Why do we turn natural after years, in some cases decades of relaxing our hair and declare all out war on relaxers and its users? I agree that it is liberating and absolutely amazing to know we are rocking the naps God gave us but why the strong urge to convince all females we know to ditch their trusty creamy friend? Hand on my heart I have to say that I too tried with wayyy to much enthusiasm and eagerness to convert my relaxer-loving friends. I may have secretly felt that my choice to go natural was because I was happy to be me, the real me, unaltered, un-straighten, un-restrained by tri-monthly painful salon visits just kinkly real me. But c'mon who was I fooling, natural hair isnt all fun and games. I dont know about you but from time to time, when I cant make my hair look "neat and presentable" when I cant quite rock the hairstyle the bride wants all bridesmaids to sport on her big day I miss my relaxer days. Only for a moment though. Clearly there are pros and cons of being natural vs having relaxed hair. Personally, I now cringe when I read things like "Relaxing hair is like being in a prison" or when I hear relaxer being referred to as "creamy crack". I shared this new found peeve of mine with a fellow naturalista on watsapp and this was her response:
So lovely naturalistas, whilst we hope that job employers, family and friends, males we adore and the world in general embrace/appreciate/not judge our curlykinkynaps, may we also learn to embrace/appreciate/not judge the relaxer and all its known accomplices, admirers and addicts. To each her own.
I hereby promise myself, that in all future conversations about relaxers with non-naturalistas, I shall restrict my war on relaxer to my hair only well.... and the hair of my unborn daughter(s) and I will tell people about the joys of being natural without morphing into a fully armed and unwavering naturalista titan.
Kinks and Curls,
Feyi.
I would really like to go natural but I find that those who have natural hair still cover it up with weaves or braids once in a while and I'm not really a fan of extensions. Do u have any tips on how to transition and stay natural without having to cover it up?
ReplyDeleteI struggled with that as well. I never do weaves and very rarely did braids. I found that while I was transitioning if I did straight styles like I would did with my relaxed hair it looked weird. It was visibly obvious that my roots were a different texture to the rest of my hair. So I opted for doing twists with my hair a lot and styled my twists, flat twists are also a good option. When I did do straight styles like putting my hair back in a bun I would have to put some gel on the roots. I opted for natural aloe vera gel (http://www.curlyemporium.co.uk/products/Aloe-Fix-Styling-Gel-16oz.html) cos I didnt want to damage my roots. When the new growth got a bit too obvious to hide, I got frustrated and took it as an indicator that it was time for my big chop.
DeleteHope this helps.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete