Introduce yourself . . .
Hiya! I’m Sierra Kincaid-White. I am still very young, but I have dreams of long healthy hair. I am a crazy mix of Blackfoot Native American, Cherokee Native American, Crow Native American, German, Moroccan, Trinidadian, Scottish, Irish, African American, Israeli, Portuguese, and British. What a mix, huh?! I Live in the Metro Detroit area with my family. I lover learning new languages, and I play the guitar, violin, and piano.
Are you relaxed, natural, texturized or texlaxed?
Natural, baby!
What’s your story, how did you get to where you are?
When I was ages 3-8, my mother always brushed back my hair into tight braids. I hated it and I hated what it did to my hair. I lived in the suburbs so I was surrounded by people with straight hair. I was envious of how little they worried about their hair. I was (and still am) VERY tender-headed. So I just had my mother flat-iron* my hair and cut bangs for me so that I would fit in more.
After a while we had some problems in my family which caused my little sister and I to have to live with my disabled grandmother in Charlseton, West Virginia (which is where I was born). I didn’t know how to do my hair and my Gigi (that’s what I call my grandmother) was unable to do my hair.
I was in the fourth grade and the kids were brutal. I treated my hair like I was one of them with pin-straight hair. I washed it every time I got in the shower, I barely conditioned, I dry-brushed it, and I pulled it back into messy buns. It was horrible and also very painful. After my mother and I were reunited, we went back to straightening.
My bangs were growing out and looking pretty shaggy. When I started the sixth grade, I decided that it took to much time to constantly flat iron* it. I stopped using all heat. It was more of a “Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!” decision rather than “My hair is seriously unhealthy!” one.
I stilled pulled it back into messy buns and washed it a lot more than I should have, but I was using a LOT more conditioner and I stopped brushing it when it was dry. I noticed that my hair was a big, poofy, messy bunch of hair sitting on my head rather than the pencil-sized spirals that I remembered from when I was a toddler.
I had no knowledge of “hair journeys” or “going natural”. I also didn’t know about heat damage. I was younger so my thoughts were different. I thought that my ancestors with straight hair, like the Native American or Scottish ones were the ones giving me their hair. I know, it was silly, but I was young and I didn’t have the facts that I have today.
My hair was just not curling back like I wanted it to. I talked with my mother, she told me to use Google. I did, and about six months of research, I finally decided to go with the natural flow! I did most of the things that I was supposed to do, such as deep conditioning* and no heat. But it still was not fully back to normal.
Leah says
Wow, I am also Native American Blackfoot, Native American Cherokee, Irish, French, Asian, and Black!!! You are very pretty! Please let us know how we can stay in touch with your hair journey (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)!!