I just had an epiphany... Am I the only one who...

[~Hair~Fetish~]

doesn't really know what their natural hair texture looks like? I mean aside from the obvious 1 or 2 inches of new growth I see, I can't remember what my natural hair looks like. I know this sounds crazy, but growing up, my mom kept our hair pressed. Every 2 or 3 weeks, I (or she) would wash my hair, and then put it in 5 or 6 plaits to dry. Once dry, my mom would proceed to press it with Blue Magic grease. It was always thick and between SL and APL (considered "long" at the time, but not by LHCF's standards).

Got a jheri curl in 8th grade, and grew it out after a year. Stayed natural and pressed until I was 18 when I decided to get a relaxer. I have no idea what my hair would look like in its natural state without it being straightened. I mean, I know it's in the 4 category, but I guess I've always kept it straightened because as a kid I was told I had "that bad hair". Hmmm... ... maybe that's why I'm afraid to transition.

 

[BeetleBug]

Trust me, you're not the only one.

 

[chelleypie810]

Nope I have no idea what my texture is and prolly never will. I was in braids up until i got a relaxer at like 10. I have no desire to see my texture because it prolly wouldn't be a pretty story and I def. wouldn't know how to take care of it. If I ever bc'd id prolly have to leave my head shaven like an amber rose type of thing. I was combing through my hair at 8 wks post and basically...couldnt get the comb through it

 

[Chromia]

No, you're not the only one. I didn't know for most of my life. I had braids, pressed hair, or a Jheri curl until I was about 12, then I had relaxed hair until age 30.

I'm still not really that familiar with my natural texture because I'm transitioning and I've been flat ironing or doing twistouts.

 

[~Hair~Fetish~]

All I remember as a kid is that wash day wasn't nothin pretty! Even when I became a teenager and old enough to press my hair myself, I would whip out the straightening comb at any sign of reversion and to keep my edges in check almost on the daily.
Once I discovered the blow dryers with the comb attachments, the health of my hair slowly declined (it was still SL to APL, just not as lush). Of course I didn't realize it then, but knowing what I know now, it was definitely the culprit.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I think realizing the bad experiences that have informed your perception of your hair is the first step, a really important step. Just like with everything, if you're using products that don't make your natural hair soft or have any slip, it doesn't mean your hair is unmanageable it means you haven't struck the right balance between products and technique to make combing your hair an easy task. I have always had VERY tighly coily hair and the right products that provide nice slip can make ALL the difference.

Just becase our mothers didn't understand how to care for our natural hair doesn't mean that our hair is just too unruly, it means they didn't have the access to information that we do about caring for our hair.

Thats like getting a bad style and overall experience from a stylist and walking away saying wow, I guess my hair can't ever be in a nice style because it came out bad when she did it today! Noooooo, that just means she didn't know how to handle your hair, its not a reflection on your hair at all.

 

[jazzyto]

nope had braids until about 3 rd grade then press and curl to 7th grade then Jheri curl to 9th grade and relaxers ever since. one day I will go natural just to experience it.

 

[~Hair~Fetish~]

I guess I always assumed that being natural (esp 4a/b) meant that you had to "straighten" your hair with heat in order to style it. Would I be able to wear wash and go's or style without heat?

 

[BeetleBug]

I guess I always assumed that being natural (esp 4a/b) meant that you had to "straighten" your hair with heat in order to style it. Would I be able to wear wash and go's or style without heat?

I'm 4a/b and my wash and go is in my siggy. I just left some conditioner in it and let it air dry. I have no desire to use heat in my hair. Usually, I keep my hair in twists.

 

[keykee]

Same here. I've been relaxed since 8th grade. I've been transitioning for at least 5 months - I am not even sure when the last relaxer was. I have about 1 inch of growth and at times I really can't keep my hands out of my roots.. touching and feeling some of the kinky parts and some of the curly parts. Its crazy.
It feels like a pregnancy because I can't wait to meet my real texture. lol

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I guess I always assumed that being natural (esp 4a/b) meant that you had to "straighten" your hair with heat in order to style it. Would I be able to wear wash and go's or style without heat?

Oh my gosh of COURSE you can style without heat! There are endless styles but the simplest are braids/braid-outs twists/twist-outs, one of my favorite styles to do on my moms natural hair are comb coils it's a wonderful no heat curly look similar to my straw set on the left of my siggy. In my experience wash and go styles work untill your natural hair gets very long like Past apl closer to BSL then it's harder to just wash and go loose but you can wash n go while having twists in or while wearing pixie braids I was fully wash & go with my pixies. Who knows maybe with the right moisturizer you can do wash and go's with long Afro textured hair with the right products....but you can definitely do some no heat styles as a 4a/b natural no question there are countless women on this board and on YouTube that are a testament to that.

