Does anyone ever REGRET going natural?

[orangepeel]

I don't regret my choice but I wish I had known about how to keep my hair healthy when it was relaxed. It might have changed my thoughts as staying relaxed and i might have had more hair than I do now.

 

[diadall]

I am glad that I went natural now but there was a time about a year ago trying to deal with the crown of my head that I did regret it.

 

[BostonMaria]

My only regret was not transitioning to natural 25 years ago.

 

[Morenita]

I regret not doing it sooner. I never thought I would "go natural" but after joining LHCF and witnessing my cousin transitioning, I was truly inspired. I transitioned for 16 months. I had planned on 24, but the temptation and a slew of people b/c'ing around me got the better of me.

I was a little daunted at first with the length (went from MBL to SL, which was more like CL when curly) since I've only had short hair once in my whole life and that was by choice. It took some getting used to, and took a little time before I was comfortable wearing it out curly in public, but I honestly did fall in love with my hair as soon as I finished b/c'ing. Never looked back.

I have since regained the length that I lost when I b/c'ed and now I'm like, pssht, that was nothing! My hair is so much healthier now and I have so much more versatility.

 

[brownbean96]

No need for regrets. Quick fix, if you don't like it, just relax again. The opposite would be more challenging in my opinion. However, since you don't like the idea of having short hair, you should thing of a longterm transition. I transitioned for two yrs & was left with a few straight pieces that I cut in a mini-chop. If you got to that point & didn't like what you saw, you could relax.

 

[**SaSSy**]

I love my natural hair, but I do wish I was able to transition longer. I was only able to go 7 1/2 mos, but my goal was at least one year.

 

[ms-gg]

Nope don't regret it, and don't plan on ever putting chemicals in my hair ever again.....

 

[1QTPie]

Never. 8 years and counting. Never had one day of remorse or regret. I wish that I would have done it when I first started thinking about it about 10 years ago.

Don't regret my BC either. I was fly with super short hair. Cuter than I'd ever been honestly.

 

[SuchaLady]

I believe that natural hair textures are beautiful but I am relaxed straight. I just got a perm Saturday and in 2 weeks no one will even be able to tell so I can just imagine trying to go natural. Im sure with the right products being able to tame my natural hair would be possible but in my opinion experimenting to find products for natural hair and risking hair and skin health (I have extremely sensitive skin mainly around my hair line. Just my luck right?) does not outweight the pros of my healthy head of relaxed hair that I am already aware of what works and what doesnt.

 

[anartist4u2001]

i wish i had started with a TWA!

 

[doll-baby]

Sometimes when I'm detangling or when I find those pesky single strand knots, I regret going natural. However hen my hair was relaxed it was very thin and limp. Right now I'm hiding myu hair until I reach either APL or BSL. So far I plan on staying natural, I just have to continue to hunt down products that work with my hair.

 

[LynnieB]

No regrets going natural at all. FOR ME it's so much easier to take care off, requires less maintenance and dare I say it - care than my relaxed hair required.

Sometimes I still can't believe how long it's grown through the years and I really love the versatility of it.

 

[Allandra]

I'm happy I went natural - wouldn't change it for the world.

 

[Roux]

I believe that natural hair textures are beautiful but I am relaxed straight. I just got a perm Saturday and in 2 weeks no one will even be able to tell so I can just imagine trying to go natural. Im sure with the right products being able to tame my natural hair would be possible but in my opinion experimenting to find products for natural hair and risking hair and skin health (I have extremely sensitive skin mainly around my hair line. Just my luck right?) does not outweight the pros of my healthy head of relaxed hair that I am already aware of what works and what doesnt.

I don't understand this sentiment. While I have experimented with a few products the same stuff that works for my relaxed hair works for my transitioning and natural part of my hair. I think applying caustic chemicals to your scalp and hair is more dangerous than trying a new conditioner.

 

[renren]

I regretted I went natural and so I texturized my hair. I live in Trinidad and the humidity poofed up every style I tried, that didnt look good on me. Im happy with my decision to texturize.

ETA: If I knew about heat training earlier I might tried that instead.

 

[ChanelNo5]

I have woken up distraught from nightmares that I went and relaxed my hair. So the answer is no lol. I'm absolutely amazed at how my natural hair straightens. As a coarse 4a/b I would have never thought my natural hair could behave the way it does.

When I would stretch my relaxers my hair would nev er look right when flatironed. Even though I would get close to the roots, it would still look like...well straight hair and puffy roots...not a good look.

