Relaxed Vs. Natural Question

[MissPriss08]

Hello Ladies! I hope all is well with everyone.I am currently 6 months into my transition to natural. I am have been keeping my hair straight by the use of heat. So far it has been okay except when I attempt to wash my own hair--- that is another story. My question is --> If I plan to wear my hair straight 99% of the time should I just remain relaxed?I ask this because I personally do not like to use too much heat but now that I am transitioning I have to use heat every 2 weeks just to maintain a straight look. So my heat usage has about tripled during this last 6 months. Is the extra heat worth it?

 

[glamazon386]

Hello Ladies! I hope all is well with everyone.I am currently 6 months into my transition to natural. I am have been keeping my hair straight by the use of heat. So far it has been okay except when I attempt to wash my own hair--- that is another story. My question is --> If I plan to wear my hair straight 99% of the time should I just remain relaxed?I ask this because I personally do not like to use too much heat but now that I am transitioning I have to use heat every 2 weeks just to maintain a straight look. So my heat usage has about tripled during this last 6 months. Is the extra heat worth it?

IMO, I would say no it's not worth it. If you're going to wear it straight 99% of the time all the heat being used to straighten it would be a waste. It would be a waste of time and energy if you could just wash blowdry and be on your way. And could damage your hair in the process. I went natural because I never wore my hair straight (amongst other reasons). I have a straight weave now (first one in over a year) and it's driving me crazy. I'm just not feeling the straight look anymore.

 

[thefineprint]

I agree that going natural may not be in your best interest. i couldn't imagine constantly trying to battle with my coily hair to keep it straight. also - think about battling reversion in the summer! no fun! have you considered texlaxing or texturizing? perhaps one of those styles will give you the flexibility of not being completely relaxed. natural hair can be stubborn and fighting with it may just make you unhappy.

 

[LocksOfLuV]

I agree that going natural may not be in your best interest. i couldn't imagine constantly trying to battle with my coily hair to keep it straight. also - think about battling reversion in the summer! no fun! have you considered texlaxing or texturizing? perhaps one of those styles will give you the flexibility of not being completely relaxed. natural hair can be stubborn and fighting with it may just make you unhappy.

that's what i was going to say. i would consider being texlaxed. that way you can be relaxed but you can rollerset and flat iron to get the bone straight look.

 

[Qetesh]

i agree with the posters, i also want to note that depending on your hair type it may not be a horrible idea to be natural and flat iron. i guess if your hair has more body if natural than it would if u relaxed it, also if it were managable in the summer months ext not as prone to frizz.

 

[navsegda]

Cosigning with everyone else. If you plan on wearing your hair straight most of the time, stay relaxed. But if you ever decide you prefer not to wear your hair straight 99% of the time, go natural.

 

[MissPriss08]

Thank you so much for responding ladies!

 

[Crackers Phinn]

MP, Just curious though, what were you hoping to accomplish by going natural? Were you having issues using perm that you thought you wouldn't have by using heat?

 

[Peachtree]

I pretty much agree with the other ladies...

just wanted to add, be careful with the heat usage (while ur deciding whether to go natural)... because *if u do go natural*, that same new growth that ur pressing out will eventually become ur natural "ends".

My point being... u don't want to damage the "new growth"... u don't want to end up with a head full of "damaged" natural hair...just something to think about.

I hope that u find the best answer for ur hair needs.

 

[snoopy1me]

I disagree with everyone. I'm pretty much like the originaly poster. I'm transistioning to natural from texlaxed, even though at this time I like wearing my hair straight. I don't know about the OP's reasons, but I was just really tired of putting chemicals on my head. I know people that have been natural but straightened their hair regularly and have had healthy hair. I think the key is to protect your hair, and try to do it as infrequently as possible, maybe weekly or something like that. Also maybe you could let your hair semi "airdry" by sectioning it and tying out the parts to stretch it. That way u could minimize blowdryer heat and just use the flat iron or whatever.

During the summer, you could always just wear braids or something. I'm sure their are many other women who do the same; maybe they just aren't replying or aren't on this board.

Also as your hair continues to grow, and time passes, you may find other curly/natural styles that you like or work for you.

 

[dicapr]

I just want to say you can go natural and press every two weeks and still have healthy hair if you are careful with your ends. I had APL pressed hair from 12 to 16. The ends were only pressed straight on special occassions. So the last 1/4 inch of hair was only lightly pressed. I wore my hair up most days, so not having bone straight ends didn't matter. I was protective styling and didn't even know it . My hair was thicker and stronger than it ever was relaxed. The constant heat will loosen your curl/kink pattern, but if you want to wear your hair straight it doesn't really matter. Keep transitioning if your main goal is to be chemical free.

 

[ajargon02]

well really this is a choice that you are gonna have to make on your own. If you aren't really trying to work w/ your texture w/ out using heat maybe going natural isn't for you right now, and that's ok. it takes time to go there you know. not that you can't straighten your hair as a natural, but many of us are trying to learn how to work w/ our hair w/out the use of heat. For me, I am natural b/c first of all w/ a perm the dmg for me is just too much, and I don't know what to do w/ straight hair/how to style it or anything. Plus my natural journey is about self acceptance. I know that it's not the reason for every natural, but accepting the hair that I was given, learning about it, helps me to fully accept me. Good luck no matter what you do. I think that you should think more about both options, and don't let others sway your opinion. This is a choice that only you can make

 

[chocolate01]

If your main goal is to be chemical free then you should keep transitioning, not everyone goes natural because they want to wear twists and puffs. On the other hand if you are really concerned about heat then you may want to re-think. I have been straighten my hair evey two weeks since the weather cooled down, my hair is fine and I don't have a problem using heat. At the end of the day it's your decision.