Wait...my hair can melt???

by Ebony
(Atlanta, GA)

I've always had long hair. In part because I hide behind it. I've always been the girl with the pretty face...yeah you know, that one. The chubby girl with the cute face that would be so much prettier if she just...My hair has always been like my blankie.

I'd been doing disastrous things to it. I'd bleach it blonde, and if the color wasn't lifting enough I'd pour straight bleach, yeah the kind some people still use in their laundry. I'd straighten it with the old fashion hot comb on a stove, I'd curl it with hair spray and not wash it properly. It still loved me and I was led to believe that I could never completely damage it.

Then I decided my curls were too tight and I needed a solution. I tried Redken Vertical Curl Reducer and it straightened it too much. But I could deal. Then I decided to get salon highlights...platinum on top of my already super lightened base color. It looked good. Super loose waves in varying shades of blonde and strawberry blonde on my golden tan skin. Then the frizziness began. And the haircut at the hair school where someone suggested a "natural product" to help.

Now everyone does test strands right? Well I never have and I never will again because I will never put any other chemical in my hair again in life. Well the "natural product", marketed towards kids with curly hair, was a texturizer. I knew better, but I slathered it on as directed. 5 minutes in I went to touch my hair and it came out in my hands. I began screaming and running for the sink. Clumps of my waist length curls were dissolving in my hands.

I tried everything I could to "repair" the damage. Protein, moisture, more protein. Nothing helped. I had to cut my once magnificent blankie to my ears. I cried, and I cried. I wept over my new horrible face that had to be seen by God and everyone. I was so ashamed I bought extensions (but never went through with installing) and half wigs. I cried on my boyfriend's shoulder about my new bald look.

In the end that hair melting off story has helped my life more than one can imagine. I gained so much self esteem from that episode. I proudly wear my hair back, and while I am again growing it back to a ridiculously long length again, I crave the shorter hair. My goal is to now grow it so some little brown skinned girl with alopecia can feel confident with my curlies. I can't wait to cut it off and donate it to someone who really needs it.