Allow me to introduce myself! My name's Patrice. But most of my online friends call me Afrobella.

When I was a teenager, I experimented with every hair color under the sun.

Kool Aid red, unnatural yellow-blond, firey fuschia, and finally I landed with a thud at a misguided attempt at blue. No, not blue like Kelis' current shock of color. Oh no. I got a dull greenish gray blue that my hairdresser (a man who I sincerely loved, but had some problems of his own), thought he could pull off.

Basically, I fried and dyed my hair to the point of almost no return.

In college I couldn't afford a hairdresser, so I had to learn how to take care of my hair for myself for the very first time. This meant monthly purchases of relaxer kits and figuring out exactly why plastic gloves and Vaseline were necessary when applying such products.

I burned the bejesus out of my scalp on many, many, MANY an occasion.

I had to cut my hair short and sassy. At the time, one of my friends described it as "the menopause." Not funny.

Seven years ago, I stopped the chemicals and went cold turkey natural. Three years ago I started a hair, beauty, and culture blog called -- what else? -- Afrobella.

Now I'm honored and excited to be the new hair blogger for AOL Black Voices.

Word to my relaxed, be-weaved, loc'd, sisterloc'd, heat-straightening friends -- just because I'm a natural head doesn't mean I don't have love for y'all! I'll be featuring posts about the variety and beauty of black hair, the issues we have with our hair, interviews and product reviews that I hope are helpful and insightful. Most important of all -- I'll be sharing information to help keep your hair healthy, regardless of how you wear it.

Here's to looking fly and wearing it well!

I look forward to being a part of the AOL Black Voices community, and I can't wait to get your feedback. If you have any particular questions, concerns, complaints, or well wishes, drop me a line at afrobellaonaol@gmail.com. And for even more on hair, beauty, culture, music, and whatever else is on my mind, visit my other blog, Afrobella.com!