Natural misconceptions....

[it_comes_naturally]

I thought it would be less work, and I wouldn't have to do much to take care of it.

Me too! I BC'ed a month ago after transitioning for 1yr. I thought I'd be able to spray some water on my hair, rub in some product and have popping curls and roll. Soooo far from the truth.

 

[ShaniKeys]

My biggest misconception was that my whole head would have the same texture.... WOW was I wrong I think I have everything from 3b to 4b in my head

Same here!

 

[~VicTorIAn~]

I thought natural hair could withstand rough combing.
I thought I'd have to start dating white men (lol)
I thought this would be easy!
Well, it's not easy but it's so wonderful and versatile, I wouldnt have it any other way.

 

[glamazon386]

That it's unmanageable, dry, hard to comb, unkempt, etc... Also that you don't have to take care of it since it's "natural". I also thought that the relaxer was making my hair thin and that by gping natural it would thicken up. It didn't. It turns out that my hair is just thin by nature.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

LOL Well I've been natural since '94. Let me think here...

I did not think about shrinkage at all.
I only thought I would look good with straight hair but I was willing to take a chance (lol).
I didn't realize how many misconceptions Black people had with their hair in its natural state. I was natural in the 90's so bone straight or braids with extensions were the norm. It was my freshman year in college and I felt great! I got a lot of play from the bruthas! I got made fun of a lot too. Oh well you can't win em all.

 

[rsmith]

I thought I was 3c. I thought my hair would grow a lot faster. I was wrong

 

[justsimply]

]I thought it would be hard to take care of (I'm still amazed at how much easier it is to be natural)[/b]
I thought I would look funny.

I so feel you on this. I thought it would be hard. When I was natural in the past I didn't have the information I have now, and excluding my years in locs, I had a hard time with my hair. But I perferred my natural hair's versatility and was willing to deal with it. This site has given me great information for taking care of my natural hair and it is a lot easier than expected. I am so enjoying it.

 

[Faith]

My misconception:
That keeping my hair natural for years will be great for my hair. Well little did I know I would get so many little knots which then produced many split ends...considering I hadn't used heat and had all these issues I was not impressed

 

[TrustMeLove]

I thought breakage would be a thing of the past. Which it has been up until this month.

I didn't have any other misconceptions. Well maybe I did. I was going natural. Nappy. I was taking on our horrible hair that needed to be straightened in order to maintain. I was going into dangerous territory and the only way to wear napps was in a fro, because anything else was not going to work.

Well, this is what everyone told me. And I still decided to do it and said oh we will see about that. BOO!

 

[Soliel185]

That a flat-iron could actually get natural hair "relaxer straight"
I thought if I ever wanted straight hair I'd have to burn it straight with a old school straightening comb...
That only certain people had curls and I was not one of them
That if I just let it get looooonger it would hang ( It ain't happenin. It may "flop" but it will never "hang)

I'm still transitioning - but before the board I never at a word for that even. The last time I did it, the process was basically...look a mess for about 8 months, cut everything straight off, and wear box braids for 2 years. Now I'm getting close to my one year mark - and alot of it has been made possible by the occasional Sedu fix.

 

[BostonMaria]

Misconception:

I didn't know it was ok to wet your hair every day. That was a big no no in my family.
I never knew I'd have shrinkage. Didn't even know what that was!
I didn't know I could use a product but not have the same curly results every time.
I didn't know natural hair WASN'T indestructible.
I didn't know I could actually fall in love with my hair again.
I thought it would be easier to deal with natural hair.
I used to think people with natural hair thought they were better than people with relaxed hair (this was my perception when I used to relax my hair LOL)

I have much more respect for my oldest daughter who's had curly hair all her life. I thought that by now - 2 years since my last relaxer - I'd have long curls like them girls in the BET videos... not knowing those are weaves LOL

 

[Mystic]

I thought I would look ugly, and unappealing with dry nappy hair and kitchen that screams comb me, comb me. Most of the naturals I see on a daily basis seem their worst - hair uncombed, short and jacked up and sometimes when they relax, they seem to look prettier all of a sudden.

Without this board, I would never have gone natural much less do a BC. I thought I had a lot of confidence when I was relaxed, but now, it's a more settled feeling of "I am secure within myself" something so deep I never felt even with my cutest relaxed style, lol.

I bit this off of BHM and found it interesting. What misconceptions did you have about going natural before you went natural? Here's mine: I thought the only way I could wear my hair was in a puff or fro(wash and go). I had no thoughts of roller sets, twist/braid outs or even wearing buns. I figured my hair would be too nappy to comb and style. So what was your myth that got busted when you went natural?

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I thought it would be easier to retain length....didn't anticipate all the knots.

