Why Are You Natural? -- Why Are You Transitioning?

[malibu4590]

I decided to transition after realizing I could have the same healthy relaxed look with a good flat-ironing job and not damage my hair and scalp along the way.

 

[MilkChocolateOne]

I'm tired of the relaxing process.

 

[lala]

I've definitely asked myself that over and over again. I decided to go natural because after moving to the desert 5+ yrs. ago, my relaxed waist length hair was a big problem and huge turnoff for the stylists in my area. No one wanted to do my hair. They complained, charged me $100+ just to do rollersets. No one in LV can wet wrap waist length hair erplexed.

So, I transitioned for a year, cut it all off and now I'm left with hair that I'm struggling to care for. It's super dry and really high maintenance compared to the condition of my hair when I was relaxed. I didn't have to oil and condition so much, or do prepoos just to keep it moisturized.

I love my texture, but my Mom, siblings, cousins, etc. do not like my natural hair at all . I guess I was my hair, because my DH is the only one who supported my decision to BC. It's grown alot over the past 18 months, but since my hair is not down to my butt, my relatives feel that it's too short.

At my 2 year anniversary in mid-July, I may relax, I don't know. I'll try a dozen more products and see if I can find some products that are more moisturizing.

 

[DrC]

Because relaxers are boring.....

 

[LilMissRed]

I went natural because after my dermatologist telling me I had Seborrheic dermatitis and that I needed to tremendously cut back on chemicals and heat... I felt I had no real choice other than to go natural. My hair hasnt felt this healthy since I was in high school!!

BTW: Im soooo in :heart2: with my hair now and I hate I didnt do this sooner

 

[KurlyNinja]

I decided to transition for a few reasons. I realized that big hair fits my face really well and I also realized how much relaxers were thinning my hair out. On top of that, relaxers were giving me horrible sores in my scalp and making my psoriasis flare up. Transitioning is one of the best decisions I've made in a long time. I actually found LHCF while looking for websites on dealing with natural hair.

 

[Nonie]

I think this post from a Dec 2009 discussion summarizes my reasons for being natural:

Pros:

• Independence galore. I don't think I could ever trust myself to touch up my new growth with relaxers without some overlap occurring or else under-processing at the demarcation point, so I would have to depend on a stylist for my touch ups
  
  
• Versatility and never boring. I love that I can enjoy any and every hairstyle I want. I can go from short to long, straight to coily, wear braids/twists etc without worrying about unraveling.
  
  
• Inexpensive hair. Besides shampoo, conditioner, ACV and plastic caps, I really don't spend a lot of money on my hair. S Curl is used when I wear my hair out and if I'm not wearing it straight. I last used it in March and so a bottle lasts me forever.
  
  
• Soft, touchable hair. OK, if HIH disease is not your thing, then this would be a con but for me, I love the way my hair feels. When it was straight, I hardly cared to play with it. Now, you can hardly keep my fingers out of it. It feels so nice to touch.
  

I honestly can't think of anything I don't like about my hair. I don't even get SSKs that I can think of. I don't spend hours detangling. My hair never feels like a chore to me at all. I think a lot of it has to do with being so self-centered that I took time to get to know my hair--not to make it do what other hair does--but to get to see what it alone can do. I've been natural for more years of my life than relaxed, but it wasn't until 2003 or 2004, that I really took notice of my hair and really started to see what it looked like and learned how to handle it. I finger-comb a lot (that HIH disease thing is serious I tell ya!), and love to feel and see it go ping! I dunno, I'm Nonie and I'm addicted to my hair.

Taken from The Pros and Cons of Being Natural Discussion

 

[joytimes10]

I'm transitioning because I didn't relax until I was 14 and I remember how long and healthy my hair was. I relaxed because I wanted to be able to go to the beach on the weekends and with a natural press, I couldn't.

The entire time I was relaxed, I would avoid getting a relaxer as long as possible usually 4 - 6 months.. I really hated the process, the smell, the flat limp hair, and sometimes burns on my scalp. I'll never, ever relax again.

 

[EllePixie]

I think big hair is sexy...quitting relaxers wasn't that deep for me. However, I will say that with my relaxed hair I had dandruff from a dry scalp and I HATED that, and the scalp burns I had from relaxers were so painful...so I def don't miss that! With this board I know that I could care for my relaxed hair better, but it's just not how I want my hair to look. And worrying about my hair frizzing out in humidity and all that was too much of a burden. When I would go on vacation with my white friends they just didn't understand why it took me so long to do my hair, or why I wouldn't want my hair to get wet if we were at the beach. Again, too much burden. The research with caring for my natural hair takes more time, but overall I'd say natural hair is easier for me, with the exception of detangling.

Also, I love the versatility of natural hair - I know that if I want to, I can straighten my hair and not worry about it for a week. With relaxed hair, you can't wear it curly whenever you want.

