plzgrow
Well-Known Member
What is natural hair?
This seems like a no brainer, but there are still people who don't get it. For the purposes of this forum, natural hair is hair that has no chemical straightening or relaxing agent in it. This includes texturizers. When we refer to natural we are speaking of the natural texture that your hair has.
How do you become natural?
There are two ways to become natural. You can either cut the relaxer out of your hair, by cutting your hair down to the newgrowth (Often times called the BC for Big Chop) or you can transition to your natural hair by not getting any more chemical treatments and slowly trimming or cutting off your relaxed hair until you are only left with your naturally textured hair.
What are the benefits to BCing vs Transitioning or vice versa?
Both methods have their pluses and minuses.
BC Pros:
You immediately get to know your natural hair.
You don't have to deal with two different textures.
BC Cons:
After having chemically relaxed hair it can be a shock to deal with a new texture.
The shock of dealing with drastically shorter hair.
Tranistioning Pros:
You do not have to lose length.
Tranistioning Cons:
Once you are left w/ completely natural hair it can be a shock to have to deal with a headfull of natural hair.
Handling two different textures and trying to minimize breakage.
Which method should I choose: BCing or Transitioning?
That is a decision that you truly have to make yourself. People have different reasons for going natural, different ways that they prefer themselves to look, and different hair time and budget constraints, which can all effect which method you choose.
Should I go natural?
This is another decision that people have to make for themselves. Different people are inspired differently as to why to go natural. Some people are influenced by how a certain person't hair looks, some people do it for political reasons, some people do it to give their hair a "rest", some people see it as an evolution of their hair, etc.
Personally I don't recommend going natural if you are only trying to emulate someone else's look. EVERYONE'S NATURAL HAIR IS DIFFERENT! Your hair may not look like person A's and if you can't handle that, you may not be ready to go natural.
What is my hair type?
I recommend the LOIS haur typing method created by Our Hair.net
Examine Your Hair Strand: Select a single strand of the most common type of hair on your head. Aim for the most common texture on your head ifyou have different hair textures. The hair should be freshly washed without products applied to it and rinsed in coldwater. Or, gently rinse a single hair with a little dish detergent and rinse in cold water. Allow the hair to dry on a bit ofpaper towel so that you can look at the pattern without touching it.
Find Your Pattern: The bends, kinks and coils of your hair will resemble one of more of the letters L, O, I or S. - L - If the hair has all bends, right angles and folds with little to no curve then you are daughter L. - O - If the strand is rolled up into the shape of one or several zeros like a spiral, then you are daughter O. - I - If the hair lies mostly flat with no distinctive curve or bend you are daughter I. - S - If the strand looks like a wavy line with hills and valleys then you are daughter S.You may have a combination of the L,O,I,S letters, possibly with one dominant. If you cannot see one letter over theothers, then combine the letters. Example: LO or IL or OS.
Find Your Strand Size: A strand of frayed thread is about the thickness of a medium sized strand of human hair. If your strand is larger than this,then your hair is thick. If your strand is smaller than this, hair is thin, or fine.
Find Your Texture: Shine is a sharp reflection of light while Sheen is a dull reflection of light.- Thready - Hair as a low sheen, with high shine if the hair is held taut (as in a braid), with low frizz. Wets easily but waterdries out quickly.- Wiry - Hair has a sparkly sheen, with low shine and low frizz. Water beads up or bounces off the hair strands. Hairnever seems to get fully wet.- Cottony - Hair has a low sheen, a high shine if the hair is held taunt and has high frizz. Absorbs water quickly but doesnot get thoroughly wet very fast.- Spongy - Hair has a high sheen with low shine with a compacted looking frizz. Absorbs water before it gets thoroughlywet.- Silky - Hair has low sheen, a very high shine, with a lot or low frizz. Easily wets in water.
Found this article and believe it would be a great start to knowing about natural or going natural, Feel free to add to this and post what you've learned as a natural to help others out!
I learned that my natural hair does not like protein much but loves moisture and can not get enough of it...
