Why did you choose to be natural?

[MzV1991]

Im stressing over hair...My hair is shedding and......

I want to know why did you choose to be natural...??

I transitioned for a year and 2 months and was excited to BC...I was doing good regardless of my sister and mother reminding me how nappy headed i was. My sister more than everyone reminded me how i wasnt born with that "good hair". Every morning after drooling over my huge puff with my hair in one. My sister would know i just fixed my hair and burst out laughing and say something like" you look like you need to do your hair" and i became self concious and sadly i was tired of the cruel jokes and lost my hair battle and April 16 i got my perm. At first i felt normal...accepted.....normallll and then the next morning i felt like i betrayed my hair. Now im on my relaxed hair journey. Currently 3 inches below my shoulder. I want to be mbl but im feeling sad right now and need some motivation. It makes me mad just looking at my hair. My ends are brittle and dry and i dont know if i lack protein or moisture.

I just had to vent!!!

 

[growingbrown]

I want to be natural because I want a change. I like the way natural hair looks. I tried before but my hair tangled so bad, I had to relax. Now, I am trying it again and hope I dont run into that same problem. If I do, I will chop it off. I only told 2 people I was going natural. One is my mom and another is a friend at work who is natural with mid-back lengh hair! Just hang in there and I will try to as well. Dont let them presure you any more! Good Luck!

 

[HollyGolightly]

I went natural because I wanted long, healthy hair. I've never gotten any negative comments about it, everyone around me loves my naps. I even get hit on more when I'm rocking my real, natural hair.

 

[MyAngelEyez~C~U]

I decided to go natural because no matter how well I treated my relaxed hair, I was constantly battling breakage. My hair just felt so thin and weak. I also wanted to experience my natural texture again, and I'm glad I chopped. I love my hair, and I can truly say that I'll never relax my hair again.

 

[Duchesse]

The easiest way for my hair to be healthy and grow long.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

The Natural Hair Journey Is Easy, But I Make It So Difficult.

 

[cinnespice]

I was tired of putting chemicals in my hair. But i was weaving and still perming the front of my hair. Then the perm dropped 2 big spots in the front of my hair. That was it no chemicals. My hair was never healthy with it. But then again I didn't know how to take care of my hair. And now that i do its growing more than when I had the perm in. I would love my hair to be straight but my hair just does not agree with perm.

 

[LovingLady]

If your hair is dry and brittle that means you are lacking moisture. What are you using to moisturize your hair with and what deep conditioners are you using?

I went natural because I wanted to see how the Lord created me. I am so happy with his design.

 

[PrettyBrownBrown]

Because the relaxer was causing my hair to thin and break in the crown area no matter how well I cared for my hair. When I stopped relaxing, all of the hair grew back.

 

[Ms Lala]

OP I'm sorry you felt pressure to relax and gave in. If you really want to be natural you have to learn to ignore what others around you are saying. I know it can be hard but in many cases it comes w/the natural territory. I stopped relaxing for several reasons. My skin and scalp are sensitive and the chemicals just didn't work well for me. I also just felt like natural hair was more me, it was a part of me accepting my heritage and who God made me to be completely. I wasn't sure if it would be a permanent decision but it's been almost 10 years now and I haven't looked back.

 

[Nasdaq_Diva]

Sorry, but there is nothing and no one would could ever give me enough jokes, rude behavior, and put downs to make me want to relax. When I decided to go natural, my family didn't come at me with open arms either. That's ok..this is me, my life, and my journey..

Deciding to go natural was an easy decision for me. I made up my mind and I stuck to it. I wanted to be the way G-d intended me to be..natural. I decided to go natural on my 20th birthday while I was in the chair getting a relaxer no less lol. I knew that would be my last..and it was. Been natural 7 years now..no regrets on my end.

Hopefully one day soon you'll have the strength to restart your natural hair journey and do it for you..not anyone else.

eta: The same folks who made comments on "why I would want to do such a thing to my pretty hair" are now natural too: My mom and sister. My older sister is considering it, but still needs that push. I'm giving her time though..then I"m gonna pounce on her

 

[AwesomelyNappy]

i was tired of my relaxed and damaged hair. i wanted to "know" my hair since i've always remembered being relaxed and didn't really even know what my real texture was. I wanted to stop spending money every other month for a perm. I wanted healthier hair and i wanted to grow it long. I was also inspired by the many naturals online and irl and thought "that should be me". .... it just felt like the right thing to do.

