What do you consider natural hair (in response to another thread)

[Mestiza]

Hair that is 100% chemical free.

I don't consider temporary styling techniques, such as pressing or roller sets, as taking away from being natural because you are not using a chemical to alter the texture of the hair.

ITA and #3 is my choice.

 

[hopeful]

I say #2.
2). Hair with no relaxer/texturizer. Color and presses/flat iron okay

 

[Ayeshia]

No chemicals....its that simple.

 

[UmSumayyah]

I think people may be tying too much emotion to the word "natural". If you've colored it, it isn't natural, plain and simple.
However if the most important thing to you is maintaining your natural TEXTURE, well then. That's all that should matter.
The phrase "napptural" solves that little problem nicely. (Assuming a "4" type and assuming I have the correct understanding of the term "napptural". 2's and 3's can be "wav-tural" and "curl-tural" )

 

[Britfem27]

IMO natural hair refers to an absence of straightening chemicals even if it is flat ironed. I even class dyed hair as "natural" as it is it's natural texture.

 

[Queenie]

Chemical free hair.

 

[firecracker]

I guess no chem's.erplexed I just know the hair on my ain't dyed.

 

[cmw45]

I think people may be tying too much emotion to the word "natural". If you've colored it, it isn't natural, plain and simple.
However if the most important thing to you is maintaining your natural TEXTURE, well then. That's all that should matter.
The phrase "napptural" solves that little problem nicely. (Assuming a "4" type and assuming I have the correct understanding of the term "napptural". 2's and 3's can be "wav-tural" and "curl-tural" )

I agree with this. I think that it is possible to have your "natural texture," but not your "natural" hair color; and vice versa.

 

[plove]

I love texlaxed ladies and texturizers - but we need to quit kidding ourselves.

Natural - means NATURAL - means no chemicals. If you put something that says RELAXER on the box, on your head for even 3.14159 seconds it's a damn CHEMICAL. If the only way to revert back to what you had before, is to let the hair grow out and CUT IT OFF - ITS A DAMN CHEMICAL.

LOL - that's like asking people who smoke and they say "nah I don't smoke...except when I"m drinking wine". "I'm a vegetarian but I eat chicken". "I don't eat red meat....but I like steak".

It's a CHEMICAL. Nothing wrong with like chemicals/relaxers/texturizers/phytospecific (haha)...but call a spade a spade. As for the flat irons and pressings - that's temporary. I'm a natural. I wear my hair naturally 99% of the time. I had to go to a wedding last weekend and I was in the wedding so I flat ironed my hair. Now I'm not natural?!?!? Please. Tell that to my hair two hours later when I was sweating on the dance floor - no evidence of a flat iron in sight.

that happened to me before, by the end of the night i had a lop sided afro.


Almost everything you put in your hair change it in some way, shap or form.

what does hot oil, conditioners, poo poo and everything els you put i your hair do to it. It change it in some way even a simple ponytail changes the appearance of your hair. if you really think about what natural hair is, it's your hair when you wet it with no chemical or products. JMO

 

[ThickHair]

To me natural hair is 100% chemical free. BUT, I do believe that you can have your natural texture and change the color.

 

[getmoore]

I think the term natural should apply to the subject being discussed.
Like this:
My TEXTURE is natural.Not relaxed
My COLOR is naural. Not dyed
My STYLE is not natural. It has been manipulated.( But in that case NOBODY's style is natural unless you dont style your hair or condition or press it or gel it. OK forget this one. )

 

[nefertitiblack]

My hair is 100 percent virgin and natural. To me, natural hair is simply hair that hasn't had it's texture altered with a relaxer. It seems like there are so many divisions, and more being added all the time. The clubs get more and more exclusive. When I finally stop plucking my grays and want to dye them, should I feel bad because I'm not as "natural" as I was? And there is no time I feel more in touch with the natural absolute force of nature my hair is than when I spend two hours with the Maxiglide, only to have my hair laugh at me. And my hair is NEVER chemical free. I always have some sort of man-made conditioner, spray, lotion, gel or activator in it.

