It's the first Friday of April and I'm usually happy around this time of year because Spring is coming (if you're on that side of the world) and Easter holiday is right around the corner (if you're on THIS side of the world). Anyway, I was chatting earlier this week with a lady who asked me the titular question: Why did you go natural? I told her that in 2006 I stopped relaxing my hair, because my hair was choppy (mostly due to the fact that I wasn't taking care of it properly) and I figured that if I stopped relaxing, my hair would be stronger and I would be forced to take care of it. She said that was also her reason for going natural.
I thought it would be fun for all of us to share the reasons why we went natural. I think most people would say that their hair was cutting, like me. But there are other reasons too and I'd like to hear them, e.g. you wanted to try something new, you thought it was a nice trend, you hated relaxers, etc.
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Berry Dakara
I was bored nd I jst needed somthing different. I got discouraged for about six months by my friend nd den I woke up one morning and off to the barber I went. I'm loving every minute of it.
ReplyDeleteYup, sometimes all you need is to just listen to yourself and make the change you want. I didn't really talk about going natural with anyone. I just simply stopped relaxing my hair.
DeleteI decided to go natural cos my hairline was terrible and my hair was very scanty. I also made other changes like no more extensions, braids and minimal manipulation of my front hair.
ReplyDeleteLool. You are not alone. This is actually why many ladies decided to go natural.
DeleteAgreed with AN. A lot of women decide to go natural because their hair is breaking.
DeleteAs for me, I always detested the way relaxers hurt me and my scalp, but I did not feel I had a choice. When I went on dreads, it was freedom, but I was still always sad because I felt one I cut my dreads, I would have to go back to relaxers. When I found out one could wear their hair out naturally, and the only alternative to relaxers was not dreadlocks, I was elated. I later cut my dreads, and have never looked back since then.
ReplyDeleteI can't really relate on this because I've never had a tender scalp, even the times it got burnt by relaxers. But yeah, I've heard a lot of women say this is a reason why they stopped relaxing.
DeleteLOL @ thinking it was either dreadlocs or relaxed hair.
Split ends
ReplyDeleteUneven length
Scalp burns from relaxers
Stunted growth
to mention a few.
ebunoluwole.com
Those are all good reasons
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ReplyDeleteI was on my healthy relaxed hair journey but I wanted to try and see how my natural hair would look like.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason is I loved the some afro hairstyles and was hoping I could achieve them with my own hair.
I am so with you on this! I was on a healthy relaxed hair journey for like 4 months. Then I started drooling over natural curls. And I was like my hair is like this naturally! Why can't I carry it like this? Then my sister brought up the idea of cutting our hair n going natural n I'm like yes! She chickened out, I didn't. And I'm loving it
DeleteFunny enough, in the past 2 weeks, 3 of my friends with relaxed hair have gotten straw sets done, to get the natural look!
DeleteMy hair used to be good . Then jan this yr the shedding started and dint stop so in feb I choped it off ...... freeeedddddooooommmmm
ReplyDeleteLol, you didn't even give it time. Happy you feel free though :)
DeleteMy hair is funny. I used to cut it when I was in junior secondary school but when I resumed my senior secondary education in another school,I started growing it. It was growing steadily until I relaxed it. Everyone noticed,even teachers that my hair that was growing anyhow before had stopped growing. People adviced me to cut it and start over again but I refused,eventually,last year I got fed up and stopped relaxing. The only thing relaxers did was burn my scalp.After doing some serious thinking,I decided to cut off the relaxed part this February,by then my natural hair had already started growing steadily. Soo,that's my story
ReplyDeletewww.ronilurvediaries.wordpress.com
Aww, that's good to hear. Hopefully you'll be featured in one of our Mane Matters stories to check out your hair journey
DeleteI decided to go natural because I loved the afro look and never ever got a stylist to fix it perfectly. I then told myself that I could have my own natural fro without struggles. Plus I had been reading about proper hair care from Dabs and from here as well and I decided to get me a healthy fro the natural way!
