which thrives better? Relaxed or Natural?

[Ayeshia]

My hair thrived both ways...but at least with the relaxer I didnt get knots and I trimmed less. Oh well such is life.

 

[DDTexlaxed]

My hair thrived better relaxed. I did everything wrong too. Used all the products that most people avoid....petrolatum, pink oil, etc. u name it my hair grew and loved it. I'm natural now, and it seems like my hair is taking forever to grow. Shrinkage for me is a beeyach! My hair is totally backwards. The one difference is the shedding factor- my hair sheds less now, but that may be because my hair is short.

 

[pookeylou]

I voted natural. I have pics of my hair after 20 or more years of relaxing. I had the BOMB stylist too who took great care of my hair. But the chemicals were eating it away.

My hair is thicker, stronger, healthier than it ever was relaxed. A lot less work and money too, for me.

 

[luv04]

NATURAL ....HANDS DOWN...TAKES THIS POLL...THAT IS WHY IM HEADED IN THAT DIRECTION NOW!!! WISH ME LUCK LADIES..;-)

 

[loonatick]

My hair thrived better relaxed. I did everything wrong too. Used all the products that most people avoid....petrolatum, pink oil, etc. u name it my hair grew and loved it. I'm natural now, and it seems like my hair is taking forever to grow. Shrinkage for me is a beeyach! My hair is totally backwards. The one difference is the shedding factor- my hair sheds less now, but that may be because my hair is short.

Hey Natrlchallenge, so why did you go natural then???

 

[loonatick]

hey Pookeylou, i love your hair!! Its got so much character

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

Yes it's exaclty as you stated. Girl let me tell you, I've tried every product from A-A ranging from $5-$100!! And nothing worked. My old hairstylist would use products on my hair that would only "cover-up" the problem. I've soon come to release that the relaxers I was using was damaging myhair.

I choose to be natural because it's healthier for my hair and my body.

I thought over processing was something that the person did wrong and not the relaxer it self . I say that your hairs life cycle may not be as long as others, even though it is said that the hair is dead, normal and healthy hair has a steady cycle of events that each strand goes through. Which are growth, fall, and replacement. Also a certain amount of hair is shed daily. This is nature's method of making way for new hair. The average like cycle of hair ranges form 4 to 7 years (eyelashes and eyebrows are replaced every 4 to 5 months), but keep in mind that factors such as sex, age, type of hair, heredity, and health have a bearing on the duration of hair life. HTH

 

[beyondcute]

I took my stance froma scientific approach. The less done to a structure the more stable it is. Relaxers break the bonds of the hair and release the curl in doing so. Therefore making the hair weaker. Imagine knocking down walls inside and outside a home. The sturcture would be comprmised and therefore more likely to crumble. NOW I will say that IF you have a regime and take care of your hair like your life depended on it then Id suspect your hair would be healthier than a natural that didnt take care of thier hair at all. BUT if you had to compare 2 people that used the same regime and had the same hair types/textures then Id have to go with the natural.

 

[sunflower]

I voted for natural for the simple fact that a relaxer has chemicals. There are many relaxed women on this board with beautiful hair and that is evidence that relaxed hair can thrive. My beef with relaxers are the chemicals and the possibility that those chemicals could do harm to your body.

 

[Sweet_Ambrosia]

I didn't vote because I have a slightly different theory. I think hair thrives when it taken care of. I've both natural & relaxed and texturixed. Hair is a dead appendage so neither way in my opinion is better. When hair is handled with care it thrives. There are other factors like diet, the elements(environmental) ,water quality, illness, etc... but in my opinion for the most part I think hair that is handled with care thrives.

ITA!

 

[Blossssom]

I took my stance froma scientific approach. The less done to a structure the more stable it is. Relaxers break the bonds of the hair and release the curl in doing so. Therefore making the hair weaker. Imagine knocking down walls inside and outside a home. The sturcture would be comprmised and therefore more likely to crumble. NOW I will say that IF you have a regime and take care of your hair like your life depended on it then Id suspect your hair would be healthier than a natural that didnt take care of thier hair at all. BUT if you had to compare 2 people that used the same regime and had the same hair types/textures then Id have to go with the natural.

Beautifully explained...

I'm encouraging my 12 year old niece to stay natural...

I want better for the next generation of black women. The time is now.

 

[pookeylou]

hey Pookeylou, i love your hair!! Its got so much character

Thank you chica!!! My hair type is "Distinctly Pookeylou-type hair".

 

[DDTexlaxed]

Hey Natrlchallenge, so why did you go natural then???

I overprocessed my texturizer due to ignorance. I couldn't figure out why texturizers were so temporary in my hair! I found the culprit though....MTG. After my hair dresser cut the damaged hair off, I was completely in love with my natural hair, that i hadn't seen since I was 8 yrs old. My natural hair then was so thick, it would break combs and brushes. Now, this time, my hair was soft and curly! I just wanted to see how long this new texture was gonna last. Now that it has grown out a little, it is still curly, but now the thickness is coming out and I'm still loving my hair. The reason why I say my relaxed hair thrived more is because I knew how to care properly for it. It also showed length more quickly. It may take me some time before I can say my natural hair thrives better. I'm still a natural newby.

 

[karezone]

I have not read the thread.

But I believe it depends on how much care is used. If you relax your hair and don't take care of it you will look bad. If you are a natural and don't take care of it, it will look bad.

 

[balisi]

I've always taken very good care of my hair and it's always thrived even when relaxed. However, I've found that my natural hair has virtually no breakage or splits, as opposed to my relaxed hair. I believe that the condition of my hair is due mainly to the fact that I heat style only about four times a year.

