Does anyone ever REGRET going natural?

How do you really feel about your decision to go natural?

  • I love my natural hair but I wish I would have continued my journey to longer relaxed hair!

    Votes: 17 5.2%

  • I love natural hair but it's not for me

    Votes: 11 3.4%

  • I regret I went natural

    Votes: 4 1.2%

  • I am happy I went natural-wouldnt change it for the world!

    Votes: 270 83.1%

  • I tried the natural thing but I will go back to relaxers in the future

    Votes: 10 3.1%

  • I went natural-I wish I had not cut my hair-It was the wrong choice for me

    Votes: 18 5.5%
  • Total voters
    325
  • Poll closed .
I absolutely love my natural hair and don't regret it. I just cannot see going back for anything in the world. I have come a long way from when I first started and wouldn't trade it for anything. My first time trying to go natural wasn't too good but I realize now it was because I did not education myself on proper hair care of natural hair. This time around I waited for my shoulder length hair to grow out and I kept it in twists and braids, deep conditioned and moisturized. Many go back to relaxers out of fear, lack of knowledge, or the inpatience to deal with their hair. It is all worth it in the end.
 
rwanda said:
I absolutely love my natural hair and don't regret it. I just cannot see going back for anything in the world. I have come a long way from when I first started and wouldn't trade it for anything. My first time trying to go natural wasn't too good but I realize now it was because I did not education myself on proper hair care of natural hair. This time around I waited for my shoulder length hair to grow out and I kept it in twists and braids, deep conditioned and moisturized. Many go back to relaxers out of fear, lack of knowledge, or the inpatience to deal with their hair. It is all worth it in the end.
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Is it possible that someone could go back to a relaxer for none of those reasons? As someone who was natural for 5 years, not at all "fearful" of my hair, did ample research on & is very knowledgable about natural hair and patiently tried numerous regimens with my hair for those 5 years... I have to say, I went back simply because that's what works best for me. Everyone's hair is different. It takes just as much work for me to care for my texlaxed hair as it did my natural hair, it's just a different regimen. In fact, it's more work now because I wear my own hair more these days.... But, like you said, it's all worth it in the end.
 
Hmm...nope! I regret that I decided to go natural after I cut my lovely healthy APL length hair into a mohawk (that was a split-second decision) so I had to choice but to BC, and now I'm in a yucky phase with my hair and I hate it, so I am putting it away for a few months.
 
I don't regret going natural at all. My big, bushy, kinky hair suits my personality. What I regret from my BC experience was not appreciating what it was at the time. I was so concerned with retaining length that I never took the time to enjoy the twa stage. Some days I'd give anything for a 5 min styling session my lil fro afforded me.
 
Smiley82 said:
Is it possible that someone could go back to a relaxer for none of those reasons? As someone who was natural for 5 years, not at all "fearful" of my hair, did ample research on & is very knowledgable about natural hair and patiently tried numerous regimens with my hair for those 5 years... I have to say, I went back simply because that's what works best for me. Everyone's hair is different. It takes just as much work for me to care for my texlaxed hair as it did my natural hair, it's just a different regimen. In fact, it's more work now because I wear my own hair more these days.... But, like you said, it's all worth it in the end.
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So for you it was a matter of preference... I mean after being natural for 5 years-you earned your right to go back to a relaxer.( NOT that you had to earn it but...) I understand what you're saying-Thanks!
 
Thanks so much for this! I'm keeping this in mind.

ParagonTresses said:
I don't regret going natural at all. My big, bushy, kinky hair suits my personality. What I regret from my BC experience was not appreciating what it was at the time. I was so concerned with retaining length that I never took the time to enjoy the twa stage. Some days I'd give anything for a 5 min styling session my lil fro afforded me.
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No natural regrets here. I transitioned for 13 months I believe. The only thing I would have done differently is the BC by a professional. My whole grow out period has been in a mullet. Still, it's been a rewarding journey :-)
 
I wouldn't say I had REGRETS, but I don't feel bad about deciding that being "natural" wasn't for me. It didn't fit my lifestyle or the way that I view myself. I was a gung ho natural when I did it, vowing to never relax again, and all the things that I felt were wrong w/relaxers. However after being natural, the work that it took with my lifestyle was not a possiblity for me. The amount of heat I would have to use to maintain a straightened hairstyle(which is what I preferred), was not healthy in my opinion. The natural hairstyles were fine some of the time, but I tired of seemingly the same looks day in and day out.

I realize now that it is truly a personal preference. If being natural suits you and your lifestyle, then it is the right decision. If being relaxed/texlaxed suits you, then its the right decision. Neither natural or chemically altered hair is better than the other. Follow your hear and what makes you happy. You can always change your mind, and be back2relaxed like me! LOL.
 
Long post warning...

Yep I have those relaxer nightmares too! Ever since a few years ago when I was in a BSS and picked up a Motions perm tub by mistake. You know how those condish and perm tubs look alike. Luckily my mom corrected by mistake! Still get nervous around Motions prods LOL.

I don't regret going natural. Every now and then I do miss my relaxed hair, especially getting a wrap and having that swang. But I don't miss the dependence on salons every 4-6 weeks. Now I only go to the salon 3-4x/year for a blowout, trim and color. I wear my hair curly most of the time.

Now the moisture game with natural hair is no joke. It has been a journey finding the right products to keep my hair moisturized.

I love the freedom of not worrying about my hair getting wet. I feel that my hair has so much personality now in its natural state. I have no desire to wear it any straighter than a blowout.

Oh wait, sometimes I do miss straight hair and bangs cause I have a big ol' forehead. LOL.

My transition wasn't painful. Honestly I was braided up for most of that year and a half. I can't imagine dealing with those different textures constantly. I probably would've given up if didn't have the braids option. I'm impressed with all of the ladies on the board who actually work with their transitioning hair.

