Can You Tell the Difference Between Relaxed and Natural Straightened?

[Sha76]

I cant tell for the most part. Sometimes I think they are relaxed but they are natural and vice versa.

 

[DivaD04]

sometimes i can. my theory....it depends on the amount of time they spend, the quality of an iron, and the product(s) they use....some folks may just want to be able to manage their hair in a more straighter look but not bone straight, who am i to judge them.
just out of curiousity, does texture matter? will a 3a-b-c look more relaxed than a 4a-b-c...i guess it goes back to my theory on what it depends right.

 

[Truth]

If it's silky str8.. then Nah.. I can't....I remember when I first met one of my home girls...her hair stayed silky straight all the time. I always thought she had a relaxer, until one day she was like "i'm natural, i've been natural all my life"... all I could do was ... I couldn't tell. I shoulda took the hint tho, when she would always run from the rain...

 

[Solitude]

thank you!!!
i was begining to think this was another hate on people with relaxed hair threads based after reading some of these comments, like "Natural hair has way more shine body bounce bling thickness swang wounderfulness than relaxed hair when straightened". are u serious? it entirely depends on the individual. Like look at sweet cashews hair and sylver2's hair for example. Some naturals would kill for their hair to look half as thick as theirs when straightened.

Exactly. I'm like...do people not see naturals IRL who straighten one day, and their hair has visible knots and splits? Or either it's so frizzy that it looks like damaged relaxed hair...? Or is heavy with product to keep it from reverting? Sigh...sometimes you can tell the difference, but not in a good way.

I usually can't tell. I just admire a head of healthy hair and move on. I'm also wondering how people are confirming these theories, or if these are a lot of assumptions. Not knocking anyone's opinions, just wondering.

 

[Embyra]

100% agree with you.

my hair is relaxed and it's thick/full with lots of body. it's an inaccurate assumption to say relaxed heads hair looks thinner and doesn't "hang" heavy or whatever nonsense theories.

it all depends on your hair type. I have thick full hair. not every natural has thick hair either to think that would be crazy with all the different types of textures people have in the world. there are naturals whose hair is fine also and when straightened is flat and limp same for some relaxed but it's not because a person is relaxed that their hair is "limp" depends on the strands. some hair also lacks body again nothing to do with a person being relaxed.

it takes too much energy to analyze people's hair. a nice head of hair is a nice head of hair, that's just me.

amen! im really getting tired of these natural v relaxed post with the responses which oh so subtly want to try and point out that relaxed hair will never look as good as natural hair be it straighten or pressed

 

[Embyra]

thank you!!!
i was begining to think this was another hate on people with relaxed hair threads based after reading some of these comments, like "Natural hair has way more shine body bounce bling thickness swang wounderfulness than relaxed hair when straightened". are u serious? it entirely depends on the individual. Like look at sweet cashews hair and sylver2's hair for example. Some naturals would kill for their hair to look half as thick as theirs when straightened.

you would have thought with all the relaxed thick bouncy haired ladies on this forum in particular people would take hair strand into account and not blame everything on a relaxer for thin hair i guess ignorance is bliss

 

[pringe]

nope, when i get a good press & flat iron, no one knows the difference and my hair is very shiny and bouncy

 

[anon123]

This board does not represent the average head of hair. In the real world, most heads of hair aren't as healthy as ours.

 

[longhairlover]

yeah too many assumptions on things, all of the girls I went to h.s. with in nyc were relaxed and had beautiful mbl hair (except for me always apl whatevs, at least it was healthy I guess lol).

nice hair is nice hair at the end of the day.

amen! im really getting tired of these natural v relaxed post with the responses which oh so subtly want to try and point out that relaxed hair will never look as good as natural hair be it straighten or pressed

 

[longhairlover]

for real,
I wasn't going to post because i'm always the bad guy on here but once I started to see the comments as you said "natural hair has more shine" etc. I started to get annoyed and had to open my mouth/keyboard

i'm relaxed and never have I made any snippy comments about people with natural hair it doesn't matter to me to each his/her own. even though some (in real life) needed to be talked about and may have been better off relaxed. but it just seems like people that have taken the plunge feel the need to say crazy things about relaxed heads.

what next beatings in the parking lots for being relaxed? people throwing water on relaxed heads to see if we will run or not to find a dryer lmao! (i'm picturing the bashings something like the fur protestors throwing paint on womens fur coats)

thank you!!!
i was begining to think this was another hate on people with relaxed hair threads based after reading some of these comments, like "Natural hair has way more shine body bounce bling thickness swang wounderfulness than relaxed hair when straightened". are u serious? it entirely depends on the individual. Like look at sweet cashews hair and sylver2's hair for example. Some naturals would kill for their hair to look half as thick as theirs when straightened.

 

[LadyRaider]

This board does not represent the average head of hair. In the real world, most heads of hair aren't as healthy as ours.

This.

In my area there are a lot more relaxed heads and therefore a lot more chances for HAMs.

 

[sunnydaze]

Yes I can tell the difference, but not necessarily labeling it with the natural hair looks better, healthier, shinier, etc. I will say that 8 times out of ten, it looks denser.

 

[sheba1]

I dunno... I think it's difficult to tell the difference between healthy relaxed hair and healthy natural hair that's been straightened. The hair in my siggy is my hair straightened; and I've gotten a few PMs about how straight my hair appears in the photo, saying they wouldn't have known I wasn't relaxed except for the words stating I'm a BKT'd natural.

 

[imaccami]

This board does not represent the average head of hair. In the real world, most heads of hair aren't as healthy as ours.

Exactly. That goes for natural and relaxed. I see tore up natural hair all the time irl just as often as I see messed up relaxed hair.