Now as a natural it's all one texture. And it just silkens so well. It honestly looks far better than a relaxer. It's waaay thicker, shinier, stronger, and so soft. I've NEVER had soft hair. I could go on all day.....

 

[missykeyana]

I don't regret going natural at all! If I had to have a regret, it was that I didn't try one of those cute tapered cuts before I did my BC, but there are wigs, so....

 

[SimJam]

Nope nvr regretted it, tried 2 times before ... in 1999 - 2001 and 2003 - 2004, but I didnt have hairboards and all this knowledge abt natural hair care.

I WISHHHHHHH I had found hairboards in 1999 sheesh

I must admit though that a couple months after I BCd I was walking into the supermkt as this lady was leaving, she had nice healthy looking APL length hair (the length I BCd from) and just as we passed eachother a lil gust of wind caught her hair and one side wafted up into the air ... I had a lil relaxer envy for a split second

that was the first and only time

 

[TaraDyan]

Absolutely no regrets here. Like so many others have said before me, I wish I had done it sooner.

If anything, I'm mad that I got a relaxer again in my 20s after being natural during my teens.

 

[Afrobuttafly]

In a word... NOPE.

Not just saying that either. Sometimes my hair is as dry as the Sahara, tangled, unruly, shrinkage is major, I dunno how I wanna style it...so on and such forth. But I still never regret going natural. I made sure to arm myself heavily with knowledge before, during and after the process of going natural so I always know how to whip my hair back into shape. I get lazy at times, but my hair is so forgiving. I love her. And it'd be much much longer had i not straightened it improperly and had 2 bc a 2nd time so that's my bad on that one.

 

[GaiasDaughter24]

Not one bit. I wish I had gone natural sooner like when I'd admire Ya-Ya's hair on Top Model every week. But I didn't think my hair would "look like that". Who knew.

 

[Ese88]

No. My only regret was not doing it sooner.I did the bc in october last yr,and my hair has not always looked its best,can be dry and hard but i still love my hair and for now i don't feel the need to put chemicals in my hair

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

I'm nine months into my transition; but, I'm not regretting any of it at all. Okay, maybe I am. I wish I had done it sooner so that I would've past the first year mark already. Ugh!

 

[ashleymichelle1]

I'm Happy with my decision. The only thing I regret is doing the BC too soon...i hated short hair on me and wore weaves for like 6 months until it grew out. If I could go back into time I would have just done a super long transition and dodne braid-outs and twist-outs on my transitioning hair..

 

[Napp]

i only regret big chopping. i HATE my BC layers. i wish i knew that there are other options to relaxers. ive tried a few and i prefer them to relaxers because they do not greatly compromise the integrity of my strands.

 

[LongLeggedLife]

I have woken up distraught from nightmares that I went and relaxed my hair. So the answer is no lol. ...

Wow, me too. And doesn't it seem like the worst thing that could have possibly happened?? I have woken up sweating and grabbing my head due to a relaxer nightmare! Crazy. That says alot about how the whole process of relaxing affected me subconsciously...:smh:

 

[FebeeSigns]

I don't understand this sentiment. While I have experimented with a few products the same stuff that works for my relaxed hair works for my transitioning and natural part of my hair. I think applying caustic chemicals to your scalp and hair is more dangerous than trying a new conditioner.

Agreed. If you have sensitive skin like you say, relaxers and lye will cause you a lot more damage (because they're caustic and corrosive chemicals) than let's say, oyin handmade and a bunch of other natural/organic/vegan hair products that hardly if ever cause people reactions due to the lack of synthetic materials. I don't understand how the risk would be bigger with natural hair.

 

[Hairlosophy]

No regrets here, I'm 9 months natural. I big chopped at between 3-4 months post, but before my transition I kept my hair cut really short (above ear length) for 4 years so it wasn't a big deal. Right now the only thing I regret is these stupid single strand knots and not getting a handle on them sooner.

 

[RegaLady]

Sometimes I regret going natural, because I was accustomed to short relaxed cuts.I admit that in some ways I am in love with them. BUT on the opposite end, I love longish natural hair. So when I think about it, I don't regret going natural. It all depends on the benefits you want. I prefer polished hair, but when I look at this board and all the YT videos when naturals straighten their hair, then I think, "I can do this",lol. There is versatility.

 

[RegaLady]

Wow, me too. And doesn't it seem like the worst thing that could have possibly happened?? I have woken up sweating and grabbing my head due to a relaxer nightmare! Crazy. That says alot about how the whole process of relaxing affected me subconsciously...:smh:

Right, I would more likely regret getting a relaxer than regret going natural...but thats me, in this stage of my life