I really believe that woman are beautiful no matter what. If you want to rock an amazing weave and it makes you feel good - then do it. If you want to be natural because that's what makes you feel good - then more power to you! Women come in all sizes, shapes and forms. Loc's, braids, curls, straight hair and extension's...
But, I really want to be a source of encouragement for those of us that have chosen a more natural route. So I want to list a few of the perks of being natural and or having Loc's / Dreads:
- No more expensive, time consuming, bi-weekly hair appointments.
- No more painful chemical burns, flat iron burns or damaging chemicals on my hair.
- No more freaking out when it rains, when I sweat or every time the wind blows.
- No more obsessing about how straight my hair is and hating it when my edges are not perfectly straight.
- No more trying to fit into the ideal image of beauty.
- No more bad weaves... lol
- And no more comparing my hair to the next person.
It's very free'ing to not have to do any of this stuff, or worry about any of these things any more. It was a daily battle that I no longer have. I feel more liberated than I have ever felt in a long time.
How about you?!? If you have natural hair, what are some of the perks that you have because of it?
I can totally connect with this post. Currently I am praying daily my hair doesn't pop out after a bad experience with both a chemical relaxer and coloring. I have healthy thick hair, and after the bad experience I'm giving my stylist the boot! My hair started coming out in clumps during processing, fortunately she washed it out before it continued to cry for help. I've tried my hair natural before, but it's so thick I haven't had much success with styling. But thanks for the post, this may be the support I need to try the natural 'do once again.
ReplyDeleteBougie Applebum... I am so sorry to hear about your experience with your ex-stylist. But I hope that your hair will recover, and that if you do decide to go back to be natural that you will have a much healthier pain free experience with your hair. Good luck and keep in touch!
ReplyDeleteKaren
Perhaps this is a bit vain, but I like that pretty much everyone seems to want natural hair but just aren't ready to make the switch. I feel special that the style of my hair is admired by many.
ReplyDeleteAnd I sooooooooooooo love not HAVING to carry an umbrella or wrap my hair every night to preserve a style.
Christy,
ReplyDeleteI love your comments. There are a lot of people that want to "go natural" but have reservations for various reasons. When ever I am approached by someone that wants to go natural, but not sure - I always try to be encouraging without trying to judge or make a decision for them. At the end of the a person can only be happy if they are doing something that makes them feel good.
I love that you are excited about your natural hair. That is something that really makes me happy to see and hear. I look forward to hearing from you again.
Karen
Oh, its a beautiful thing.. one thing for me to add personally tho is that I can have people play in my hair without fretting that they're going to mess it up.. I have a thing for hands in my hair. It's lovely
ReplyDeleteHi Karen. My name is Sharon and I came across your blog a few days ago as I was looking at natural hair care sites. I really love your blog. I am 47 yrs old and I went natural around 2 years ago after wearing relaxed hair for almost 25 years! I don't wear locks but I have my hair in several twists. I love being natural and I found out that my hair is much easier to care for in its natural state than it ever was when it was relaxed. I actually hated my relaxed hair and suffered from dryness and dandruff for a long time.(I think this was due to relaxers.) Now, since I've been natural, I no longer have dandruff, my hair at the temples is finally filling in and my hair is in a much healthier state. I learned more about taking care of natural afro textured hair over the internet than anywhere else. I follow a simple routine, I shampoo and condition 1x a week with Alba botanica products. (their shampoos are plant based and sulfate free) I also use some plant based oils like coconut, shea butter and jojoba oil on my hair. I am not much of a product junkie, but I do like the Qhemet Biologics products and some of the Curls products. I also like Burt bees deep conditioning treatment. I live in a very conservative city in Ohio and there are very few Black women here that wear natural hair. It seems that almost all of them have horribly thin overprocessed relaxed hair or bad weaves. Once in awhile you'll see someone with locs or braids, but very few afros or 2 strand twists. I kind of wished that I lived on the east or west coast where people are more progressive. I heard that in NYC, there are LOTS of Black women of all ages who wear their hair natural. I just wanted to thank you for your wonderful blog and keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteSharonkay - I love your comment. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your journey to natural hair, and more about yourself. What a great read. If it is ok with you, I would love to share this as a highlighted readers comment. Let me know what you think?
ReplyDelete