(lil long) Trust Your Hair......

[Jhunt-smith]

Soooo.......
Its been a minute since I've posted on here. I just wanted to make a quick comment to the vets and the newbies. I used to be on here day and night, reading religiously. There is a stigma about flat ironing and relaxing on here and I wanted to say dont believe the hypes. I went 2 weeks without flat ironing. I oiled my scalp, put shea butter on my hair, and wrapped it for the FULL day EVERYDAY (for two weeks!). And I will say that either my hair reverted to natural for those 2 weeks (doubt it ) OR my hair just became a hot mess. Now when I say hot mess.... I want yall to think of the NAPPIEST your hair has EVER been, and that was my hair . Okay, so after finals I flat ironed with a little biosilk and the chase-the-comb method and OMG! my hair was amazingly soft and silky straight. It was split end free (when i brushed it while it was nappy..... ugghhhh ALL breakage!) and there were no problems. it was beautiful. well a little poofy because i need a relaxer in the worst way. which brings me to my next point. my hair is 100 times healthier and sexier post relaxers.
so my point is, this forum has an amazing amount of wonderful knowledge and beautiful ladies with beautiful hair, BUT always LISTEN TO YOUR
HAIR!! no matter what, youre hair will tell you what it needs and what it likes.
also (sidenote):: henna... raw shea butter... and AVJ are THE TRUTH!

 

[LivingDol1]

totally agree. to each their own when it comes to hair. i've learned a ton of great things on here and certain things haven't worked for me but other things have.

 

[Rainbow Dash]

You made a great point. Like the saying goes, "what works for one may not work for the other."

 

[IDareT'sHair]

You are right. You have to Use Common Sense and Listen to your Hair. It will definitely tell you what it Needs.

Balance is Key. And Everything isn't for Everyone. Every Product isn't for everybody, Every Technique, and Every Regimen.

I think we all (or most of us, anyway) Get That.

Also, sometimes your Head/Hair just needs to just Rest. And it sounds like that is what you did. You gave it a Rest and it Rewarded you Greatly.


Finding what works for you. Learning what works for you. That's why we're here. At least, I hope that's why we're here.

 

[RadiantBeauty]

Soooo.......
Its been a minute since I've posted on here. I just wanted to make a quick comment to the vets and the newbies. I used to be on here day and night, reading religiously. There is a stigma about flat ironing and relaxing on here and I wanted to say dont believe the hypes. I went 2 weeks without flat ironing. I oiled my scalp, put shea butter on my hair, and wrapped it for the FULL day EVERYDAY (for two weeks!). And I will say that either my hair reverted to natural for those 2 weeks (doubt it ) OR my hair just became a hot mess. Now when I say hot mess.... I want yall to think of the NAPPIEST your hair has EVER been, and that was my hair . Okay, so after finals I flat ironed with a little biosilk and the chase-the-comb method and OMG! my hair was amazingly soft and silky straight. It was split end free (when i brushed it while it was nappy..... ugghhhh ALL breakage!) and there were no problems. it was beautiful. well a little poofy because i need a relaxer in the worst way. which brings me to my next point. my hair is 100 times healthier and sexier post relaxers.
so my point is, this forum has an amazing amount of wonderful knowledge and beautiful ladies with beautiful hair, BUT always LISTEN TO YOUR
HAIR!! no matter what, youre hair will tell you what it needs and what it likes.
also (sidenote):: henna... raw shea butter... and AVJ are THE TRUTH!

I TOTALLY AGREE!

 

[Finally Free]

You made a great point. Like the saying goes, "what works for one may not work for the other."

DITTO!!!!!!

 

[vkb247]

ITA agree with your post as far as doing what works for you but I won't be surprised if you receive some negative reactions because of how you stated it.

I don't understand how wrapping your hair would have made your hair "nappy."
Maybe your hair was split end free because you didn't use any heat for two weeks and left your hair alone.
Brushing your hair while it is curly/kinky requires different skills than brushing straight hair so perhaps this is why you had breakage.
While you may prefer the look and feel of your relaxed hair I doubt that it is healthier than your hair without a relaxer. You may just be more skilled with dealing with relaxed hair and so it is easier for you to prevent damage when your hair is relaxed.

We all have our preferences but the facts are the facts. Heat and chemicals can be extremely damaging to hair and most folks need to have as much knowledge about them as possible to use these tools while still maintaining the health of your hair. HHG

BTW: Nappy/Natural hair does not equal "hot mess." <Insert Marcus Garvey quote here>

 

[Kacie]

A flat iron does not stop breakage, split ends, or make your hair healthier. You stated that your hair is healthier post relaxer, but honestly I don't think that is the case. It's a temporary high.

You didn't trust your hair for two weeks you were wrapping and using the heavy moisturizers and it sounds as if that was the problem if you ask me .

 

[Jhunt-smith]

i guess i didnt say what i was trying to say clearly. i never meant to call kinky/curly hair "nappy" or a hot mess. i meant MY hair was a hot mess. not because it was tangled, but because it just didnt behave. the ends were nasty, my new growth was unruly, and it stayed dry. ive had natural hair before, i transitioned for a little while, and now im relaxed, so ive dealt with my hair in all phases. and i know (for MY hair) that relaxing is the best bet. ive also given my hair a 1 month break before and it grew like a weed but was constantly dry and constantly breaking (while using a ide tooth comb and NO brush). I still do have breakage with a relaxer, but thats also because I use combs and brushes and constantly doing more to it. i know this issue of relaxing vs natural will never be a settled arguement except that we agree to disagree. i know for a fact how my hair feels post-relaxer and comm-dye and post-henna and post-DC and all of that. so as far as my own hair, relaxing is better for me. but the point was to tell everyone (mostly new folks) that this forum has wonderful information, but nobody is the same and everyone's hair will react differently to different things. When I first came to the site, i dove head first into everything anybody said because they had BSL hair or it had "swang," but some of the things i did, my hair hated, some it loved, and some i saw no change. and when there was no or little reaction i began to get discouraged because i wanted to know why my hair wasnt like hers.
but i never meant any disrespect to those who have natural hair. i just wanted to say trust your own hair.

 

[Jhunt-smith]

ITA agree with your post as far as doing what works for you but I won't be surprised if you receive some negative reactions because of how you stated it.

I don't understand how wrapping your hair would have made your hair "nappy."
Maybe your hair was split end free because you didn't use any heat for two weeks and left your hair alone.
Brushing your hair while it is curly/kinky requires different skills than brushing straight hair so perhaps this is why you had breakage.
While you may prefer the look and feel of your relaxed hair I doubt that it is healthier than your hair without a relaxer. You may just be more skilled with dealing with relaxed hair and so it is easier for you to prevent damage when your hair is relaxed.

We all have our preferences but the facts are the facts. Heat and chemicals can be extremely damaging to hair and most folks need to have as much knowledge about them as possible to use these tools while still maintaining the health of your hair. HHG

BTW: Nappy/Natural hair does not equal "hot mess." <Insert Marcus Garvey quote here>

my new growth was "nappy". meaning more tangled than normal. and i was oiling my scalp more than normal (which usually gives me a little more slip). but ive also noticed that my natural texture is changing since. so that could be a factor, but every single day after i took off my wrap, my hair was unruly. ive wrapped my hair countless times before, but this time my hair was a mess.