Real talk: In the past, I have felt tinges of regret and self-confidence issues when I'd meet black guys who did not care for natural hair or hear discouraging remarks from family members. This was much harder on me when I first went natural. Now I am confident with my hair and tell ppl the fro is here to stay, and wouldn't date anyone who prefers straight hair.
 
I'm transitioning (6 months post) and my decision to go natural is pretty much out of curiosity. I didn't get a relaxer until the 9th grade (I'm now a senior in college) but I don't remember my hair in its natural state...And by natural state I mean without having heat added. Before a relaxer, my mom always did my hair bc it was too thick and too long for me to do it myself. She would always blow dry and then flat iron it, so I don't know what the curls, kinks, etc. looked like. Now i'm transitioning bc I want to see if it's something I would be able to handle now. I'm not bc'ing bc I've always had long hair and I want to keep it.

But if I reach my goal, whatever that is, and don't like it...or don't like it more than being relaxed, then I'm just going to relax again. No regrets. Or who knows, maybe I'll be natural forever :)
 
Smiley82 said:
Is it possible that someone could go back to a relaxer for none of those reasons? As someone who was natural for 5 years, not at all "fearful" of my hair, did ample research on & is very knowledgable about natural hair and patiently tried numerous regimens with my hair for those 5 years... I have to say, I went back simply because that's what works best for me. Everyone's hair is different. It takes just as much work for me to care for my texlaxed hair as it did my natural hair, it's just a different regimen. In fact, it's more work now because I wear my own hair more these days.... But, like you said, it's all worth it in the end.
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I'm with you.

I've been dealing with my natural hair for a while. I'm still natural and I'm glad I went, but I'm not going to be joining the chorus and say that it's the only way for me. IRL, I often tell women that you gotta find what works for you and not think it's all roses. It may not be for you.

I think I regret going natural without learning how to deal with my relaxed hair, though. I never bothered trying to. So I wonder if I can replicate what I know now to relaxed hair. I do enjoy being natural now and working through the issues, but at the end of the day, relaxed hair was less time consuming for me and a lot more fun.
 
I regret getting a relaxer ater being natural for three years. My hair was so much healthier as a natural. I reatained length like crazy and the thickness was ooh la la!!! I got two relaxers in 2010, and ater the last one in April...I transitioned back to natural and on Sunday I did the bc. My hair was not thriving like it did when I was natural. I did like the fact that it was straight for more than a couple of hours but I would rather just get a wig or weave. I do hate the fact that my once sl natural hair is back at the beginning mini fro stage. However, my hair grew super fast as a natural!!!
 
No regrets whatsoever. I am loving my coils and thickness that I haven't seen since junior high school.

With relaxers, I kept stretching and bunning, bunning and stretching. I felt, why should I pay money to relax my hair and I almost never wear it out. Then I fell in love with my newgrowth and relaxers became a thing of the past. All of that stretching and relaxing just didn't make sense to me. It was overprocessed most of the time anyways. HTH
 
I have been natural for nearly 10 years and have NEVER wanted to go back to the crack lolol! I just think of the burning feeling on my scalp and that just seals the natural deal I've made every time. I have only worn my hair straight twice in that time but I honestly just love my hair.

I've had it shaved low for the past 3 years so now I'm changing it up and growing it out. whenener I get bored, I never think about perming, i just braid it up and leave it for a couple of months and thats it. I love the way my hair feels. I still can't keep my damn hands out of it. I barely touched my permed hair the way I do now. That is not saying I had terrible permed hair. I loved my Halle Berry styles and I always got it styled. Natural hair is for me FOREVER! And I'm happy about that. So I can say Never going back :yep:
 
The first year was difficult. I needed to learn everything from hair care to hair styling to ingredients and oils and everytime I did something wrong: a butter, a humectant, a powder that my hair didn't like at all, a wrong way of using oils, a killer brush, hard water and so on. I really missed my texturized hair. Luckily I chopped my hair when it was long enough to make a microscopic "almost bun", so I could focus on health first and on styling afterwards and I could just heavily condition my bun and go whenever I didn't have the time to investigate.

When I finally found a regimen everything got in place and I could never go back, my hair has never been this strong, shiny, predictable and able to grow. That difficult year has been very worth it.
 
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I wish I would have done the BC sooner, like right after high school. I waited until I was 27. Nearly 13 years of being natural, no heat, no color, no nothing. I LOVE IT.
 
I don't regret it but every now and then I long for straight hair but am too lazy to flatiron my fro. I recently had my hair straightened for a trim and I wore it for two weeks and I was not happy:perplexed I decided that I love big hair more than straight hair so ill settle for being natural with a straight hair fix every now and then.
 
Transitioning has become unbearable for me. there are knots, knots, and more knots, so detangling takes waayyy too long, which makes me want to just rip my hair out. Im hiding my hair now so we'll see how it goes. Im also disappointed that i dont have as much growth as i think i should have in 9 mos so that discourages me also. *Sigh*
 
Best decision I've ever taken. I just thought I would stop relaxing for a while and heal this chemical burn, because I didn't think going natural was even an option. It turned out to be the most self-affirming, self-loving, liberating decision of MY life. I did not expect that at all. I am enjoying the journey and strangly enough, it isn`t so much about hair, it is about me accepting myself and standing by my decisions. If I ever want straight hair again, I would rather get it heat straighten than put another relaxer on my head.
 
I don't regret being natural. But there have been many a braid take down or detangling session where I've considered stopping half way through and going to Walgreens and getting a Motions kit.

I did like my relaxed hair, but I don't think I was as patient with it as I could have been. I also abused it a lot. If I went back to relaxing, I would do a whole lot of things differently.
 
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