 

[chrisanddonniesmommy]

I am transitioning simply because I'm tired of relaxing my hair. I hate the way my hair feels after the relaxing process. It has caused my hair to thin, lose volume, and lose body. After seeing many women going natural (including women in my family) and transitioning, I decided to get off the fence and go for it. I love the feel of my new curls coming in (I haven't touched heat in 9 months) and I no longer feel the need to constantly have bone straight hair. Thus, the time, money, and energy that the relaxing process took from me for many years is no longer worth it.

 

[bumblb87]

Why am I transitioning?

Because before LHCF, I never even knew what 'natural' was. Seriously. Even people with curly natural 3c hair, I didn't know it was 'natural'...I don't know what I thought it was. I didn't think much of hair...especially my own hair. I didn't know not getting a relaxer was even remotely an option. Like...what else were you supposed to do? And it wasn't that I thought my hair was bad or unmanageable (the 1st time I heard that word was probably on LHCF lol) because this was never said to me. When my mom took me to get a relaxer at age 4 it wasn't "we have to straighten out your nappy kinks because this **** is bad, terrible and you need white girl swang" It was just "we're going to the hairdressers". So I never really had a complex about my hair...I just didn't know what was underneath the relaxer...having only 'stretched' for like 5 weeks prior to LHCF.

So when I got on here and started to see all of the natural heads I was like "...what is this? By golly, I've never even heard of this natural thing before! People can 'not' relax their hair and still be...alive?" So I started to look at legit 4b/4z people's hair because I just knew my hair wasn't curly at all. And I absolutely loved it (stalking 4b fotkis). So then I started to grow out my relaxer and around 3 months I noticed little coils in my head and became terrified I just knew this wasn't my hair...I thought something must've happened. But I finally realized that was just how my hair was supposed to be and I had to start stalking other fotkis I was kind of sad/pissed off that I had to start stalking different fotkis all over again to see what my hair would look like but its fine.

So I'm basically transitioning because I want to get to know my natural hair; I want to see it. I want to learn how to take care of it, because I was never given a chance to before.

Every reason above. I was permed at the age of 3 and always saw relaxing as just something you did..... never considered not doing it. When I found LHCF I immediately stopped due to curiosity and hair health. I had JACKED UP relaxed (technically texlaxed) hair.

 

[NaturalBoss]

There's no real deep reason for me.

1. I have chronic eczema and relaxer + eczema = skin disaster

But now that I'm natural, I love it and have no desire to be relaxed. I could grow my hair long w/ a relaxer, but it would always be short lived. I can also remember when I was natural as a kid, on the rare occasions when I wore my hair down, I would be a showstopper. I like that attention so I'm going for the long, natural look again.

 

[Nonie]

qchelle and bumblb87, your posts were so sweet and made me smile and feel bubbly inside.

 

[BostonMaria]

When I was little my mom would do two ponytails and I used to love braiding/re-braiding my long hair. One day she relaxed my hair and it felt "different" but I didn't really know what she did to me. Less than a year later I went from hip length hair (I was 10) to dry, ear length hair that was all chewed up.

Now that really traumatized me for a very long time and I was always very embarrassed of my hair. I learned how to rollerset when I was 14 and my hair was decent, but it never grew past shoulder length and going to the salon to get relaxers always caused a set-back.

When I was 36 I decided that there was no way I was going to keep relaxing for the rest of my life. I figured in 3 years I'd be a waist length natural and I was right. Retention has been a breeze since I went natural. Relaxers may look nice on some ladies, but not on me. I was so tired of people frying my hair and always having split ends.

The irony is that I went natural to do wash and go's, but wash and go's actually look horrible on me LOL my hair is very unpredictable. But I am still enjoying my hair and trying other hairstyles.

 

[Curly Luul]

I am transitioning because i want my super thick, healthy hair back. I miss my tight thick bouncy curls and i really miss how my hair use to grow.

 

[loveisnthehouse]

Because I find the whole relaxing process very tedious.

 

[ms-gg]

I was tired of relaxing my hair and was only doing it because I didn't know of any other options....

From the first time I saw pretty natural hairstyles in real life other than the older church ladies with TWA, I was in love....

 

[Qtee]

I went natural cause I wanted to loc my hair..I stay natural cause I luv my curls...although the shrinkage is killing me (not always but for some reason today its a particularly annoying)..its hard to go from a stretched braid out when ur hair is past ur shoulder to a wash and go which is neck length with shrinkage..

 

[PinkGirlFluff]

I went natural because I think that curly fluffy hair is hawt! I have always felt that way but I thought I had to stay relaxed. I thought that is just what sistas did and you had to do it forever.

 

[Missigirl]

I have been thinking about transitioning for a long time. I wanted to learn how to care for my relaxed hair first. I am scraping WL, during this time I have texlax areas straight areas. In the middle of reaching my goal I had a terrible time with shedding and breaking that thinned my hair. Now I would like to transition and see if I can do it without BCing because I not only have a big head but it has square points just like my dads. I looks okay on him I just don't think I can do it justice.