I think that we should stop cutting every category and division so finely. I don't see what purpose it serves, except to exclude. I think natural should be for those who want to call themselves natural. How do I know if your hair color altered your hair texture? Maybe you colored your hair with 100 percent natural dye. If someone has a texturizer, truthfully, we might never know it, but we still might be able to get some good tips from her. And the day something like a twist permanently alters my hair texture, I'll eat my satin scarf.

I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole. I've been wearing my hair natural since I was nineteen years old and I'll be thirty-five soon. I've had a couple of brief breaks. And believe me, I was out there by myself when I first started. I am natural because that is what I am, the word natural to me represents freedom. No matter if I dye and fry my hair, I won't let that word be taken from me.

 

[ChocoKitty]

2). Hair with no relaxer/texturizer. Color and presses/flat iron okay

I'm getting a cellophane rinse next month and maybe some permanent color by the end of the year. Plus I flat iron my hair when I want to.
So ....

 

[shiningstar84]

My hair is 100 percent virgin and natural. To me, natural hair is simply hair that hasn't had it's texture altered with a relaxer. It seems like there are so many divisions, and more being added all the time. The clubs get more and more exclusive. When I finally stop plucking my grays and want to dye them, should I feel bad because I'm not as "natural" as I was? And there is no time I feel more in touch with the natural absolute force of nature my hair is than when I spend two hours with the Maxiglide, only to have my hair laugh at me. And my hair is NEVER chemical free. I always have some sort of man-made conditioner, spray, lotion, gel or activator in it.

I think that we should stop cutting every category and division so finely. I don't see what purpose it serves, except to exclude. I think natural should be for those who want to call themselves natural. How do I know if your hair color altered your hair texture? Maybe you colored your hair with 100 percent natural dye. If someone has a texturizer, truthfully, we might never know it, but we still might be able to get some good tips from her. And the day something like a twist permanently alters my hair texture, I'll eat my satin scarf.

I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole. I've been wearing my hair natural since I was nineteen years old and I'll be thirty-five soon. I've had a couple of brief breaks. And believe me, I was out there by myself when I first started. I am natural because that is what I am, the word natural to me represents freedom. No matter if I dye and fry my hair, I won't let that word be taken from me.

ITA with everything you said. For me if you do not put a relaxer or wave nouveau, texturizer, jherri curl into your hair, then you are natural. Case closed.

 

[maleucia]

2). Hair with no relaxer/texturizer. Color and presses/flat iron okay

Sometimes my grays are a bit too "natural" for me. I can see why people would draw the "natural" line on color when an obviously non-caucasian or non-mixed-race person would dye their hair anything lighter than the color they're born with. There was a caucasian woman ranting on Craigslist just this week about Asian women dying their hair blonde (in her words - "trying to be white.") That also goes for when anyone dyes their hair unnatural colors (pink, purple, etc.) But, natural or unnatural, as long as it's healthy and I have alot of it on my head - that's what counts!

 

[Poohbear]

I think the term natural should apply to the subject being discussed.
Like this:
My TEXTURE is natural.Not relaxed
My COLOR is naural. Not dyed
My STYLE is not natural. It has been manipulated.( But in that case NOBODY's style is natural unless you dont style your hair or condition or press it or gel it. OK forget this one. )

I like this post!

I wonder what everyone's take is on style... What is a natural hair style? Here's how I see it... All styles require manipulation, even a wash-n-go... A natural style is a style on natural hair. A relaxed style is a style done on relaxed hair. So I think style shouldn't be considered when discussing what natural hair really is.

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

Color-treated natural hair is still natural, in my opinion. Pressing does not make it any less natural either. Texturized hair is not natural hair.

My thoughts exactly. If you consider yourself natural, you are natura,but like someone else mentioned, don't kid yourself. Chemicals in place that alter hair texture is NOT natural.