 

[sheba1]

This board does not represent the average head of hair. In the real world, most heads of hair aren't as healthy as ours.

at the possibility of being considered one of the hair elite. Thank God for LHCF for showing me about my hair!

 

[Southernbella.]

Exactly. That goes for natural and relaxed. I see tore up natural hair all the time irl just as often as I see messed up relaxed hair.

How is that possible when 80% of bw are relaxed? I don't doubt that you've seen a few messed up natural heads, but the same amount?

 

[Junebug D]

100% agree with you.

my hair is relaxed and it's thick/full with lots of body. it's an inaccurate assumption to say relaxed heads hair looks thinner and doesn't "hang" heavy or whatever nonsense theories.

it all depends on your hair type. I have thick full hair. not every natural has thick hair either to think that would be crazy with all the different types of textures people have in the world. there are naturals whose hair is fine also and when straightened is flat and limp same for some relaxed but it's not because a person is relaxed that their hair is "limp" depends on the strands. some hair also lacks body again nothing to do with a person being relaxed.

it takes too much energy to analyze people's hair. a nice head of hair is a nice head of hair, that's just me.

Very true. It's a total misconception to say that just because you are natural, your hair is thicker. My hair is pretty much the same. It didn't "swang" when I had it pressed, and it doesn't swang relaxed. It was stiff natural and it's still stiff relaxed. If your hair is thin or if you just don't have a lot of hair period, that won't change all that much between one or the other. The difference is when the hair isn't straightened well, it would appear fuller.

Natural:

Natural:

Relaxed:

Relaxed:

Natural, with humidity:

 

[sheba1]

^^^ OT Shan, your hair is Soooo pretty!

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

How is that possible when 80% of bw are relaxed? I don't doubt that you've seen a few messed up natural heads, but the same amount?

EXCELLENT point!!

 

[Junebug D]

^^^ OT Shan, your hair is Soooo pretty!

Thanks!

 

[taz007]

Here is mine:

"Jacked Nat" Natural, pressed hair Nov. '07 (I had to "Photoshop" the left side of my see-through hair )

Relaxed June '09

Relaxed hair Nov. '09

Relaxed Nov' 09 (2 hours post relaxer)

 

[exoticmommie]

Here is mine:

"Jacked Nat" Natural, pressed hair Nov. '07 (I had to "Photoshop" the left side of my see-through hair )

Relaxed June '09

Relaxed hair Nov. '09

Relaxed Nov' 09 (2 hours post relaxer)

Wow, now that is some thick and luscious hair.

 

[Junebug D]

Here is mine:


Relaxed Nov' 09 (2 hours post relaxer)

Yeah... I don't see very many people with your thickness & body & shine & swang whether they are relaxed, natural, healthy, super-healthy, unhealthy, on hair boards, no-boards, period.

There is no magic bullet to get hair like Oprah's, Mwedzi's, Taz's, Shima's etc unless you were born that way. Just try to have the best hair that you can have.

 

[exoticmommie]

How is that possible when 80% of bw are relaxed? I don't doubt that you've seen a few messed up natural heads, but the same amount?

I believe that she probably means percentage wise. Like at my church. There aren't that many naturals. But a lot of them have messed up looking heads. And I soooo want to point them to LHCF. But that is not my style to just come up to someone and do that. If they ask, that is another story...

Most of them have to keep their hair in TWA's because they have damage and aren't retaining any length. And the ones that straighten their hair, I can see through to their back/neck. Hair is basically very thin in the ends. And I know they are natural because I and other people ask. Or I have seen them wear it natural. Now, would it be exactly the same amount as damaged relaxed heads. No, but it's a lot considering there aren't that many.

But in all honesty, I would say about 90% of the women at my church have messed up heads.

 

[empressri]

Personally when I grew out the relaxer I flat ironed a lot so my hair was heat trained aka heat damaged so it wasn't as thick. But now I only press twice a year to get a trim and it's thick as hell. I still got it straight though!

 

[moonglowdiva]

Nope not unless they both get wet!!!

 

[ceebee3]

Yeah... I don't see very many people with your thickness & body & shine & swang whether they are relaxed, natural, healthy, super-healthy, unhealthy, on hair boards, no-boards, period.

There is no magic bullet to get hair like Oprah's, Mwedzi's, Taz's, Shima's etc unless you were born that way. Just try to have the best hair that you can have.

Agreed, a lot of people waste a lot of time and money trying to get hair they will never have.

Let's embrace what we have and love it!

 

[cgolden]

Thanks Jazala!

This is an interesting question, check out my most recent press and flat iron, would you be able to tell, (just seeing me with my straightened hair) weather I was natural or relaxed?:scratchch

your hair does not look relaxed at all to me, but hey if sooo many other people think it does i guess it may

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

^^^Nice most people can't tell either way but there are a handful of people that tell me they can see a distinct difference with my straightened hair and relaxed straight hair, when ppl can tell thats great, less convincing needed on my end!

At the end of the day, my goal isn't to have it resemble anything else. I simply want my hair to look like the best version of itself it can be

 

[Crackers Phinn]

Anyone with eyes can see the difference between relaxed hair and straightened natural hair.

When you press natural hair, the heat of the flat iron shoots out a skittle-esque rainbow that dances upon the chemically unaltered strands!

The hair is as bouncy as newborn kittens playing on an air mattress inside a snowglobe.

And the shine.... the shine is more glittery than Edward from Twilight!

Straightened natural hair looks as though G-ds own hand reached out from the heavens and touched the head of the wearer. The halo should be a dead give away.

I mean really, Duh!