Roll Call: Naturals who have Gone back to Relaxing

Naturals who have gone back to relaxing please chime in and tell your story. How long were you natural for?
Why did you decide to relax again?
How do you feel about your self and/or hair now that you are relaxed again?
Do you think you will ever go back to being natural in the near future?

I was a natural 3b/c for 10 years before relaxing last week!!! :spinning:

I decided to relax again because I was sick of dealing with my hair!!! I :nono: have VERY thick (density not strands) curly/wavy hair that was driving me nuts!!! :boxing:
I always wore my hair either pinned up, or pulled back. I've grown my hair to my waist cut to the middle of my back (I cut off 9 inches this year) and now about bra strap length and now I can wear my hair down without all the flat-roning!

I feel okay, I DON'T miss my curls, but I did the relaxer myself and I'm still very, very curly. I'm basically textured and I DIDN'T WANT TO SEE ANOTHER DANG CURL arrrrhhhh!!!!!:wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash: I'm going to the salon my mother goes to because the lady is uber professional and she has relaxed, thick waist-length hair and so do most of her customers.

Never say never, lol, I said I'd "NEVER" relax after I went natural and look at me now!:rolleyes:
 
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I was once a natural, just rexlaxed in May. And... I am breathing easy. I don't have to worry about detangling and knots. As you can see in my siggy. My hair airdries with shrinkage and I am fine with that cause I still have some elasticity in my hair.

I have never been my hair (and the way my hair looked before, no one will want to be it), going natural was the best thing that happened to my hair, because I literally started all over again. My hair is stonger and not thin like it used to be.

All I ever wanted was healthy hair and I thought the only way I could have that was to be natural, however, hair that was tangled, and always in braids becasue I didn't want to deal with it, did not allow me to enjoy my hair. LHCF has dispelled that myth so I know I can have healthy hair with chemicals. Lots of DC!!!!!

I got the age thing as well, no matter what I do, I still look young, but with natural hair, I looked about 12. (According to my family, I can't have that especially in my man catching years :lachen: ).

I am loving my hair and each time I walk past a mirror, I double take and smile. I think, who knew I could grow this.
 
Bump (yay..I got to write bump)

Is anyone else a natural to texlaxer and want to share their story?

I'm considering texlaxing in a couple of months. I feel somewhat like a loser for not even making it two years as a natural, but I'm getting fed up with my hair. I guess I'm not creative enough for natural hair or maybe I'm lazy..I really only want to wear rollersets and french braids :ohwell:. I don't like twists and braided styles on myself too much, and when I do try these styles, I look like a 12yr old.

I do love my natural hair, but I think it suits me better as a twa or fade..I'm not enjoying my hair so much now that I'm trying to grow it longer. My hair has gotten super thick which is good, but it gets so tangled., not so good. And after seeing some of the texlaxed ladies hair...my minds telling me no, but my body, my bodies telling me yes.:spinning:
 
I was natural for almost 3 years ( i was a month away from my 3 year mark) I had decided to go natural to learn more about my natural texture and to see if i could grow my hair longer than the relaxed shoulder length hair i had been stuck at for a year or two

I dont think I will go back natural for the fact my hair is very thick and that was one reason why i went back to relaxed for the fact detangling too forever and a day.

I love twists but I always did them small because that was more fitting for me.

My goal is to eventually reach MBL. I have lots of texture in my hair that I can still do twists as if I was still natural. I don't think much has really changed except the relaxer has only loosened the texture up a bit even though I am not texlaxed. Oh well. I love my hair as it is.
 
I was natural 3 years. I relaxed last year and I am happy.
For me---going natural was personal and I wasn't making any statements--it was something I wanted to do with my hair.

As seasons change--so did my mind re: what I wanted to do with my hair.
Even when I was natural--I changed it alot----that has always been me.

I still enjoy my hair relaxed and where I am now is growing it out to BSL while relaxed.

I most likely will be natural again in my life---but I don't see it being any time soon.

I agree with AYoung 100%. This was totally me except I was natural twice. The first time I was natural for a year and second time (and more recently)only a few months.

I'm always changing my hair especially during the change of seasons and it was more of a style for me. I probably will go natural again, but just like she said, not any time soon.
 
Naturals who have gone back to relaxing please chime in and tell your story. How long were you natural for? One year. I did it to give my damaged hair a break. After 5 months of gradually transitioning and trimming of relaxed hair, I did the big chop and started back up with a teeny weeny afro to start my journey off fresh.


Why did you decide to relax again? I had too much shrinkage for my liking and after reading Carolyn Gray's book, visiting Cathy Howse's website, and the boards, I was inspired by many healthy relaxed heads.