 

[peacelove]

I think it depends on what you are talking about. Natural to me means no chemical alteration. You can be talking about texture or color.

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

My hair is 100 percent virgin and natural. To me, natural hair is simply hair that hasn't had it's texture altered with a relaxer. It seems like there are so many divisions, and more being added all the time. The clubs get more and more exclusive. When I finally stop plucking my grays and want to dye them, should I feel bad because I'm not as "natural" as I was? And there is no time I feel more in touch with the natural absolute force of nature my hair is than when I spend two hours with the Maxiglide, only to have my hair laugh at me. And my hair is NEVER chemical free. I always have some sort of man-made conditioner, spray, lotion, gel or activator in it.

I think that we should stop cutting every category and division so finely. I don't see what purpose it serves, except to exclude. I think natural should be for those who want to call themselves natural. How do I know if your hair color altered your hair texture? Maybe you colored your hair with 100 percent natural dye. If someone has a texturizer, truthfully, we might never know it, but we still might be able to get some good tips from her. And the day something like a twist permanently alters my hair texture, I'll eat my satin scarf.

I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole. I've been wearing my hair natural since I was nineteen years old and I'll be thirty-five soon. I've had a couple of brief breaks. And believe me, I was out there by myself when I first started. I am natural because that is what I am, the word natural to me represents freedom. No matter if I dye and fry my hair, I won't let that word be taken from me.

You summed it up very well. Next we will have a debate on the difference between napptural and natural
Can you make this whole statement on another site?

 

[lsw29]

I consider a person to have natural hair when they have no chemical applied to their hair to change its natural texture. I still believe that a person has natural hair even if they press or flat iron their hair because that is a temporary hairstyle.

I kind of have mixed reviews as it relates to color because a chemical is applied to the hair and in some cases it does change the texture of your hair. Basically, I don' know where I stand with color.

 

[missann]

You summed it up very well. Next we will have a debate on the difference between napptural and natural
Can you make this whole statement on another site?

Awww, Bubblin -- I like that site. It gives me a reality check (e.g. why do I sometimes want to straighten my hair, or gel down the edges?)


BTW, I agree with #2, even though I don't press or color.

 

[MizaniMami]

If the use of styling tools make you "unatural" then a lot of "naturals" aren't even natural. For instance, curling aids, that define curls, cones that smooth the cuticle, etc...

I totally disagree with that, but it seems that's how some feel.

 

[hopeful]

Well I'm glad I don't care about what somebody else thinks about my hair. It would be easy to get annoyed otherwise. Imagine being all proud of bc'ing or transitioning for a year or whatever and then have somebody tell you oh you are not reallly natural because you have highlights. LOL WHATEVER. And I'm like this, even if somebody had "lightly" texturized hair and they really wanted to be all like I'm almost or kinda natural, I would still be like you go girl! I'm getting like the people who say it's just hair man, because who really has time for this debate?

 

[MissDiva]

I vote for number 3!!!

 

[locabouthair]

when i think natural hair i think of someone who wears their hair natural hair texture regardless if they color it. if you press flat iron your hair you are not wearing it natural.

 

[gbaby]

I vote for:

4). Hair that does not get pressed/flat ironed, colored, or relaxed

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

Awww, Bubblin -- I like that site. It gives me a reality check (e.g. why do I sometimes want to straighten my hair, or gel down the edges?)


BTW, I agree with #2, even though I don't press or color.

Hey, I like that site,too, but some topics like this one gets on my nerves. I didn't know there were so many 'rules' on deciding who can call themselves what.

 

[Northern_Belle]

If you used chemicals to alter the texture of your hair, then you're not natural. A natural that flat irons or presses is no less natural than someone who doesn't use heat to straighten.

 

[B_Phlyy]

My vote is for number 3.

 

[Dee-Licious]

I guess no chem's.erplexed I just know the hair on my ain't dyed.