 

[Jewell]

Eventhough my hair is relaxed, natural hair thrives better. I have been fortunate to have maintained a nice head of relaxed hair, however I am transitioning to natural because I believe it'll be healthier for my hair in the long run and for my body!

 

[Eiano]

I voted natural.

My relaxed hair thrived, but it took sooo much effort to keep it growing. I had to relax it every 6 weeks or else demarcation would set in and I'd lose so much hair, I had to wash it often or else when it was greasy I started losing hair, I had to always keep it from rubbing against my jackets or else the ends would be all raggedy and dry and they'd break off. So yes, both can do well for me too but in the end it ended up taking more time to care for my relaxed hair than for my natural. (that and i hated going to the salon so my hair would be jacked up and i'd leave it and it'd start to be like whoa)

 

[Porsche19]

It depend on a bunch of things... like:

How a person cares for their hair
The person's hairtype
How the person styles their hair on a daily basis (some people would be better off just getting a relaxer than straightening their hair often)
The products that the person uses
Whether or not the relaxer is applied correctly

Can't really answer the question because there is no clear answer.

wanted to add..

Of course if you relax your hair it is weaker than what your natural hair would be, but that doesn't mean that it can't/won't thrive as good or better than your natural hair.

Both natural and relaxed hair have their challenges... different, but one is not necessarily easier to handle or grow out than the other one.

 

[CharUK]

I personally feel my hair has currently thrived and always hasthrived better with natural hair.

 

[monister]

so in your case sugaplum, overprocessing caused your damage, despite your efforts to moisturize and condition?
I have no clue of my growth rate as my hair as never gotten past neck length. Im beginning to think is this as good as it gets? Maybe that is my lot, neck length or nothing, either natural relaxed or texturuised. I am trying my hardest to reach shoulder length, then i will know for sure if i can retain length, seeing as i never have before.
But i must say, as much as it frustrates me i love my hair, this is the best it has been. its just it has always baffled me.......

I had these issues with my relaxed hair and it never grew past my neck. Last year august 31 i cut off all my relaxed hair and had about half an inch of natural hair on my head and just a little over a year later my natural hair is where my relaxed hair always stopped and its so much much thicker and healthier and I can only imagine what the next year will bring... So I voted natural

monister

 

[loonatick]

Thanks for all your replies ladies, so the majority think natural is the way to go it terms of caring for your hair but that could depend on your hair/hair type, looks like there really isnt a clear answer....Thanks for all your input

Any more theories anyone???

 

[EbonyF]

Natural. My hair has so much elasticity.

 

[honeycomb719]

Yup!! What she said.

uess it all depends. My hair


I beg to differ, but I guess it all jus depends. My hair retains more length when natural. I'm learning that now my second time being natural. I went back to relaxers after going natural once b4 thinking that since I better understood how to take care of my hair it would thrive, but that wasnt the case, no matter how much I babied my hair, the relaxer jus didnt allow my thin strands to retain growth. So, thats why I voted natural....

 

[loonatick]

uess it all depends. My hair


I beg to differ, but I guess it all jus depends. My hair retains more length when natural. I'm learning that now my second time being natural. I went back to relaxers after going natural once b4 thinking that since I better understood how to take care of my hair it would thrive, but that wasnt the case, no matter how much I babied my hair, the relaxer jus didnt allow my thin strands to retain growth. So, thats why I voted natural....

This is what initially sparked my interest for this thread. I have been previously relaxed (when i was 8 and later at 15) and didnt know squat about looking after it. It would been nice when i had a fresh relaxer, then it would go down hill from week 3 onwards. So since finding this board, i have always been thinking that maybe i could have healthy relaxed hair. But from what i have experienced with it, it doesnt make me want to go through all that again, only to realise the same thing. That i should have stayed natural !!!

 

[sugaplum]

This is what initially sparked my interest for this thread. I have been previously relaxed (when i was 8 and later at 15) and didnt know squat about looking after it. It would been nice when i had a fresh relaxer, then it would go down hill from week 3 onwards. So since finding this board, i have always been thinking that maybe i could have healthy relaxed hair. But from what i have experienced with it, it doesnt make me want to go through all that again, only to realise the same thing. That i should have stayed natural !!!

Hey loonastick How's it growing?

You brought up a very good point about being natural. True I still am, but I'm not gonna lie I do miss the lye. But that's why I'm rockin' the wig below in my siggy. So I guess you can say it's the best of both worlds.

 

[Shenia]

What is the baggie/bun technique? I have never heard of it. I am new here, 4b hair, trying to grow out my perm and return to Natural for the first time in 10 years.

 

[loonatick]

Hey loonastick How's it growing?

You brought up a very good point about being natural. True I still am, but I'm not gonna lie I do miss the lye. But that's why I'm rockin' the wig below in my siggy. So I guess you can say it's the best of both worlds.

Hey Suga, at the mo my hair is holding out and i have decided that i will not texturize again. Firstly cos my hair has grown but i cant see the new growth?!?! Its just all mingled in. Not that im complaining, i did not enjoy applying that stuff and now i dont have too

i obviously under processed with the texturizer and my natural hair just wasnt having it and took over!! I really love the way my hair feels now and i am comfortable with it. i even dont want to flat iron anymore in fear that i will damage my napps Ive totally fallen in love with big curly hair.........

 

[loonatick]

And if i do wanna go straight, imma do like u and wig it!!!
You look good girl

 

[DDTexlaxed]

i changed my mind. My natural hair thrived better than my relaxed hair. Too bad i learned this lesson too late.

 

[Carlie]

It's all about knowing how to take care of your hair. However, in my opinion, natural is always better.