ReplyDeleteGood for you, and I know you're enjoying it :D
DeleteOk I'm not completely natural yet, I just made the decision to turn my stretch into a transition last month. I relaxed my hair in ss2, knowing all along I would be back to natural hair because I loved how big it was. I was a restless teen and wanted to try the straight look. I just didn't think it would take me 9 years (of burns!)
ReplyDeleteI learnt about hair on the net and took a year to grow my relaxed hair to waist length just to prove to myself it was possible. Last month made it exactly one year and I just feel like my relaxed journey has come to an end, I've seen it through. My mum has begged me not to bc so I'm transitioning. I can't wait to meet my fro again and I definitely won't miss the burns on my sensitive scalp
Oh wow, waist length hair! I'd like to see how your transition goes :)
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DeleteMy relaxed hair was actually really long and I didn't have hair line issue but I was in the North at the time and the weather was harsh plus it was HOT and I needed to be pouring water on my hair on a daily, got tired of the burns relaxers gave me and it was the perfect excuse to cut it.
ReplyDeleteHello BC :)
So climate played a part in your hair journey... interesante!
DeleteI decided to go natural because of my daughter who have been natural all her life. I wanted us to experience great hair together, knots and tangles as well as wash hair days. She would be five this month and I would be a year natural by june.
ReplyDeleteAwww, that's cute! :)
DeleteTook out my weave one evening and looked at my hair in the mirror, it hadn't grown since d last time i saw it, it was limp and scanty, and it upset me...that night i just happened to stumble upon photos of ladies with natural hair, and the decision was slowly forming...chatted with a friend that same night, and she told me she had cut off all her hair, and the decision solidified... I cut off my hair the next weekend. I hadn't read any natural hair blogs so i didn't know about transitioning, if not, i would hav gone for that option becos my hair was just 2 weeks post relaxer, but it grew out, i cut off d relaxed ends and I'm loving every bit of d experience.
ReplyDeleteAwww, so you basically had a defining moment and that was it!
Delete1) Because of too many bad experiences with relaxers. The process of relaxing had taken on a nightmarish quality in my consciousness, with all sorts of bizarre preparations I had to make before the day, from greasing and powdering my scalp to chilling the relaxer in the freezer!
ReplyDelete2) Because its a beautiful style (TWA). I have photos of myself as a child in my TWA and I think I looked cute. It was a bit of a personal dare, really.
3) Because I wanted to learn my hair, and be responsible for its good health and upkeep. Its been a year since my BC, and I regret nothing. I still get the odd random comment from ignorant, tactless people, but I usually respond by looking them in the eye as I spritz some water over my 'fro.
Overall, I am very happy with my hair. Its softer, fuller, and more vital than its ever been!
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your natural hair journey :)
DeleteThe plan wasn't actually to go natural. I was just restless and wanted something different for a change. So I chopped off my very healthy, very full and very long relaxed hair(something I had done twice before). The staying natural part came later as I tried to adopt a more wholistic lifestyle, I figured I might as well embark on a new hair journey and see where it takes me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, a few people are like you, e.g. Sandra N.U above, who had long relaxed hair but wanted a change.
DeleteIt just looks so much nicer!! :)
ReplyDeleteI recently cut my hair in April 2014. I used to have long hair but have been experimenting with a lot of cuts, still relaxing. But I noticed my hair wasn't growing and my scalp is always itchy. So basically I am on my journey now and experimenting with different products. My scalp still itches but not as much as at used to. I'm hoping to grow my hair as long as I can, and healthy as it can be.
ReplyDeleteIt was by chance. Did the big chop (unknown to me). Just wanted to start all over because I had a stunted growth, itchy scalp and dandruff again! Then I came across this blog when I was 8months natural then I decided never to put any more chemical. So that's it, became natural by chance nd i"m loving every bit of it. *smiles*
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