Thanks but....I'm not natural

I went out twice this week and both times I got compliments on my hair.

• I went to a BSS and as I was checking out, an older, natural lady with an afro turns to me and says: "It's so good to see young girls with their natural hair". I told the lady I have a relaxer. She said "It doesn't matter, I mean girls with their real hair". I had my hair in a high braidout bun that day. 

• Yesterday I went to Afrofest which is Canada's largest annual celebration of the richness and diversity of African culture. I had a lot of fun!! I decided to wear my favourite halfwig, the one that looks like a really loose big braidout. I blended my hair pretty well if I say so myself -- twisted-out my own bangs and pinned it back to create a hump and hide the wig line, and some babyhurr. One booth featured all natural products and the woman who was at the booth had what looked like MBL natural hair in small twists. I thought it was interesting that she had all this natural hair but massive fake eyelashes...I digress...She said my hair looks "so beautiful" and it's so good that I have my natural hair texture. I said "Thanks...but I actually have a relaxer". She rolled her eyes and to be honest I've never seen anyone's eyes roll so far back into their head. I just laughed. She then preached about how she's natural and how natural hair is awesome. I thanked her for letting me try the samples and kept it moving to the Honeyfig booth.

• A sales associate at the Honeyfig booth weave-checked me. She's like "Your hair looks so good" and looked at my hairline and ran her fingers through the length of my halfwig. Then she said "oh.. you have a weave... but thats okay it looks good". This was my first weave check where someone put their hands in my hair without my permission. Not sure how I feel about it. I'm not too mad because we've met before and I would consider her an acquaintance. So I guess it's better than a total stranger weave-checking me. I just can't wait until my hair gets as long and thick as my halfwig, so I can stop buying them. Well I suppose I have the length part down. But its the thickness part I need to work on. Maybe I should revisit nightly JBCO scalp massages and biotin pills again.

So, with a quick braid-out or twist-out, strangers in real life think I'm natural. It was never my intention to "fake natural", for lack of a better term. I just like big hair and textured styles sometimes. I like to get creative and find ways to make my hair do different styles. I love the versatility.