Sooo i was told at work that my hair looks unkempt amd i need a line

[Nonie]

I understand what you're saying. I'm thinking the super skinny ones and it's black so it's hardly noticeable. I'm going to check my the place out and see what is acceptable. I don't think they are too strict.

Sent from my S3 using LHCF

Girl, my suggestion is if YOU know it isn't distracting or untidy (doesn't stick out like a sore thumb), wear it and keep your mouth shut. Sometimes we bring up issues where none might have existed if we didn't make a song and dance about it. Don't give them an excuse to create a rule that was not necessary in YOUR case coz you keep things within bounds.

It would be like that person who goes around asking "Are my ears too big for my head?" when really no one would have noticed that s/he resembled a goblin if s/he hadn't pointed out the massive bowls on the sides of the head.

 

[Natty_Virgo]

Girl, my suggestion is if YOU know it isn't distracting or untidy (doesn't stick out like a sore thumb), wear it and keep your mouth shut. Sometimes we bring up issues where none might have existed if we didn't make a song and dance about it. Don't give them an excuse to create a rule that was not necessary in YOUR case coz you keep things within bounds.

It would be like that person who goes around asking "Are my ears too big for my head?" when really no one would have noticed that s/he resembled a goblin if s/he hadn't pointed out the massive bowls on the sides of the head.

Lol yea I wasn't going to ask a damn thing. I was just going to observe and see.

Sent from my S3 using LHCF

 

[SimplyLive]

How in the world are flat twists unprofessional?

 

[MsDee14]

How in the world are flat twists unprofessional?

I honestly don't think any hairstyle "we" do would be classified as unprofessional as long as the hair is neat, clean and not colored pink, blue or whatever.

 

[Lynnerie]

There's nothing wrong with a TWA. I certainly wouldn't cover it up with a wig to appease folks at work. I work in Corporate America as well and my VP at the time, a black woman, would encourage the few younger blacks to straighten our hair. She didn't care if you were natural she just wanted you to press it. Back in 2008 I did the big chop cutting my APL length hair and she had no words for me.

Everyone else liked it. I just made sure that when I used gel, kinky curly or whatever my products were well distributed. No clumps of visible product. I wore those skinny headbands that you can barely see.

I did not have uniform curls but I didn't worry about it. I would take a little gel and twist my hair around my finger.

As it grew out and I could make a puff I would just pull it back. Just rock your TWA, your hair is going to grow fast and the same people talking about your hair may be encouraged to go natural. There was a lady who told me she wanted to be natural but she worried what people would say. She eventually did the BC too.

 

[Nonie]

Lynnerie, not sure what you call uniform, but the pic you posted shows uniform curls and order. Attachment #5 of my post and anything that looks like it--like some twist-outs/braid-out that resemble uncombed hair, with huge holes--are what I was talmbout. Your style looks good to me. Your hair looks picked/combed.

 

[ClassicBeauty]

No one has a problem with a TWA. It's the growing out phase that can often look unkept. A super short natural often looks classy (like the pics on the first page), but as it grows, it can look wild.

 

[Nonie]

No one has a problem with a TWA. It's the growing out phase that can often look unkept. A super short natural often looks classy (like the pics on the first page), but as it grows, it can look wild.

What length are you guys referring to when it cannot be made presentable and has no choice but to look wild?

 

[faithVA]

What length are you guys referring to when it cannot be made presentable and has no choice but to look wild?

Why did you add all of those extra words to her sentence. She said it can look wild, not that it had no choice

My hair would be that length now. Its between 3 and 5 inches. Some days it looks fine but many days it looks wild. Of course it can be tamed. It is just harder at this length. It takes a lot more time to tame it. When my hair is out, it looks wild. The only quick option is a wig.

Like I said, she said it "can look wild".

 

[ClassicBeauty]

What length are you guys referring to when it cannot be made presentable and has no choice but to look wild?

There's always a choice. LOL
It "can" look wild when it's growing out. The length depends on how much shrinkage you have. I can't give a length, I just know it when I see it.

I have really long natural hair, and I don't think my curls/waves look very professional. When I have important meetings, I always pull it back into a low bun. Different work environments require different levels of dress and grooming.

 

[Nonie]

There's always a choice. LOL
It "can" look wild when it's growing out. The length depends on how much shrinkage you have. I can't give a length, I just know it when I see it.

I have really long natural hair, and I don't think my curls/waves look very professional. When I have important meetings, I always pull it back into a low bun. Different work environments require different levels of dress and grooming.

Exactly, there is no length IMO at which folks can't help but have wild hair. I have seen the wild hair of which you speak too, but that is more the stylist's failings than the hair's shortcomings. If a lot of us on the forum traveled that same journey and managed to never sport wild hair to work, then clearly someone needs help styling.

 

[India*32]

Lots of great suggestions!

And I find it odd because, for a while, the only natural ladies that I came across in a professional setting who were high ranking all had TWA. In fact, I used to joke that that was the way I was gonna work up the ladder was by rocking my TWA.

Nowadays, so many of us are going natural that there's more variety.

I would definitely consider the source. Who told you that you look unkempt? Was it a coworker, a superior or HR? I would ask for clarification from a supervisor or HR about what they deemed as maintained hair. GL!