This seems like a no brainer, but there are still people who don't get it. For the purposes of this forum, natural hair is hair that has no chemical straightening or relaxing agent in it. This includes texturizers. When we refer to natural we are speaking of the natural texture that your hair has.
How do you become natural?
There are two ways to become natural. You can either cut the relaxer out of your hair, by cutting your hair down to the newgrowth (Often times called the BC for Big Chop) or you can transition to your natural hair by not getting any more chemical treatments and slowly trimming or cutting off your relaxed hair until you are only left with your naturally textured hair.
What are the benefits to BCing vs Transitioning or vice versa?
Both methods have their pluses and minuses.
BC Pros:
You immediately get to know your natural hair.
You don't have to deal with two different textures.
BC Cons:
After having chemically relaxed hair it can be a shock to deal with a new texture.
The shock of dealing with drastically shorter hair.
Tranistioning Pros:
You do not have to lose length.
Tranistioning Cons:
Once you are left w/ completely natural hair it can be a shock to have to deal with a headfull of natural hair.
Handling two different textures and trying to minimize breakage.
Which method should I choose: BCing or Transitioning?
That is a decision that you truly have to make yourself. People have different reasons for going natural, different ways that they prefer themselves to look, and different hair time and budget constraints, which can all effect which method you choose.
Should I go natural?
This is another decision that people have to make for themselves. Different people are inspired differently as to why to go natural. Some people are influenced by how a certain person't hair looks, some people do it for political reasons, some people do it to give their hair a "rest", some people see it as an evolution of their hair, etc.
Personally I don't recommend going natural if you are only trying to emulate someone else's look. EVERYONE'S NATURAL HAIR IS DIFFERENT! Your hair may not look like person A's and if you can't handle that, you may not be ready to go natural.
What is my hair type?
I recommend the LOIS haur typing method created by Our Hair.net
Examine Your Hair Strand: Select a single strand of the most common type of hair on your head. Aim for the most common texture on your head ifyou have different hair textures. The hair should be freshly washed without products applied to it and rinsed in coldwater. Or, gently rinse a single hair with a little dish detergent and rinse in cold water. Allow the hair to dry on a bit ofpaper towel so that you can look at the pattern without touching it.
Find Your Pattern: The bends, kinks and coils of your hair will resemble one of more of the letters L, O, I or S. - L - If the hair has all bends, right angles and folds with little to no curve then you are daughter L. - O - If the strand is rolled up into the shape of one or several zeros like a spiral, then you are daughter O. - I - If the hair lies mostly flat with no distinctive curve or bend you are daughter I. - S - If the strand looks like a wavy line with hills and valleys then you are daughter S.You may have a combination of the L,O,I,S letters, possibly with one dominant. If you cannot see one letter over theothers, then combine the letters. Example: LO or IL or OS.
Find Your Strand Size: A strand of frayed thread is about the thickness of a medium sized strand of human hair. If your strand is larger than this,then your hair is thick. If your strand is smaller than this, hair is thin, or fine.
Find Your Texture: Shine is a sharp reflection of light while Sheen is a dull reflection of light.- Thready - Hair as a low sheen, with high shine if the hair is held taut (as in a braid), with low frizz. Wets easily but waterdries out quickly.- Wiry - Hair has a sparkly sheen, with low shine and low frizz. Water beads up or bounces off the hair strands. Hairnever seems to get fully wet.- Cottony - Hair has a low sheen, a high shine if the hair is held taunt and has high frizz. Absorbs water quickly but doesnot get thoroughly wet very fast.- Spongy - Hair has a high sheen with low shine with a compacted looking frizz. Absorbs water before it gets thoroughlywet.- Silky - Hair has low sheen, a very high shine, with a lot or low frizz. Easily wets in water.
Found this article and believe it would be a great start to knowing about natural or going natural, Feel free to add to this and post what you've learned as a natural to help others out!
I learned that my natural hair does not like protein much but loves moisture and can not get enough of it...
