Ladies...... What are the pro's and cons of wearing your hair natural?

UPTOWN CONNEXX

when i first thought of this thread, i wanted to direct it to black women but i wanna hear from other backgrounds too.

why do you wear or not wear your hair natural??

im not judging you, i just want to understand

personally, i like the natural look way better. like when alicia keys came out and used to have the braids or the mini blow out puffs or even the curly fluffy all out afro i was in luvvv with the way she looked.

i dont understand the pros and cons of going natural from a females perspective tho. i could be just running with the end result


whssss good??

Bookworm

I have locs and I love them. I had relaxers all my life until I was 21. It was a never ending cycle of my hair growing and breaking off. I could never get past a certain length and my hair was always thin. I never had the healthy relaxer you see on the box lol. I also was given the mentality by my mom and older sister that I had bad, nappy, nigga hair bc it was never silky straight. In reality my hair was so damaged by the relaxers that I basically had a head full of split ends. I went natural when I was 21 because the hair on one side of my head fell out. It literally looked like I had a one sided mohawk. When I went natural I saw the real texture of my hair for the first time ever. I was soft and kinky and thick . I liked it. I wore an afro for about 4 years until I got tired of it and decided to get locs. I can honestly say that for the first time in my life I LOVE my hair. The only con is that it costs about the same to maintain my locs as it did when I got relaxers. I know some women whose hair thrives with relaxers but I was never one of them.

Mood Indigo

Pros - low maintenance
I can wash and go easily and it doesn't require a lot of time. Also many different hair styles I can wear.

Con -

Detangling can be a bitch.

kai_valya

i wear it natural because it's all i know

my hair is curly naturally, but i do flat iron it a lot. when it's curly, i just wash and wear, but in order for the curls to stay fresh, i have to do that every day or they get really tangled. i iron it cuz it's easier to manage like that, but it tends to get frizzy when it's humid.

so i wear it mainly curly in the summer time, and use the flat iron in the fall/winter

MissK

I have tried to go natural but the grow out period is too much for me because I end up with so many different textures-not cute.

Also, the S/O is not down with cutting it all off so that is not an option.

Hair will stay relaxed but I still keep it pretty low maintenance and I have plenty of options this way-curly, straight, etc.

king hassan

My dauther wants locs but her mother is against it. And my baby got that soft hair that when you braid it it comes straight down. Now her mother put a perm in it and it won't grow, I'm striaght pissed. Shit's breaking her hair off and making it fall out.

Bookworm

king hassan wrote: »

My dauther wants locs but her mother is against it. And my baby got that soft hair that when you braid it it comes straight down. Now her mother put a perm in it and it won't grow, I'm striaght pissed. Shit's breaking her hair off and making it fall out.

I had a niece like that she had really soft loose wavy hair that was almost to the middle of her back. It was pretty low maintenance so I don't know why her grandmother put a relaxer in it. Anyway the texture became rough and course and it broke all the way off. You might want to stop using relaxers.

king hassan

Bookworm wrote: »

king hassan wrote: »

My dauther wants locs but her mother is against it. And my baby got that soft hair that when you braid it it comes straight down. Now her mother put a perm in it and it won't grow, I'm striaght pissed. Shit's breaking her hair off and making it fall out.

I had a niece like that she had really soft loose wavy hair that was almost to the middle of her back. It was pretty low maintenance so I don't know why her grandmother put a relaxer in it. Anyway the texture became rough and course and it broke all the way off. You might want to stop using relaxers.

It's not me putting the relaxer in her hair, it's her mother doing that crazy stuff. I've always been against relaxers, and the funny thing is when I met my daughters mother she had a low ceasar. Everytime my baby get some length to her hair there goes the perm and there goes the hair. When I say something to her about it she gets to cussing and pitching a fit talking about she can do whatever she wants to my daughters hair. SMH

MissK

@kinghassan

Nice to see a guy take an interest in his daughters hair, sorry her mother keeps putting a relaxer in it. I refuse to go this route for my daughter-I want her to appreciate what she has because once you start messing with relaxers it is hard to go back. When she gets older and can make an informed choice and take care of it I will let her decide.

king hassan

~SpecialK~ wrote: »

@kinghassan

Nice to see a guy take an interest in his daughters hair, sorry her mother keeps putting a relaxer in it. I refuse to go this route for my daughter-I want her to appreciate what she has because once you start messing with relaxers it is hard to go back. When she gets older and can make an informed choice and take care of it I will let her decide.

I've always been attracted to natural haired women, my moms sports the mini fro. But my daughter wants locs and I get her hair done every 2 weeks. WHen I pick her up no Fridays her hair be looking like shit. Her moms pull up a pony tail then gel it down SMH I be pissed as hell

MissK

@kinghassan

Okay, does she not know how to do her hair or is it that she doesn't care? It took me plenty of time to learn the texture of my dd's hair and what works best for it, especially since it is so different from my own.

king hassan

~SpecialK~ wrote: »

@kinghassan

Okay, does she not know how to do her hair or is it that she doesn't care? It took me plenty of time to learn the texture of my dd's hair and what works best for it, especially since it is so different from my own.

She can't comb or braid her hair at all. And plus she's lazy. I've seen her put pigtails in my daughters hair that were nice but that's ever so often. My B/M don't work so there should be no excuse for her not practicing in these 10 years.

