My Naturals holla

[AgapeQueen]

I believe it is my true nature to be natural...I afraid because i wear my hair straight most of the time but perms are killing my hair...how do i make this transition and train my hair to be straight w/o chemicals...I need to do this in order to have hair in the next five years...lol

 

[JustKiya]

I don't think you can 'train' your hair to be straight, really - you can do various things that might 'loosen' your curl, but it's still gonna be kinky........maybe I'm not understanding your question fully??

 

[Nonie]

I don't think you can "train your hair to be straight" without chemicals. You can press/flat iron your hair when you want to wear it straight, but it will revert to its natural texture when moisture gets into it. Unless you burn it/damage it till it can no longer revert--which is not a good idea.

You can get weaves or wigs when you want to sport straight hair. Or wear braids using human hair that you can curl and style as you would relaxed hair--hoping the extensions are long enough for you not to be applying the heat to your own hair.

There are several threads on how to transition w/o the big chop. Do a search and adopt one. I transitioned in braids, trimming a little every time I redid a braid.

 

[AgapeQueen]

my natural hair texture is kinda soft..i would say i'm a 4a and 4b mixed...but when i have no perm i can flat iorn my hair and it would be straight, but when i sweat it turns into a lil fro...so i was wondering if i fat iorned it enough would it learn to be straight?

 

[JustKiya]

Ahhh, no.

If you flat ironed your hair enough that it would STAY straight, you would have ear-length hair, because it would be breaking off from all of the heat damage.

I think you can use various protectants, etc, to keep your hair from reverting when you press it - but I don't know what they are - there is a REALLY good thread around here about pressing tips for naturals, I think....

 

[glam-]

Ahhh, no.

If you flat ironed your hair enough that it would STAY straight, you would have ear-length hair, because it would be breaking off from all of the heat damage.

I think you can use various protectants, etc, to keep your hair from reverting when you press it - but I don't know what they are - there is a REALLY good thread around here about pressing tips for naturals, I think....

Agreed-- natural hair in good condition will revert once its wet. You wouldn't want to press your hair so much that it would stay straight

 

[PinkSkates]

Healthy, natural hair should always completely revert back to its "natural" kinky, curly, nappy, coily...(whatever your hair type is) state when it comes in contact with water. If it does not completely revert to its natural state, then you have heat-damaged hair, usually the ends, since they are the oldest and most vunerable part of the hair strand.
There is no such thing as "training" natural hair to stay straight. As soon as my hair comes in contact with water it reverts back to its nappy, shruken state and I'm so glad!

 

[glamazon386]

my natural hair texture is kinda soft..i would say i'm a 4a and 4b mixed...but when i have no perm i can flat iorn my hair and it would be straight, but when i sweat it turns into a lil fro...so i was wondering if i fat iorned it enough would it learn to be straight?

That would be burning your hair straight. You'd be damaging it on purpose.

 

[berry87]

ITA

That would be burning your hair straight. You'd be damaging it on purpose.

 

[nappity]

I don't know if you are quite ready to be fully natural- why dont you try texlaxing?

 

[nakialovesshoes]

As a victim of heat damage, I definitely agree w/what these ladies said. When I was transitioning I was going to the Dominicans for blow-outs. I knew nothing about LHCF then & never knew that you could permanently straighten natural hair simply w/heat. Now I have these straight ends that are heat damaged that I'm eventually going to have to cut. If you want permanently straight hair or close to it, I agree - maybe you should consider texlaxing.

 

[hopeful]

You might be pleasantly surprised at how pretty you will look with your hair in it's natural state.

 

[tinkat]

I don't think you can "train your hair to be straight" without chemicals. You can press/flat iron your hair when you want to wear it straight, but it will revert to its natural texture when moisture gets into it. Unless you burn it/damage it till it can no longer revert--which is not a good idea.

You can get weaves or wigs when you want to sport straight hair. Or wear braids using human hair that you can curl and style as you would relaxed hair--hoping the extensions are long enough for you not to be applying the heat to your own hair.

There are several threads on how to transition w/o the big chop. Do a search and adopt one. I transitioned in braids, trimming a little every time I redid a braid.

Like everyone said, you can't train your hair to be straight...When I want to wear my hair straight, I get a weave.

 

[discodumpling]

Maybe not completely straight but I believe that through hormone therapy and certain drugs YES your hair can be trained to be somewhat straighter. Scientists at the Loreal Institute for Hair have done the research and continue to research exactly what can change the shape of a hair follicle so it produces a curly hair as opposed to a str8 one & vice versa.

It's been proven that interferon alpha, a drug typically given to AIDS patients straightens Afro-textured hair.

I'm not sure because i'm only one yr into this hair journey, but I believe certain products & vitamins that WE use here are doing this already.

Just my

 

[LunadeMiel]

I don't know if you are quite ready to be fully natural- why dont you try texlaxing?

Yup.....