How do you feel about your self and/or hair now that you are relaxed again? I do not regret relaxing. However, I wish I would have started my fotki back then and documented my "natural" era.

Do you think you will ever go back to being natural in the near future? Maybe once I reach my goal (MBL/WL)...but I doubt it.
 
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How long were you natural for? I was natural and relaxed on and off over the years
Why did you decide to relax again? Wanted effortless styling..Didnt want to use alot of heat for straight styles because i got to the point I wanted my hair straight 80% of the time if not more.

How do you feel about your self and/or hair now that you are relaxed again? Great!:grin: I love it. I can wear my hair how I want without much effort. And if I want texture i'll do braidouts or twist outs.( which reminds me I need to take some pics of various styles and put in my fotki)

Do you think you will ever go back to being natural in the near future?
No not in the near future. This is just so much easier for the styles I like to wear. And my hair is healthy and growing nicely.
 
Wow. I'm glad I read through this thread. I am relaxed, have been since the age of 8. My hair is relaxed, coloured and very damaged right now (my own negligence, I know). It's bra strap length and it's breaking like crazy. I was considering doing a BC and going natural. Everyone has been saying DON'T DO IT!!! But, now I'm thinking that maybe I'll try and nurse my relaxed hair back to health a different way...

I don't know...still thinking this one through...
 
Thanks for your replies ladies. Anyone else?

How long were you natural for?

Natural from 2000 - 2007

Why did you decide to relax again?

Manageability. My hair is extremely thick and I had no idea how to care for natural hair. I was tired of breaking combs and brushes. I was fed up with the amout of time it took to do my hair after washing it. I could do without the headaches and armaches I got after washing my hair (detangling, combing, etc). I am very unskilled with how to do hair (relaxed or straight) and can hardly braid. Paying someone was not an option.

How do you feel about your self and/or hair now that you are relaxed again?

Honestly, I am still struggling with my decision. I am constantly questioning whether or not I made the right decision. Whether or not I should have researched natural hair care more first. Whether I was subconsciously straightened my hair for other reasons. I think I feel more guilt than anything else. I am a strong supporter of keeping things real (hair, nails, breast, no make-up, etc) and I didn't want to feel like a hypocrite by straightening my hair. I thought about relaxing for a very long time before actually doing it. I still have some regrets (not manageability). I know it sounds strange, but it really took a toll on me because it is how I was created and that I should just deal with it.

Do you think you will ever go back to being natural in the near future?

I would like to. My hair was in the healthiest state natural, I just didn't know it. If I knew about this site and some other sites with good natural hair care tips, I probably would have remained natural. Looking back on things, my natural hair wasn't that bad.
 
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I was natural for 2 years. One year heat free and the second started to straighten with heat. What made me relax.? dec 28 to be exact hehe in paris.

humm after finally experimenting with vits and finding out that with proper diet regimen and with the help of vitamins i could not only grow my hair faster, thicker and longer and also extend my growth rate, i just feel i stumbled on a gold mine. the first time i stopped relaxers my hair had thinned.

Growing it without chemicals was amazing cause i came to terms with my previous self, and i did not think my hair 4b thick could grow long never did i wanted to get to waistlength but as soon as my hair reached below armpit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!more than i ever fancied in my entire life i knew i could not handle waistlength natural hair! for me thats a lot of hair and it was such a hurdle to detangle, i started to dread washing it and my favourite styles such braidouts were long and took time. not seeking excuses but now that i know how to handle my hair and make it grow fast, once i reach waistlength who knows if i may return to natural but not longer than armpit i cant handle more. and the vits are no joke nature made super b complex works, vitol works, the rinses everything the secret is sulfur,aminos, vitamins,basically im enjoying my hair now cause it s still thick and manageable but very and incredibly soft i think its also the fact i permed the whole thing and had cultivated my virgin hair with care. its reaalyy soft i enjoy the cut too.

the beauty of hair its just hair and u can go back to it as u please. who would have known me who stumbled on lhcf for a solution to thin air would cut, relax and complain about too thick and long natural hair :lachen::grin::wallbash:lolllllllll

www.fotki.com/ekomba
 
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I hate to admit it but Im one of them. I ended all of my nappiness a few weeks ago and regret it but I kinda dont. There was nothing I could do with either one. At this moment I dont know which is worse. Either have short puffy hair that I cant put in a pony tail, cant braid myself, is too thick for me to try on any given day to style beyond wash and go, and have that dang bed head that can only be rendered by literally washing my hair all over again every freaking morning
OR
have hair that is suppose to be straight but isnt and keeps breaking off the moment I touch it, has a frizzy crispy thin texture even when straightened and barely fit in a ponytail with heaping helps of hair lotion to keep it somewhat down. i also forgot to mention really bad dandruff and a scalp that literally just stinks.

