I was natural all my life and never had any problems with it until late high school, and was picked at and made fun of b/c of my thick, super curly hair, they would always say things like you would be cute if you got you're hair permed, 1st the girls then some punk *** guys followed suit.(they were all black, non of the white kids ever hassled me)
So I got a relaxer for all the wrong reasons and boy did I pay for it. My hair was healthy very thick but soft, and hairdressers insisted on relaxing it bone straight, it still curled up but it was 1/4 of it's original thickness, I almost always got burned and had sores sometimes. If I ever texturize or relax again it will be because I choose it for me.
I still had to blow dry or flat iron it to get it straight, it still frizzed and got big on humid days, and didn't grow any longer than the length it was. Looking back it really did nothing for me except for a less shrinkage. I workout, swim, run, biking and hiking so I was using heat almost daily to keep that straight look. That's what I have to do now to get a straight look and I spend alot less now. If I hadn't wen through bad haircare, money hungry stylists, etc.. my hair would prob. be WSL+ natural now.
The last straw was that I liked to experiment with color, so I got a lighter base tone and highlights, and that was it, my hair went from below BSL to super short in 6 months. So I went back to natural, started blow drying then braiding to transition then found the boards and the rest is hair-story.