Wow, great progress. I did my bc in May 2009 and stayed natural for six months. (Relaxed) Did a 2nd bc in Jun 2012 and now understand how to deal with MY NATURAL hair.

 

[India*32]

There's nothing wrong with a TWA. I certainly wouldn't cover it up with a wig to appease folks at work. I work in Corporate America as well and my VP at the time, a black woman, would encourage the few younger blacks to straighten our hair. She didn't care if you were natural she just wanted you to press it. Back in 2008 I did the big chop cutting my APL length hair and she had no words for me.

Everyone else liked it. I just made sure that when I used gel, kinky curly or whatever my products were well distributed. No clumps of visible product. I wore those skinny headbands that you can barely see.

I did not have uniform curls but I didn't worry about it. I would take a little gel and twist my hair around my finger.

As it grew out and I could make a puff I would just pull it back. Just rock your TWA, your hair is going to grow fast and the same people talking about your hair may be encouraged to go natural. There was a lady who told me she wanted to be natural but she worried what people would say. She eventually did the BC too.

Cute afro. Headbands give me a headache that's why I do not wear them.

 

[Ms Lala]

When my hair was short I did comb coils and took them out for a more uniform coily look. Also I agree with keeping the back edged up and consider wearing a small headband in the front. I would do a black or brown headband- not a scarf.

 

[Nonie]

Why did you add all of those extra words to her sentence. She said it can look wild, not that it had no choice

I didn't realize you asked me a question since you didn't mention me and I somehow missed your post. C'mon nah! If people keep talmbout a length that is apparently when hair can look unkempt or some transition length that seems unruly, clearly there is some consensus that there is some length along the way that is just outta control. She said there was a growing out phase (previously referred to as transition) when hair can look unkempt and this is at least the second time I am encountering this reference. What am I supposed to conclude: that hair can't help but look unkempt at some arbitrary period along the journey. Why? Coz common sense tells me ALL lengths can look unkempt if not groomed so to make the statement that there is a whole phase when hair can look unkempt, then you must mean it just happens; like folks have no control. Otherwise the statement is pretty redundant since all hair can look unkempt regardless of length. Coz if you have a choice, then why is the word unkempt even coming up? Why would any sane person be letting their hair look unkempt unless it was beyond their control? And that to me = no choice.

My hair would be that length now. Its between 3 and 5 inches. Some days it looks fine but many days it looks wild. Of course it can be tamed. It is just harder at this length. It takes a lot more time to tame it. When my hair is out, it looks wild. The only quick option is a wig.

Like I said, she said it "can look wild".

As I said your last line is kinda redundant unless the point you are making is the one you thought I was exaggerating since all hair can look wild. There is no special length that gets exclusivity in that matter.

And this is what makes no sense to me. I went to boarding school and we were not allowed to braid our hair unless you could get your hair in 3 or less plaits. My hair never grew beyond 4 inches--coz I didn't know better than to comb my hair dry. No one showed up to class with unkempt hair or uncombed hair if loose, and there was no time to be messing with hair in front of a mirror for more than a few minutes coz we had a tight schedule. It took us minutes to shower, get ready for breakfast, do dorm duty and be in class by 9:00 AM. And you have to remember we queued for the shower, queued for breakfast, etc so time was not on our side. So I dunno what y'all are talmbout.

Folks are acting as if hair has a mind of its own. If TWA is a style that worked for you, why not embrace shrinkage and enjoy it longer during your transition. In a previous post, I showed you my SL hair shrunked down to a puff the size of my under 3-inch hair. If instead of doing a WNG that leaves you looking cray cray, you used the slip and moisture of the products you use for your WNG and combed through your hair with a pick or wide-toothcomb, you could then pat it down to whatever shape you want. I keep seeing folks saying that you can cut down back or sides. Not necessary. Pat down more the areas you want short or tie a scarf while you have breakfast kinda like this and you will have your shape. In fact people who CW daily would be able to pull this off so well: comb hair during wash and during rinse, moisturize, comb to style and pat into shape while damp. Voilà!

Honestly I think the problem comes when people try to make their hair do things that are not "normal" to it, or start off wrong. Very straight hair will not make a good afro so if unevenness is the issue, bloody spritz that mane to encourage strands to take their normal circular shapes and pat and you will get the TWA look all over again. Wear a TWA for as long as you need to, get past that so-called transition stage, then rock other dos when you have the length you prefer. Hair is really a breeze when you stop fighting it and work with it.

BTW, in case anyone is gonna suggest that wearing afros and afro puffs daily is why my hair stayed at 4 inches, let me stop you from wasting strokes. My hair stayed that length because I didn't know that 4B hair must be drenched in moisture (aqueous solution) before you pass a comb through it. Since I learned to comb my hair like
this, daily afro puffs are my daily do when wearing my hair out; combed out afro puffs, that is. And I never have tangled hair coz I don't give my hair a chance to tangle by daily combing. My haircare is a breeze because of this.

So yeah, the only pain with having short hair is the many braids before baggying for the night. Styling in the AM takes minutes if you use a pick and aren't trying to make your hair become something it is not. And keeping this regimen means morning styling takes less than 5 minutes, even during the so-called transition length.