MissK

Damn shame King...

king hassan

~SpecialK~ wrote: »

Damn shame King...

IKR. Dig, she knows I get her hair done on Saturday morning, so tell me why when I pick her up on Friday I have to get home and take it down and wash and condition it. She should have her hair down by then. She keeps me heated, I just get my daughter and keep it moving

taeboo

Do you get her hair braided King?

king hassan

taeboo wrote: »

Do you get her hair braided King?

Yep, it's a beautician around the way that does it for me. She charges me 35 for just to braid it and 50 to add extension braids.

taeboo

Sometimes braids+relaxers=hair damage, especially if her braids are done tightly. Get some jojoba oil and pure shea butter. Mix the jojoba oil in with the conditioner you use and put a little shea butter in her hair after it's dry. That will help with the hair braking off a lot....

king hassan

taeboo wrote: »

Sometimes braids+relaxers=hair damage, especially if her braids are done tightly. Get some jojoba oil and pure shea butter. Mix the jojoba oil in with the conditioner you use and put a little shea butter in her hair after it's dry. That will help with the hair braking off a lot....

I put the shea butter in there as well. I'm realy working with it to keep it healthy

MissK

agree with using the shea butter-good for hair and skin. Also, seal the ends of her hair to help with moisture retention.

UPTOWN CONNEXX

struggle_cat

Pros: My hair stays healthy, lower maintenence costs, feels better

Cons: When I straighten my hair it curls a little too easily, to keep my curls looking fresh I have to plait my hair some nights and I can't be bothered, takes up a little more time to upkeep.

Still, I prefer natural.

UPTOWN CONNEXX

UPTOWN CONNEXX wrote: »

if nothing at all .... please atleast bear with me and watch part 2


if you dont feel like watching both ... atleast watch part two

beautiful intelligent black queen speaking on that one right at the beginning

Valentinez A. Kaiser

@tabatha_ welcome back stranger!

@uptown yh i watched about half of the 2nd vid... one thing i've found baffling is how it's always been stated that the European standard of beauty has always been imposed on other cultures, to which I'm not disputing. But here's the thing, the majority of black women if you asked them, ain't checking for no European white man to need to conform to that standard as a means to be attractive to him.

Most prefer black men and so it does reiterate the point that the tall bald headed guy was saying and also the short haired woman in the beginning, about black men in particular showing love and support to their daughters about the beauty of their own natural hair. I agree with you though I do find the natural more attractive but then again those women usually seem to have an extra step to their walk too.

struggle_cat

@Valentinez A. Hey mister, how have you been? I haven't been on here nearly two years now and I come back to mad changes SMH

HAF BAYKED

damn @ king thats some b.s.

my bm stays at home too but my baby has a new do every other day.....i be shakin my head like "damn where ya'll going?"....."nowhere, we went outside earlier".....she says it is a job tho

UPTOWN CONNEXX

Valentinez A. Kaiser wrote: »

@uptown yh i watched about half of the 2nd vid... one thing i've found baffling is how it's always been stated that the European standard of beauty has always been imposed on other cultures, to which I'm not disputing. But here's the thing, the majority of black women if you asked them, ain't checking for no European white man to need to conform to that standard as a means to be attractive to him.

nah i think you may have that point twisted, basically what i think they are saying is the white woman has been put on a pedestal in this culture and that "beauty" is defined by what white women look like (straight hair, light skin). in turn, black women who are light skinned and STRAIGHTEN their hair are also considered beautiful (see modeling, acting, and musical artist standards). i dont think they mean that black women are straightening their hair with the hopes that a white man accepts or wants them, but that society considers the natural look of black women as not beautiful or flawed where as with white women their natural look is the standard.

that point does hold weight

Valentinez A. Kaiser wrote: »

Most prefer black men and so it does reiterate the point that the tall bald headed guy was saying and also the short haired woman in the beginning, about black men in particular showing love and support to their daughters about the beauty of their own natural hair. I agree with you though I do find the natural more attractive but then again those women usually seem to have an extra step to their walk too.

women who go natural do tend to be less "easy" to get with. but i cant say thats a bad thing

watching the video, most girls are perming and straightening just because. they dont have any real reason for doing it. like a couple of them said " i perm it because you can do more with it". all that really says is that they dont know too many different ways to wear it natural. maybe its just me but we have threads in ill pix with plenty of different natural styles.
one girl had her whole arguement as " because i do what i wanna do and cant nobody tell me shit. i love myself but i do what i want blah blah blah" LOL
at the end of the day she was lying to the guy with the mic and herself because if tomorrow cats wasnt checking for girls with straight hair you'd see all kinds of natural hairstyles popping up. some of them are saying "its not for anybody but me it just makes me feel good" all that really is saying is that if you go along with what everyone else is doing you have nothing to worry about LOL its almost like an inside joke because you cant say nappy hair looks bad and straight hair makes me feel good and it doesnt matter what anyone thinks but me because if it didnt matter you wouldnt have to do your hair at all.

thats beyond black women thats people in general. if you have a man, you want to look nice for him. if you are a single guy you want to look presentable especially if you are going some where where potential single females will be. not saying you will stress over it like everyday is your wedding but your lying if you say you have no consideration for how others see you lol