Naturals who would relax again

[BEAUTYU2U]

I voted "I'm not sure."

The only reason I would relax again is if I got past a certain length and natural hair was too much to handle (No, I wouldn't just cut it - lol) But on the other hand, I would want to stay natural to prove that natural 4a hair could grow as long as anyone else's.

 

[classychic1908]

I can safely say that I would never relax my hair again. The thought of putting a caustic chemical anywhere near my body makes me extremely uncomfortable. Plus I love my hair and I love being natural!!!! So never, no way, no how.

 

[jamaica68]

I've been natural for 5 years and still wish I had done it sooner. No plans to go back to relaxed hair, I love my natural hair!!!

 

[Southern Belle]

I'll be REAL honest. I think about it. A lot.

But I think it's more because I still have a TWA. (At least that's what I tell myself, anyway...) Right now, this short hair is not the business, but I feel like if I can just hang in there until it grows out a little, my satisfaction with my natural hair will increase.

I hope that's the case because I'm putting all my eggs in this one basket...

 

[yods]

/\ Yeah same here, I think about it a lot but I have made a commitment to myself to stay natural for 2 years, i.e. one more year to go. I think I am at that crappy in between stage of not being a twa but not long enough to do much with.

I think that short hair relaxed or natural sometimes needs more effort to look right than longer hair as you can't just throw it into a bun and call it a day. When I was relaxed with short hair I had to use heat nearly every day. I can't wait till the days when I can wet bun, etc but yeah never say never on the relaxer front.

 

[Imani]

I'm transitioning, almost all natural now. My hair is too fragile (4b and thin strands) and my scalp too sensitive for me to see myself relaxing again.

My hair just was not thriving as a relaxed head. And I don't think there is anything I could do to make it work. I know this , for one, bc I've tried everything under the sun since being on this board for the past few years to make my relaxed hair work.

If I want to wear my hair straight, which I currently do 99% of the time, my hair holds a flat iron job very well, so I really don't see a reason to relax.

 

[Eluv]

Yes and I already did. I was Natural for 3yrs and recently texlaxed 2/9/10. The crazy part about it is, since texlaxing I've yet to wear my hair straight. I still have natural hair tendencies without the 50% shrinkage and SSK and I’m 4 months post and loving it.

 

[Chrissmiss]

I have nothing agaisnt relaxers... obviously. But I can't understand when people say that natural hair is not for them. It doesn't make any sense to me. Nor do I understand when people try to compare the two. Natrual hair is better because it's natrual. It's almost like relaxing is somehow a "natural" part of being a black women (with kinky hair)? What if relaxers did not exsist? Relaxing is a styling option. Natural hair is for everyone you just have to learn to deal with it. But if you perfer a certain style and relaxing agree's with your hair then go ahead and do it.

 

[Southern Belle]

I have nothing agaisnt relaxers... obviously. But I can't understand when people say that natural hair is not for them. It doesn't make any sense to me. Nor do I understand when people try to compare the two. Natrual hair is better because it's natrual. It's almost like relaxing is somehow a "natural" part of being a black women (with kinky hair)? What if relaxers did not exsist? Relaxing is a styling option. Natural hair is for everyone you just have to learn to deal with it. But if you perfer a certain style and relaxing agree's with your hair then go ahead and do it.

I felt the same way you did....... Until I had to walk the talk.

When you're transitioning, having relaxed ends pretty much keeps everything "under control" (for the most part). Yes, your hair still kinks and coils, but the ENDS can't curl, loop, and tie themselves in a knot because the relaxed ends are straight.

When I BC'd, I found myself with a whole new head of hair.

When you go from 20 years of being able to take a comb and glide it through your hair from root to tip, to not being able to get the same comb through your hair AT ALL, it can come as quite a shock.

Once the newness wears off, you find yourself with a whole head of hair that is foreign to you. It takes TIME and ENERGY to learn how to care for it. Not to mention, you'll spend at least SOME period of time looking a HAM.

To some, all that combined simply isn't worth it. Not saying I agree, but I definitely understand.

You look like you're still early in your transition. Stick around...

 

[SignatureBeauty]

Never Mind******

 

[aprilbiz]

I really was a staunch natural when I first BC'd, but now... I'm staring at a box of relaxer like it's something good to eat. I am really close to relaxing because hair care is really taking up too much time in my life.

My hair is growing in very unevenly so it's not like I can even enjoy a cute twist out or fro without cutting all my length in the back to match the shorter parts in the middle of my head. The middle back section of my hair is 3 inches shorter than all the rest. I've tried to flat iron and press it (albeit with a cheap hot electric hot comb) with terrible results.

