it fluffy and bouncy. Fluffy hair that moves is pretty seductive stuff for a sista and harder to give up than dark chocolate dipped strawberries!  On her 29th birthday, however, she decided to turn off the heat and never looked back.

Sheena is now more confident about her hair.  She‘s learned more protective techniques and adores her new look.  No more “dyed, fried and laid to the side” hair for this lady! Check out her incredible style--isn't she gorgeous?