 

[MizzBrit]

needed a change..wanted to be healthy inside and out..plus i love natural hair period

 

[KnitChick]

I wanted a change! I felt like I had every hair style and length under the sun! The natural scene is BIG here in NY all those pretty Afros got to me, I wanted one too

 

[Kurli-Q]

I was just cheap. It was costing me about $80 each time just to get a relaxer. Then they would charge an extra $10-$15 for long hair, and extra $5-10 for a trim, an extra $10-20 for a deep treatment. It got to the point where I could only afford to go to the salon every 3 months (b/c I truly am cheap as hell with things like this), so I decided since I have to do my hair myself until I build up to go back to the salon, I may as well just continue to do my hair myself. If I really wanted to, I sure I would have stayed relaxed and just do the relaxers myself, but I was too concerned about my lack of hand-eye coordination to even attempt to put a relaxer in myself.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I truly wanted to be natural. It was a goal that I wanted to reach. However, I am struggling in my journey. I prefer strait styles on me and being natural makes it more difficult for me. The style either reverts or I end up needing a lot of heat to do it. I am now honestly regretting my BC. I should have transitioned to the point where my hair was longer. I am at the same cross road again, except now I feel like I can't enjoy my hair anymore. I am seriously thinking about this question, every day.

 

[Bun Mistress]

Sorry to hear about your hair troubles. When I first started to transition everyone was all gunh which only last for six months. I trudge on though.

I went natural b/c when I decided to grow my hair out I realized that my hair was breaking despite what I did. Then the unthinkable happen. My last perm took my hair out. I have been considering transitioning before and this was it. I was done. Still transitioning many months later.
Good luck t you either way you decide.

 

[Ishraq]

i wish i can do that , i haaaaaate to be nautral . and not all the natural hair is beautiful just some

 

[slangups]

Treat your hair like you treat yourself (I hope)....Love it. No matter what type, texture, state it is. If it's relaxed, do the best you can to take care of it and just....love it. It's all good!

 

[chebaby]

ive always loved natural hair. something about it was so beautiful to me. whenever i would see natural hair i would just drool. when i decided i was going to go natural i just did it. just chopped it all off and never look back. even on the bad days when my hair isnt acting right: frizzy, dry because of the sun, feeling coated, i never even think about going back to relaxers.

try clarifying your hair and then doing a really deep moisturizing treatment with a mix of deep conditioner and honey or oils. be sure to do it for at least and oil. foloow up with a good leave in and moisturizer. do that once a week.

 

[knt1229]

I chose to transition because I moved to a new area and couldn't find a dependable stylist who I could trust. I can't let just anybody do my hair. Now that I am almost 100% natural I love my BIG hair.

I have always wanted big hair but I couldn't get it with my relaxed hair. But I got it now. Oh boy it was huge on Wednesday. I looked up and this girl was looking at it with your mouth hanging open . I don't know if that was good or bad but I didn't care. I roller set and flat ironed it on Sunday and it was full and voluminious but under control. Then on Wednesday it rained and oh man it really puffed up. I loved it. It sort of started to look like a floppy fro because it was straight from the flat iron on Sunday but frizzy and more puffed up from the rain. It was awesome.

 

[dicapr]

I truly wanted to be natural. It was a goal that I wanted to reach. However, I am struggling in my journey. I prefer strait styles on me and being natural makes it more difficult for me. The style either reverts or I end up needing a lot of heat to do it. I am now honestly regretting my BC. I should have transitioned to the point where my hair was longer. I am at the same cross road again, except now I feel like I can't enjoy my hair anymore. I am seriously thinking about this question, every day.

Maybe you should consider heat trained hair. There is no right way or wrong way to be natural. Just because you heat train doesn't mean that you didn't reach your goal of being natural. My aunt had heat trained waist length hair. She wore a bun most of the time and I believe that protective styling helped her hair retain moisture and length.