Long story short, I would prefer to stay natural, but I like the convenience (but not the damage) of relaxed hair.

 

[SignatureBeauty]

LMAO@ Aprilbiz- looking at it like it is something to eat!!

Well just today I saw a Tutorial on How to Crochet your own hair and I was so amazed at how easy it is, if I would have found this last month I would have never texturized, I texturized because I was tired of the Twa hairstyle for so long and wanted change, wigs is too hot, braids cost too much, my hair is too short for twist to look decent.

But I am so excited to try them this week, Thank goodness I only have 2 inches of hair LOL!!

 

[katblack]

For me I only relaxed my hair to get away from the caustic chemicals used to straighten it. I have really no intentions of going back, unless they come up with a temporary, natural, non-caustic and organic relaxer that I could wear for a month or so then and only then would I consider it!

 

[tHENATuRALhAiRpRoJEcT]

NAAAH SHAWTY

 

[vainღ♥♡jane]

i'd consider it if it got in the way; for example, my bun being too big for regulations. but to be honest, i'd just cut it to a length that won't make my bun huge so i can keep it natural. ♥

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I'm just glad that we have choices. I know if I relax and transition again, I will never BC to short natural hair. I just enjoy both choices.

 

[Bublin]

I'm just glad that we have choices. I know if I relax and transition again, I will never BC to short natural hair. I just enjoy both choices.

I agree DD. I shaved my hair off completely and it was fine very short but when it started growing that's when the problems started for me....styling was time consuming and looked awful on me. That is why i relaxed.

This time round i'm being very patient and it is paying off. When i do BC i want my hair to be able to go into a pony at least.

It IS all about choices and if you do relax it is absolutely not a failure. What's more important is you being happy and besides, hair grows and you can transition again like I am.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I agree DD. I shaved my hair off completely and it was fine very short but when it started growing that's when the problems started for me....styling was time consuming and looked awful on me. That is why i relaxed.

This time round i'm being very patient and it is paying off. When i do BC i want my hair to be able to go into a pony at least.

It IS all about choices and if you do relax it is absolutely not a failure. What's more important is you being happy and besides, hair grows and you can transition again like I am.

It's great to know someone understands where I'm coming from!

 

[ycj1]

I felt the same way you did....... Until I had to walk the talk.

When you're transitioning, having relaxed ends pretty much keeps everything "under control" (for the most part). Yes, your hair still kinks and coils, but the ENDS can't curl, loop, and tie themselves in a knot because the relaxed ends are straight.

When I BC'd, I found myself with a whole new head of hair.

When you go from 20 years of being able to take a comb and glide it through your hair from root to tip, to not being able to get the same comb through your hair AT ALL, it can come as quite a shock.

Once the newness wears off, you find yourself with a whole head of hair that is foreign to you. It takes TIME and ENERGY to learn how to care for it. Not to mention, you'll spend at least SOME period of time looking a HAM.

To some, all that combined simply isn't worth it. Not saying I agree, but I definitely understand.

You look like you're still early in your transition. Stick around...

Although I am not completely natural and still transitioning 16 months and 2 weeks so far I really don't miss the relaxed hair.

For me I am a 3c/4a type and my hair just would not cooperate with relaxers or texlax for my head of hair. I do understand yr point regarding being use to gliding the comb through one's hair w/out the knots/kinks/and tangles that comes with being natural.

But for me I really do not miss it at all. I will admit at first when I did my bc in 08 with less than a half inch of hair on my head I could not wait til it grew out more. But once it did I did get the knots. But it also felt so good to me combing out my natural hair with the kinks/knots and tangles. I felt liberated!

I know that may sound strange to some but I welcomed my kinky hair. I enjoyed combing it without being too gentle as I was with my relaxed head. It felt good to get to the point of growth where I could braid it at the end without it unraveling bc it was too straight fm a relaxer.

Also, I love big hair and for me to have big hair I knew the only way for me to achieve it was to go natural. At least for me I am speaking!

And yes I will admit after a couple of months of my bc I thought about relaxing again. Everytime I went to the store and saw a relaxer it was like I had a craving to buy it and rush home to put it in. But what stopped me was thinking I did not do this d*** bc just to apply the same chemicals that damaged my hair in the first place.

I had to talk to myself and reason myself into not repeating the same error! I knew I had to be strong and have patience in my natural journey if I wanted positive au naturale results. But alas I did slip a bit and added the scurl for 5 freaking min and now here I am transitioning again.

If I were to stay at this rate, I will never achieve my desired length. That's why I am determined this time to stick with this until my hair grows to BSB. I will not look back!

I also think about the damage over time the chemicals does cause and think why? So I know I can honestly say with confidence that I am 99.9% sure I will never relax/texlax again.