"Natural Hair Journey?"

I’ve been in high school and college since the most recent so-called natural hair movement took off. Before that I had never even thought of my hair as natural or not; but as the popularity grew I noticed people complimenting me on my hair and asking me about my “journey”. They were disappointed because basically, I don’t have one. I’ve never had a relaxer or texturizer, never wore a weave or extensions (not that that makes you any less natural). All I’ve done is gotten highlights twice. However unlike a lot of vloggers and bloggers I’ve seen, I struggled with shedding and breaking due to illness and medication. I’ve been on medication that has affected my hair growth and caused shedding and thinning since I was thirteen years old. Trust me, high school is not the stage of life you want to have thinning hair in. To combat it, I took biotin pills from my local health food store as well as a multivitamin. When I was 18, I was diagnosed with iron deficient anemia which further affected my hair. Now my hair was falling out in college- again not cool. The thinning and breaking caused me to go from almost mid-back length hair to a bob. A BOB. My heart broke. Now I take Hairfinity pills and drink water, which seems to have helped. Also I avoid styles that cause a lot of tension on my scalp and strands.

 Braidouts have been one of my go to styles for years. This is one from 4-5 years ago. My hair was heat damaged because I flat ironed it every 2 weeks without heat protectants. The second picture is a braid and curl from 3 weeks ago, my hair is a little shorter but much healthier.