What's Holding You Back from Going Natural?

[hotshot]

ITA w/ Netta1.


I'm not saying you have to love shrinkage and do a kumbaya dance about it but if you want natural hair you have to learn to accept it or you'll just be right back where you started a few months down the road.

Going and staying natural is as easy or as hard as YOU make it.

Bingo. there ya go.

also: just because you are natural or your hair "grows" out doesn't mean you have to wear it in an afro.

 

[MeccaMedinah]

Bingo. there ya go.

also: just because you are natural or your hair "grows" out doesn't mean you have to wear it in an afro.

Some of them don't seem to realize that they are already making their hair do something that it doesn't want to do naturally. Natural hair can be manipulated, without the use of heat or chemicals.

 

[secretdiamond]

I like the manageability of my relaxed hair, my new growth although I LOVE the texture is very hard to manage and would take more patience than I have to deal with it.

Ditto!!!
and another reason thats holding me back from going natural is..I just don't want to..lol

Same here. Took all the words right outta my mouth.

 

[Cheleigh]

I see so many people treat shrinkage likes it's the devil and it baffles me. Natural hair is not relaxed hair. Natural hair is not texturized hair... I'm not saying you have to love shrinkage and do a kumbaya dance about it but if you want natural hair you have to learn to accept it...

ITA Mkstar...
My hair is below shoulder length, and that's a fine barometer for straight hair. I'm sure that showed length as a barometer for healthy, well cared for hair was created straight haired, untextured people, since showing length is what straight, untextured hair does very well.

Showing length is not a good barometer for showcasing healthy, well cared for highly textured hair. Other barometers like sheen, thickness, fullness, texture (not talking about curls vs. naps either, but the uniqueness and variation of textures within the same head), styling, and stretched length are factors that are more appropriate, IMO.

As a part of my mental transition, I have had let go of showed length, shine, and "swang" as indicators of my hair's beauty, since my hair will soon be shrunken and sheeny with no swang (although my hair will still have movement).

The hardest part of the mental transition for me has been in realizing that I will lose the security blanket of below shoulder length hair (which I've had for years),and the realization that I'll have to learn to style 5" or less of hair. It has always been a lazy, easy thing for me to throw my hair into a pontail if I didn't want to style it . I don't doubt that I will look great with shorter hair, since I wear my hair off my face all the time and also because I've rarely seen anyone who doesn't look good with a shorter style (regardless of what they might think), but still, the change is daunting--that's why I comb the albums looking at styles of natural women with 5" or less of hair.

 

[uncutandgettinglonger]

I would go natural, but I don't cut my hair, besides, I like the look of straight, thick hair. I like how natural hair looks, but its not for me.

 

[Netta1]

Thank you Netta. My hair is very similiar to yours. It's nice to visualize and see what my hair can potentially look like short, long, styled and unstyled.

my pleasure girl!

Thanks guys!

 

[MzTami]

BTW...This is a great thread. I am currently transitioning and I wish I would have known about LHCF sooner. I must say that my 3 textured hair isn't the prettiest, but you know what? I really don't care, it's me and I can live with it. I have a lot of support, my hubby keeps me going, he's always telling me how curly my natural hair is when all I can see is naps. I am really glad that he is supportive of my transition. My only fear is that I am styled challenged and believe that when I am 100% natural, I will be like what do I do next?? But I am taking it one day at a time, I am excited and I can't wait to see the real me!

 

[esoterica]

As a part of my mental transition, I have had let go of showed length, shine, and "swang" as indicators of my hair's beauty, since my hair will soon be shrunken and sheeny with no swang (although my hair will still have movement).

i like length shine and 'swang'. the more the better.

 

[CatSuga]

And.......................maybe folk just like having straight hair.

No biggie. It's just hair.

 

[onepraying]

And.......................maybe folk just like having straight hair.

No biggie. It's just hair.

ITA! But it isn't just hair though.....if it was we would have spend these 7 pages and millions of other pages over the years discussing it.... We are obessed!