I had to do something because those individual strand knot were killer. They didnt seem that bad until I got my hair presses. It didnt feel as smooth on the ends in this one area with knots and soon the knots where beginning to spread like an epidemic. I didnt really have intentions of being natural for that long. I want to get that famous Miss Jessie's silkener.

Now I know that the silken was just relaxer and conditioner mixed together but I wanted someone with skill and knowledge to do it to my hair. Well I chopped and was about to schedule an appointment and they closed. I thought I could handle it but I felt like I lost my femininity. I looked like a boy or an ugly butch dyke so I covered my head in hats and headwraps. Dont know why but people asked me if I was muslim. I dont think a headwrap should be synonymous to a hijab. And then 8 months or so later I transfered to a predominately white college and no longer wanted to look like an ambassador for the black race after having a 4 year old mixed kid tell me that he cant like black girl cuz his white mama told him that they were ******s like his dad.

Im not ashamed of being black and plus there is no way around it cuz I definitely look it. I just wanted to look normal and maybe a little pretty. But no, I look like s**t. I look like one of those typical bald head girls walking around with ear length damaged hair. I hate to use nice hair accessories to keep this hair against my head because that might give the impression that I actually think this mess looks cute. It looks gross I tell you and I would hate for anybody to actually think that in my right mind I think that this so called hair on my head is pretty.

All I can say is that at least I can install a sew-in weave that looks nice while I grow it back out. That is if I can find a stylist who knows what they are doing because from my experience most dont. Then when it gets to about shoulder length or maybe longer I'll get a keratin brazilian treatment and maintain those or maybe even get them in the near future.
 
Wow. I'm glad I read through this thread. I am relaxed, have been since the age of 8. My hair is relaxed, coloured and very damaged right now (my own negligence, I know). It's bra strap length and it's breaking like crazy. I was considering doing a BC and going natural. Everyone has been saying DON'T DO IT!!! But, now I'm thinking that maybe I'll try and nurse my relaxed hair back to health a different way...

I don't know...still thinking this one through...
Trust it can me done :yep:I nurse my damaged hair back to health from being over processed and multiple dye jobs without choppin it off. I have the sad hair pics in my fotki that shows my breaking damaged hair a year ago.
 
This is a great thread!
I am currently natural, but I have relaxed and bc'd so many times over the past 6 or 7 years it ain't even funny. I had different reasons each time. I really get bored with my hair easily and like to switch it up. If I'm not relaxing natural hair... I'm cutting bsl relaxed hair into a pixie!!! I luv changing up my looks and I feel I should never have to explain that to folks. With that being said... don't be surprised if I fail that challenge below :lol:
 
I was natural for 2 years. One year heat free and the second started to straighten with heat. What made me relax.? dec 28 to be exact hehe in paris.

humm after finally experimenting with vits and finding out that with proper diet regimen and with the help of vitamins i could not only grow my hair faster, thicker and longer and also extend my growth rate, i just feel i stumbled on a gold mine. the first time i stopped relaxers my hair had thinned.

Growing it without chemicals was amazing cause i came to terms with my previous self, and i did not think my hair 4b thick could grow long never did i wanted to get to waistlength but as soon as my hair reached below armpit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!more than i ever fancied in my entire life i knew i could not handle waistlength natural hair! for me thats a lot of hair and it was such a hurdle to detangle, i started to dread washing it and my favourite styles such braidouts were long and took time. not seeking excuses but now that i know how to handle my hair and make it grow fast, once i reach waistlength who knows if i may return to natural but not longer than armpit i cant handle more. and the vits are no joke nature made super b complex works, vitol works, the rinses everything the secret is sulfur,aminos, vitamins,basically im enjoying my hair now cause it s still thick and manageable but very and incredibly soft i think its also the fact i permed the whole thing and had cultivated my virgin hair with care. its reaalyy soft i enjoy the cut too.

the beauty of hair its just hair and u can go back to it as u please. who would have known me who stumbled on lhcf for a solution to thin air would cut, relax and complain about too thick and long natural hair :lachen::grin::wallbash:lolllllllll

www.fotki.com/ekomba
Wow...how ironic..isn't it? :grin:
 
i transitioned to natural 06-07, in 07 i relaxed again.

i loved being natural but it was soooo much work. i lasted for about a year and a half then....

i decided to texturize 1st but i hated the results so i told my stylist go full relaxer and it was bone straight i hated both....

so now i'm transitioning again since nov 07 and i will never go back to creamy crack!

LOL :lachen:
 
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