What Was Your Deciding Factor in Going Natural?

i have a story similar to yours; I have been relaxing my hair since I was a child---had some damage in 1999 wearing too many New Orleans finger waves and sista curls and spent 2000-2002 growing my hair to a shoulder length layered bob in college under the wonderful stylist Ms Tequila at Elements in New Orleans using regular trims and kera products and Affirm relaxers.

I was so proud of this until my mom showed me a pic of my hair when I was 7 receiving a PCJ mild relaxer and my hair was APL length. My hair has actually been getting shroter since the moment it was relaxed.----wake up call #1.

I went through dental school having times of health and then breakage after I dyed my hair dark brown (it was about a #2 shade). My last year of dental school, I cut my hair into a super short pixie cut (still relaxing).
I tried to grow it out several time but reverted back to the cut because my hair was growing out but thin. --- Wake up call #2

I finally decided to take the plunge and go natural so that I can first gain fullness and then length so choosing to start out with kinky twist extensions (trimming off my relaxer every 8 weeks b/c I dont want to do the big chop) and then going to cornrows and sew ins (keeping the sewins in for 2 months at a time). I let go of all the lanolin-based oil sheens and sodium laureate shampoos and bought premium shampoos and water-based moisturizes. I decided that if I wanted different results, I needed a different strategy so pray for me through this process as I will for everyone else.

When I reach my goal of shoulder length hair in 12 months, I will then challenge myself to APL length in 2 years.:yep:
 
The breakage. Tired of the breakage. After wearing braids & weaves for several years (and not even knowing how to properly take care of my hair) my hair grew to almost apl. I decided to relax (didn't know how to take care of my ahir) and it broke of so much (my own fault). Even now, with care, good dc's, moisture- my ends are still breaking (not nearly as bad as before) but I cannot retain b/c of the relaxed ends not cooperating.
 
1. Realizing that I didn't have to relax my hair to get it straight.

2. Change, Something new

3. Wondering what my natural hair was like :)
 
I was NEVER good with relaxed hair. I almost always cut it into a supershort cut, or it was breaking and dry.

Then I noticed I would be fascinated w/my new growth when I took out my cornrows a few years back.

In June I was getting ready for my next relaxer, and I realized I had no urge to go do that. I didn't feel like planning my weekends around my salon visits (which never ran on time), or having to be nervous about getting wet at pool parties.

I BC'd about 2 months ago and I don't have any of it figured out yet. But the way I see it, after 20 years I didn't have that relaxed hair figured out so...
 
Well I'm not fully natural yet. But the reason why I'm going natural is because I'm tired of all the CHEMICALS. And coming out underprocessed made me OVERprocess my hair with corrective relaxing. I just want to grow m hair without worrying about stretching relaxers and things like that. I am scared...because I feel like I'm not going to know what to do with my hair once I'm all natural...I want my hair to be manageable. And dealing with the shrinkage...But I know I'll make it through all this and embrace my hair because it will always be a part of me--so i might as well love it!!!! Lol. :yep:
 
I decided to become natural after watching my sister go through the process.
I was tired of not seeing any progress with my hair when I had a perm in it.
It is amazing how much I have learned about my hair since becoming natural in 2003.
I love it. I didn't know I could do some many things with it in this stage. But it is the healthiest it has ever been since becoming natural.
 
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Re: LONG/RELAXED vs. LONG/NATURAL

This is the thread that made me transition to natural! :yawn: The other one is, "How long til your journey ends?" :spinning:

I'm currently 17 weeks post. :yep:
 
Seeing this pic of model Jordan Richardson.

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I just wanted healthier hair and I wanted my hair to grow longer also, that wasn't happening while I was relaxed.
 
I'm not natural yet I just wanna do something different. I kind of wanted to reach my relaxed hair goals first, but I don't even feel like waiting another year or two to start my transition.
 
I've been natural before so ain't a thing now. I actually miss my natural twistouts, my relaxed hair is too thin for my liking (I lurves big hair and my fine hair don't get it :nono: ) and I got waaaayyyyyy more positive feedback on my hair natural than relaxed. I'm transitioning again. I think every 3 years I'm doing something drastic to my hair at this point. :lol:
 
When I'd made a conscious decision to grow my hair out. I knew that I'd probably achieve longer lengths as a natural. Plus, I was curious as to what my natural texture really looked like.
 
I'm chemical sensitive; also my relaxed looked more like it was texlaxed, it would develop ringlet type curls if I did wash and go's.
 
i went natural becaue i forgot to relax... i'm still natural because i'm too lazy to relax lol.

i'm 100% natural and my last relaxer was in 2005 or 2006... lol it twas all an accident
 
my momma made me after a bad relaxer lol and now even though i think about relaxing i don't want my hair to defeat me
 
I always hated going to sit for hours at a salon and I'd avoid it for as long as I could. I'd get relaxers may 2 or 3 times a year and the stylist would always tell me how "bad" I was for not coming more often.

Once I started going to the salon to get my gray covered (don't do that anymore either) a few years back I was probably getting relaxers every three months or so.

Why? I thought I "needed" a relaxer. My hair would get very dry (like straw) and brittle and it would be hard to style.