 

[jaiku]

Okay, I Have been natural for almost ten years and here is what I learned.

1. First, of all the grass is always greener.

2. When you’re natural you will miss the hell out of your roller wraps. When your relaxed you’ll miss the

Hell out of your thickness and kinks.

3. Your hair will never look like the person with natural have you secretly envy.

4. Having natural hair is like having a part time job.

5. After a while you’ll need a part time job just to pay for all the moisturizer you hair drinks up.

6. If you are like me no matter how much hair you have it will always appear to be an inch and a half long.

7. Don’t try to fight your hair. Trust me your hair always wins.

8. Just because you hair is natural doesn’t mean it will be healthier. If you are still using heat and a lot of chemical laden products your hair might be worse off then before.

9. TLC I can not stress this enough, your hair will tangle like crazy, it may even mat, and it may form nots on the individual hair strand and it may split in weird places. You have to be gentle with it.

10 Almost every black person you know who isn’t natural will probably hate your hair and wonder when you’ll grow out of your afrocentric phase (even after 10 years they’ll still ask you when are you going to get a perm).

11. Almost every white person you know will love your hair and want to touch it and ask you a billion stupid questions almost every day.

12. You may attract strange people. I don’t know what it is but people will make assumptions about you based on your hair. They may think that your earthy, afrocentric, black power political. Please tell all the black Israelites that I’m just not interested.



In the end regardless if your relaxed or natural learn to love the hair that grows out of your head. Its a gift from God. Personally, I love my natural hair but I am thinking of going back to a relaxer out of sheer boredom. I really miss my perfect wrap!

 

[Maestradiva77]

Fabulous post, jaiku! I can definitely identify with numbers #4-7.

LOL at number 12!!

 

[Bmm]

I can't do anything with my hair when it is Natural. I was natural for 3 years...All I did was wear braids.

 

[Cheleigh]

i like length shine and 'swang'. the more the better.

See jaded...I think it's great when people are honest about with themselves about stuff like that--if those things are important to them, then natural would be difficult to maintain for them because black folks' natural hair does not generally do these things. That stuff, with the exception of length, was never important to me, so I won't miss it very much when it's gone. Having visable length--honestly I will miss a little more, but not enough to refrain from going natural,

 

[aminata]

Jaiku--I really enjoyed your post. I can really relate to everything you said.

Catsuga--you are right--it's just hair.

 

[MickMick]

I have a dream of beautiful curly springy curls like Angie Stone. I don't want to go through any transition periods. I want to wake up and have the glossy curls. I have NO IDEA what I need to do to achieve this and I don't have the patience to grow out my relaxer.

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I agree with pretty much everything Jaiku said but I wanted to add some commentary to a few of her points.

4. Having natural hair is like having a part time job.

YOU AIN'T LYING!!!

7. Don’t try to fight your hair. Trust me your hair always wins.

I'm one of those odd balls that thinks hair can be trained, if you have the patience to work with it.

On a side note, I never understand the concept of letting the hair on ones head do what it wants....I wouldn't let my finger/toe nails, oily face or other body hair do what it wants. My hair ain't the boss of me. But then again, maybe my mind state isn't right!

8. Just because you hair is natural doesn’t mean it will be healthier. If you are still using heat and a lot of chemical laden products your hair might be worse off then before.

I agree with the concept of too much heat, but I also think that too little care can be just as devastating. I have seen some natural albums where people only wash their hair once every two weeks, wear their hair out in puffs and afros every day and wonder why they can't retain any length.

Again, thank you Jaiku for sharing your experience.

 

[mscounselor]

And.......................maybe folk just like having straight hair.

No biggie. It's just hair.

I appreciate this comment so much!!! I think this truly shows that people can be natural, texturized, or relaxed and still get along on this board.
Lord knows I am tired of militancy over hair. We all know if we are beat over the head with something we generally dont want to do it.
Thank goodness for LHCF where we don't have to worry about that!!