 

[dicapr]

I forgot to answer. I am natural because my hair cannot handle chemicals anymore. I couldn't see dealing with the drama of breakage just to have straight hair. I also know that my hair can handle alot of heat and I would be able to go back and forth between straight and my natural texture.

 

[CherryCherryBoomBoom]

There's a few reasons why I'm going natural. I didn't like the way my mum did my relaxers, covering the whole hair and then combing it though erplexed. So I decided to do my relaxers myself. I had about 4 attempts and it wasn't too great on either of them . Then I got disappointed when I was having breakage again, and my hair went from nearly APL to SL again . That's when I decided not to bother with relaxing anymore, it's probably making my hair weak. Also, I like the look of natural hair, and it'd be cool just to have something different; too many black women around me are so into their weaves, braids and relaxers, I hardly see afros these days. And I have a good flat iron that I can use to straighten instead of relaxing. So there's my reasons

 

[Netta1]

I went natural because I couldn't make sense of perming anymore

 

[13StepsAhead]

I simply love the way natural hair looks and always have. This is actually my 2nd attempt at transitioning and the 1st time I failed miserably (used too much heat due to lack of knowledge) and returned to the relaxer after about 6-7 months of transitioning. I actually decided that I was officially transitioning after my sister did her BC last Aug. and I was just amazed at how beautiful her hair was. My grandmother (in avatar) has always had long beautiful natural hair the seemed to grow effortlessly and I never noticed until joining LHCF that she was basically using simialr techniques we talk about on this forum (healthy diet, Protective styles, no chemicals, no heat ever, evoo and CFCG after washing, she just very scissor happy). Anywho I love how beautiful the women in my family look with natural hair and that's my daily motivation. My mother is also very supportive, so much so that she let me do her BC in march for her bday; its funny because she has been relaxer free for almost 15 months now,but she always wear sew-ins so it never phases that she doesn't get relaxer. After I did my moms BC my jaw literally dropped after I had her co-wash w/ LTR and saw all her beautiful curls. I just know regardless of texture that being natural is for me!

 

[Nayna]

I went natural because the relaxers were just damaging my hair and those sores and burns were just horrible. No amount of mild or kiddie perms changed anything. I always burned.

I stayed natural because my hair looks better feels better and it's healthier. I don't miss my relaxer at all and I got a flatiron for whenever I get a feeling for straight hair.

Op it's your hair and your life do what makes you happy. In the meantime what is your regimen? There are plenty of threads for relaxed hair that can get your hair back on track.

 

[Imani]

- I am 4b, fine strands. So not only is my hair dry as heck, its also on top of that fragile. I dont have that strong thick hair like alot of the 4b folks on here. My relaxed hair would break off so easily, no matter what I did.
- I have a sensitive scalp, and in some places my hair was always thinning out, I figured putting chemicals on top of that wasnt a good look. I got tired of growing, then breaking cycle, year after year.
-I like full hair. I would have to wait like 4 weeks post relaxer for it to have any body.
- I really hated relaxer day. the burning scalp, the smell.
-I can still have bouncy silky straight hair any time i want

 

[kiesha8185]

Thank you so much for this thread. I am on the fence and I JUST don't know what to do. I want to go natural. I got my last touch up on February 5th and I have about 2-3 inches of new growth. I LOVE IT. I love how moisturized it feels, I love my texture, and how much healthier it feels than my relaxed hair. I thought I knew what moisturized hair felt like...it's nothing compared to my natural texture

The reason why I am so torn is because my family keeps telling me that I don't have "good hair" and that having natural hair is unprofessional. erplexed I start my new job on June 28th, and they keep reminding me that I can't do anything "adult" with short natural hair that looks decent and professional.

At this point, I know my stylist is getting frustrated because I keep re-scheduling my touch-up appointment I just don't know what to do. I don't care about what my family says...I don't care that I might not have "good hair"...I like my texture. But I am concerned about how to look presentable on my new job since I have never had to style natural hair in my adult life WHAT SHOULD I DO?!

 

[Ms Lala]

I went natural because I couldn't make sense of perming anymore

yeah, this was part of the reason I stayed natural. When I was relaxed I had to use some type of heat to get my hair straight after washing. That just stopped seeming reasonable to me, especially since I have always liked big hair. Granted it was easier than it is now but I still can get my hair straight if I want to using a flat iron.