I'm about to do a braidout in my hair and it's gonna give me a nice smooth wavy effect I always allow them to airdry

 

[Aspire]

Oh my gosh of COURSE you can style without heat! There are endless styles but the simplest are braids/braid-outs twists/twist-outs, one of my favorite styles to do on my moms natural hair are comb coils it's a wonderful no heat curly look similar to my straw set on the left of my siggy. In my experience wash and go styles work untill your natural hair gets very long like Past apl closer to BSL then it's harder to just wash and go loose but you can wash n go while having twists in or while wearing pixie braids I was fully wash & go with my pixies. Who knows maybe with the right moisturizer you can do wash and go's with long Afro textured hair with the right products....but you can definitely do some no heat styles as a 4a/b natural no question there are countless women on this board and on YouTube that are a testament to that.

I'm about to do a braidout in my hair and it's gonna give me a nice smooth wavy effect I always allow them to airdry

OK. I am biting. What is a straw set? Do you actually set your hair on drinking straws? I thought the style looked nice and I wondered how you accomplished it.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

Yeppers! Actual drinking straws from Mickey D's and IC Fantasia Olive Green Gel

 

[Aspire]

Yeppers! Actual drinking straws from Mickey D's and IC Fantasia Olive Green Gel

Wow! Love it. I wish I had been that creative when my hair was natural. I only of braids, and that gets old quickly.

 

[ajoyfuljoy]

I have no clue but my mom used to get it straight with a straigtening comb (off the comb) so it must not have been that bad.

I swear, sometimes I am just tempted to do a crazy BC, buy a wig and just let my natural hair grow out so I can get the curiosity over with!

 

[Aspire]

Oh - right the original question. That was the original reason I came in here, but then I got sidetracked.

I do not know what my natural texture looks like. I say that because although my hair was natural for years, it was not well cared for. Between shampoos, petro products, and lack of moisture, my hair was incredibly dry. Since finding LHCF, I am amazed at the difference in my NG and I am tempted to go natural again. I think I might have more options this time. I will figure it out by end of year.

 

[doll-baby]

Based on my pictures from when I was a little girl, and the preview I get from my new growth every couple of months, I think that I have a pretty good idea of what my hair texture is like.

 

[Letta]

I don't really know my texture and I'm natural now. I've been growing my relaxer out for the past year and I'm I'm a little past shoulder length but I really don't know how to explain my texture.

When I read the diff. between 2,3,4, a, b, c, x, y,z I just get confused. I just think I hav a little bit of everything

my dad is nigerian and my mom is black so relaxed or not my hair never looked like any of the girls I know. I come on here and I look at ppl who say they are 3c or 4a or 4b and it makes me even more confused.

oh well. i jus try to go in all threads and take a little of everyone's advice. so far its worked

 

[Wynndie]

No idea. I'm really curious about it too.

 

[~Hair~Fetish~]

Now I'm curious. Maybe I will try a longer relaxer stretch (the longest ever was 12 weeks)... then decide.

 

[~Hair~Fetish~]

I'm 4a/b and my wash and go is in my siggy. I just left some conditioner in it and let it air dry. I have no desire to use heat in my hair. Usually, I keep my hair in twists.

Your hair is very pretty. If I knew for a fact that my natural wash and go would look like yours, I would definitely transition.

 

[BeetleBug]

Your hair is very pretty. If I knew for a fact that my natural wash and go would look like yours, I would definitely transition.

Whatever texture that you have, it would be beautiful. I say that the hardest part about transitioning is transitioning of the mind not the hair. Once you reach that 100% acceptance of your natural texture, you will be fine.

 

[Imani]

I got press and curls for as long as i can remember up until 13 when I was allowed to get a relaxer. the routine was every 2 weeks I'd get my hair washed on Friday night. My grandmother would comb thru my hair with some grease and a regular comb (NOT wide tooth) and plat my hair in braids to dry til the next day to be pressed. It was very tangled and I remember always seeing a ton of hair in the comb as she ripped thru it. I'm absolutely sure i'm in the 4 category. And i always assumed 4b, but readin a thread the other day made me remember that since my hair was always immediately combed thru and greased up after washing their could possibly be coils I didn't know was there, so I could be 4a/b.

I remember liking my hair when it came out the plaits bc it would be real puffy and crinkly. and kinda soft and shiny.

I'm comtemplating growing my relaxer out but I'm pretty sure I will be a natural that straightens.

 

[robot.]

I'm 4a/b and my wash and go is in my siggy. I just left some conditioner in it and let it air dry. I have no desire to use heat in my hair. Usually, I keep my hair in twists.

Wow! Your coils are so big I thought they were twists! Gorgeous!

 

[mstk]

I remember what my natural hair feels and looks like, but it's hard to believe it's been 10 years since I started relaxing.

 

[Carrie A]

I wasn't familiar with my natural texture range until I stopped relaxing and straightening. Like you my hair was pressed before I got a relaxer at 13 and it was washed when I went to the hairdresser. So I never experienced it in it's shrunken state until now.