I love the look of big healthy hair and I want to learn how to take care of my natural hair. All of the women in my family except my mother have relaxed hair. I want to show(my sisters and neices) how beautiful our hair can really be.

 

[itsjusthair88]

Is being lazy a good reason? Seriously I transitioned once before, and it was totally on accident. I just kept forgetting to buy the perm or make the appointment. Besides that, I'd only been relaxed for a short time and I like my natural hair...it's all big and curly (and frizzy) and soft.

Sent from my Eris using Long Hair Care Forum App

 

[monie20032007]

1. I wanted to see what my texture was like

2. I never really styled my relaxed hair, I would just wear it back and I figured "why am I getting a relaxer just to put my hair back? I can do this w/ my natural hair!"

Im still natural because its low maintenance for me and I love the way it look and feels and the ability to go straight or wear it curly. It has also helped me reach hair goals that I have never met before.

 

[CurlyNiquee]

I came from a place where a sista wouldn't even get hired entering an interview with braids, dreads, twists or TWA. In fact, I remember my supervisor coming approaching me one day about my braids I decided to get (I was relaxed but wanted a break from the hair stuff) and her exact words were "we hired you because of your qualifications and also for your image. I recommend that you change your hair style back because it looks better that way). Mind you, all I had done was some basic micro braids, cut in a short bob.

So I can totally relate to your post as I had the same ah-ha moment.

That is unbelievable...wow. Just when you think we have gotten past that kind of ignorance it rears it's ugly head.

 

[Napp]

The only reasons why I am natural at this point is:

1) i find the whole relaxer/touch u process to be very stressfull. to much to worry about. protien,type of relaxer,are you smoothing too much,are you smoothing to little,porosity control, regular dc,demarcation line when strecthing, issues with getting the NG o match the ends,putting oil to slow it down,SAA in relaxer,cerimides ,ramdom breakage,overlapping, worrying about double processing,dealing with "roots".... I COULD GO ON AND ON. i don't have time for that. i just condition, grease and go. i have kept dern near all of my length this way.its because my strands have the most integrity in its natural state.

2)so far chemical relaxants do not give me the desired look i want.yes i still want a slightly loosened curl but i do not like the soggy looking,dry curls that regular texturizers and relaxers give to my hair.

 

[Platinum]

I was tired of searching for the "perfect" relaxer. Every relaxer burns :burningincluding kiddie perms and sensitive scalp formulas). My scalp became sensitive over time and I was tired of scalp burns, under/overprocessed hair, and breakage. I decided that there was no point in relaxing my hair just to watch it go from EL to SL and back to EL.

I started checking out fotkis of ladies that have texture similar to mine (Mwedzi, Tocktick, and Sera2544 among others) and watched lots of youtube videos. Even though most of my family thinks I'm crazy for going natural, I know this is the best decision I could have ever made.

 

[jerseygurl]

I woke up one morning took a look at my hair with the split ends, jacked up edges and the fact that it was losing its thickness and decided to transition. I'm still transitioning (14months) and have no desire to go back to relaxers.

I've had long hair as a relaxed head (MBL) and now I want to see if I can't get there as a natural. My natural hair has always been thick and long until it was cut down to a low fade. I wore a low fade until senior year of high school when I started relaxing because all my friends were doing the same thing.

Now I'm learning my hair all over again and I couldn't be happier. Even my mom is starting to change her mind about natural hair

 

[mizbtown2]

Why I'm transitioning

One, so my daughter can have someone else with natural hair to look to and discuss hair with.

Two, I'm jealous of her hair.

Three, I've always been told "you have a good grade of hair and never needed a relaxer" but I have no supporting evidence.

Four, I'm cheap and hated paying for a relaxer as I didn't like at home results.

Five, I love being different.

 

[ebaby]

Why are you natural?

Natural
by ebaby

I am natural
because without my kinks
I could not think
I could not see
the true depth of my beauty

I am natural because lye or No-lye
I was finally able to see the truth
there was nothing wrong with having wavy roots

I am natural because
my hair is my glory
he created me this way for a purpose
it was due time for me to stop changing the story

I am natural because it is who I am
relapsed once but I am no longer trying to please
Johnny, Connie, Peter, Pam, nor Sam

I am natural because I like my hair big, fluffy, and wild
relaxed hair may be sleek and pretty to some
but that big beautiful puff is what makes me smile

I am natural because
I am no longer ignorant
no more burns and scabs
and way less money spent

I am natural because
of all of you
I am not alone
and together we will show the world
that "natural" is more than just another trend, fad, or "do"

 

[che1219]

My initial plan to stretch my relaxer turned into a transition. With the knowledge that I gained from LHCF and using the right products, stretching was easy. My hair is manageable, so I really don't see the need for a relaxer. Since I have fine hair, when I want to wear my hair straight I can achieve the same results as a relaxer by air drying with a scarf, roller setting & wrapping, blow drying or flat ironing.

 

[dr.j]

I wanted to see my real hair texture after 23 years of relaxing

The ladies of LHCF and my natural friends inspired me