I've since learned that all those things were symptoms of my hair needing more moisture and not "needing" a relaxer.

Once I learned how to keep my hair clean, hydrated, etc, I haven't "needed" a relaxer at all. My hair is quite cooperative. The stylist I went to in September for a trim didn't even think I'd need texlaxing, because my "newgrowth was soft." Not sure what that meant, I just know my hair has been pretty easy going. Now I just have to get it to grow!
 
Allandra said:
I just didn't want to get relaxer touch ups for the rest of my life.
Click to expand...


This is one of the main reasons I want to stop relaxing. A lifetime of chemicals being applied directly on the scalp has to take its toll at some point.

Im also tired of the same ole routine every 6-8 weeks. And of course the chemical induced breakage.
 
I just wanted to be free. I didn't want to waste any more Saturdays sitting at the salon all day. I got tired of running from the rain, trying not to sweat, and avoiding every little bit of moisture/humidity. I also wanted freedom from trying to fit into society's beauty standards that I'll never measure up to.
 
I have no deep story. I just didn't want a relaxer anymore. They weren't for me. I still like the way relaxed hair looks though.
 
My hair kept breaking off, whether it was a regular relaxer or a kiddie relaxer. My hair would grow to mbl and then I would say oooh relaxer time and the end result was break off time.

My Dominican stylist gets my hair as straight as when I had a relaxer. Much happier natural and so is my hair!
 
I was natural until I was 6 (yes 6 yrs old), but the lady didnt know what she was doing so all my hair gone.

Then after that bad experience my mom still relaxed my hair for a while, then stopped around 7ish, then started again when i was like 10. My hair was so short and damaged, I never had long hair. Finally when I was 15 i decided to go natural because I was tired of not going to the hairdresser often enough and lookin jacked.

So my mom started pressing my hair and I was natural until I was 19.

My hair was kinda long (SL) and healthy.

So I went to this party at school one night (after a fresh press) and of course, press gone! I was feed up wit that always happening and got it relaxed again. Things were ok until one touch-up session my hairdresser did somethin wrong wit a patch of my hair, causing it to break:wallbash:

I cut it....then decided to go natural again at 22

Lots of bumps along the way...wit the change of lifestyle

My reason for being natural NOW is....

Im happy with who I am, I love the way God made me and ima rock the ish out of his beautiful work (my hair), the natural way. I also am an organic vegetarian...food and beauty products all organic...so my hair matches my natural/healthy lifestyle....I LOVE my kinks!!!!:love::love4:
 
Nothing deep, i did not have a terrible history about relaxer, i didnt have a nad experience in salons ... i just wanted to have my curls out, enoy de diversity my natyural hair can offer me.¡ and dont have to worry to wash my hair every day
 
Relaxers over many, many years resulted in me having scalp damage at the crown and breakage at the nape. I must say for my 22 months on the natural journey, my hair is thriving, is thick and voluminous. I will never go back. Natural for life!
 
I decided to go stop getting perms when I was 14. My mom put two perms in too closely togetherand my MBL hair had broken off into a bob. Though I had no idea on how to take care of my hair, I was striaghtening it everyday and just abusing it. I didn't know about natural hair untill I found this site. So last year is when I really commited to being natural with out abusing my hair.
 
1. I never liked going to the salon.
2. I mistakenly believed that my hair needed to be relaxed when it got dry and brittle and hard to manage. No, it just needed moisture.
3. If other people can go without a relaxer, then I can too.
 
truthfully, it was many of the ladies here on LHCF. My hair was pretty healthy relaxed. it was watching the glow that some of y'all got showing off your kinks and curls. I still remember the day when I was sitting in a Harlem restaurant with some friends and this woman with an enormous fro came in. she was so proud of it and it showed. She carried herself like a queen. she caught many an eye that night, both male and female.

I knew I was getting there when a black sister like me came up to me while i was at cheesecake factory. I had a TWA and was still struggling with what my hair liked. she said to me, "Miss, your hair is so beautiful. It brings out your face. I watched you come in through the door and knew I had to tell you something". i damn near cried. but I managed to thank her and go back to my table.
 
I got sick last summer and couldn't go to my stylist and get my hair down regularly, plus funds were low due to being out of work. I transitioned by accident being in Aug but my last relaxer was the first week of June 09. I started doing wash and gos and just tied my hair at night, then I would to twistouts until October 4 and then I just did the BC myself because the relaxed hair couldn't been saved. Now I'll be 8 months natural June 4th and my hair is now more healthier than ever. I'm officially a year relaxer free.
 
pmichael52172 said:
Great Thread!

Like Black Hoya Chick, I want long hair, healthy hair and relaxers have been sloooowly thinning my hair. Overlapping was nearly unavoidable, so retention was impossible.
Click to expand...

Ditto, pmichael! I'll also add that I have always loved how natural hair looked, but I never thought I could pull it off. Nor did I want to do a BC; I am currently doing a 2 year transition (1 yr and almost 2 months), love my natural hair (got about 3-4 inches of relaxed ends left), and have no plans of going back to relaxed. I love my look with micros, and that has been my transitioning style. My hair is much more healthy and the longest it's ever been, even with self trims! AND the BEST part is that even though I have micros, I still have my edges! :woot:

HHG!
 
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