 

[Oasis]

I thought my texture would be slightly looser.
I thought my hair would grow faster.
I thought I would have an easier time retaining length.
I thought I could put in minimal effort/care and still have healthly, pretty hair.
I thought people would hate it.
I thought if I washed it everday my hair would break off.
I thought I would look good wearing twistouts. WRONG.

 

[delitefulmane]

I thought I would be less attractive (wrong)
I thought I would lose friends (wrong)
I thought I could flat iron in a short period of time with ease (wrong)
I thought black people weren't close-minded (wrong)

 

[Naturelle]

I thought it:

• would be easier to maintain
• no split ends
• didn't even know about knots
• wouldn't change texture

Yea, right

 

[naturalgurl]

I too had 4z hair before coming here. What a difference proper care can make! I also didn't know I had so much hair!

 

[TaraDyan]

I thought my natural hair would be difficult to comb, maintain, take care of, etc. ... but it's just the opposite.

 

[that_1_grrrl]

-I thought my hair was going to be really hard to take care of (and it was until I learned how to take care of it right).

-I thought my hair would grow long just because it was natural.

-I didn't really think about shrinkage beforehand, per se, but once I BC'ed, I knew my hair was longer than it appeared (and luckily, it's not a deterrence for me).

-I thought all natural Black hair looked the same.

 

[Junebug D]

-I thought all natural Black hair looked the same.

Me too! Or rather I thought there were only two textures: curly ("good") and nappy. And then I had the hardest time finding ANYONE with hair that was exactly like mine. Or finding two people with natural hair that was identical.

 

[Stormy]

This is a great thread! I'm planning to transition for the second (or third) time. I have more information now on how to deal with tangles, so I think I can get through it this time. I'm excited and you ladies are inspiring!

 

[kurlybella]

i thought i could have loose curls by use of products a la tracy eliss ross

gurlllllllllllllll she had so many of us messed up!

still got me going now shoot! off to do my fluffy twist out al la joan

 

[luxe.li.]

My main misconception was that I only looked right with straight hair and that I would look like a fool with natural hair. But I quickly got over that.

My friends' misconceptions are the ones that are interesting. When I tell some of my friends I'm going natural I get, why? Are you going to wear your hair in an afro? Are you getting dreads? How are you going to do your hair? I don't know girl it's going to be so nappy you'll end up putting a perm in it again. Are you going super duper Afrocentric? (WTF?), I couldn't do that I like my hair long (WTF again).

Then when I tell them I'm wearing my hair straight when I want to, curly when I want to, they don't believe me. They shrug me off. Then I tell them, you would be surprised to know that alot of your friends with the long hair, are NATURALS, that chose to straighten.

 

[BostonMaria]

I forgot to add that I didn't know that straightening my hair when the temperature is any higher than 70 degrees is a waste of my time and money. Straight hair in the summer time lasts about 5 seconds

 

[TCatt86]

I thought my hair would be rockin' with little to no effort!!! Boy was I wrong.
And I thought my hair would be one texture!!! Mistaken on that too.
And I didn't think that people would stereotype me the way they do now that my hair is natural.

 

[MissJ]

I thought I was going to be able to do a wash 'n go every day. Then I was introduced to knots and tangles.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

I thought all I would have to do is spritz my hair with water & use shea butter & glycerin and have soft hair all day long NOT! I had Hard greasy hair. shea butter does not work for my hair!

 

[Jetblackhair]

So much caught me by surprise:
I thought I would have a straight fro when instead I have coils.

I thought I would be a natural who straightens often, when in fact it's too much work and I can never get my ends straight.

I never thought I had the type of hair that can be styled without straightening (didn't know about twistouts, braidouts).

I didn't know anything about knots.

I didn't think I would get compliments on my natural hair.

I was surprised that dh really loves my natural hair as he had never seen it before.

I didn't know natural hair can be soft.

I didn't know that I was going to have the hand in the hair disease. I guess I'm still amazed by my natural hair.

I didn't know my fine hair can "look" thick in its natural state although it's still fine hair.

I didn't know I was going to be a triangle head. My hair is very fine and soft at the root and gets thicker towards the ends...flat on top, bigger at the bottom.

 

[tatiana]

I thought I had to keep my hair in TWA or locs.
I underestimated the power of shrinkage.
I thought natural hair books spoke to my needs as a natural. (Big disappointment )
I thought I could keep two stand twists in my hair for two weeks and wear twistout for 1 week. In reality, my twist last at most for 2 days with me constantly retwisting my hair because it came loose.

 

[Southernbella.]

I had no idea my dh would dislike my hair so much.

I had no idea my relaxed friends would love it so much.