Man you sounded JUST like me. The last two years of me being natural, I just did not care. My hair suffered greatly. I shaved part of my hair thinking that would kick me into gear, since I had less hair to take care of but naw. I eventually ended up relaxing because my natural hair wasn't too fond of heat. I wish I would have relaxed sooner so I could have retained some length, but a part of me felt like I was "selling out", and I still ended up cutting off a lot of hair.I dont care about my hair natural and it suffers. Its like the thought of the work it takes annoys me so bad that Id rather just not bother. The difference in my outlook really amazes me being that technically it is just hair. When I went unrelaxed (I never snipped off the straight hair but at that point I had too much unprocessed hair to call it transitioning) I was so impatient that I wouldnt even attempt to detangle my hair; Id snip out a tangle and KIM when ordinarily I would be about to shed tears if I need a half inch trim
I dont halfway enjoy hair stuff anyway so anything that will require more effort than I currently put in is a no go. Which is a shame because I actually hate the relaxer process. I will one day become a straight hair natural Im sure.
I see what you did there
maybe you should specify as a straight haired natural...
Definitely as a natural.
What did I do? Stop using heat .
I retain the most as relaxed. My hair is at its healthiest the first 8 weeks after a retouch. It is simple for me. The easier I can manage my hair, the healthier I can maintain it.
I tried the "natural" route a couple of years ago. I turned to BKT by month 6 and totally discarded the idea before I made it one year. I hated everything about "natual" hair.
My hair became a chore to deal with instead of a day of pampering. I hated the nappy look when I've gone 3 weeks without straightening. And BKT is made expensive and damaging due to the massive heat used to seal it in.
My hair broke off and looked unhealthy due to the tangles.
I conceded that relaxer is essential to my life.
Relaxed!!! Due to the amount of manipulation it took for my natural hair to look polished.
I retain better as a natural compared to relaxed/texlaxed.
My texlaxed hair was weaker than my natural hair and because of inconsistent curl pattern, I had to manipulate it more to get a uniform look. I think that more manipulation + weakened strands led to less retention for me. Because I prefer textured hair styles, hated the relaxer process, and hated the newgrowth vs. texlaxed hair struggle, it made more sense to go natural than to remain texlaxed. I had a much easier time developing a routine for my natural hair, so I didn't have to troubleshoot it like I did my texlaxed hair.
If I was more committed to being texlaxed I believe I could have figured out how to retain more, but since I wasn't, I threw in the towel.
I dont care about my hair natural and it suffers. Its like the thought of the work it takes annoys me so bad that Id rather just not bother. The difference in my outlook really amazes me being that technically it is just hair. When I went unrelaxed (I never snipped off the straight hair but at that point I had too much unprocessed hair to call it transitioning) I was so impatient that I wouldnt even attempt to detangle my hair; Id snip out a tangle and KIM when ordinarily I would be about to shed tears if I need a half inch trim
I dont halfway enjoy hair stuff anyway so anything that will require more effort than I currently put in is a no go. Which is a shame because I actually hate the relaxer process. I will one day become a straight hair natural Im sure.
As a natural retention is way easier, and pretty much just basic. When relaxed I had to really take precautionary measures to ensure that I wasn't going to mess up my fine 4b hair. I felt that my regimen had to be on-point at ALL times and any slip up might cause a set back. Honestly, my relaxed hair kind of held me hostage, I was constantly trying to make it happy, but it was a temperamental *****!
is anyone on here a therapist?
i want to relax again but I feel ashamed that i failed as a straight hair natural
ohhh. i was considering doing this as i just trimmed from BSL to APL yesterday. ill be following this post because i need to figure out how to retain my progress as a natural.is anyone on here a therapist?
i want to relax again but I feel ashamed that i failed as a straight hair natural
ohhh. i was considering doing this as i just trimmed from BSL to APL yesterday. ill be following this post because i need to figure out how to retain my progress as a natural.