Why going natural isn't for everyone
9:07 PM
Why Going Natural Isn’t For Everyone
So being natural is a huge movement within the African American community, embodying a sense of pride for ourselves. Our natural hair textures are to be embraced by ourselves, each other, and by european minded society in which long straight or wavy hair is considered the ideal image of beauty. Some of us were introduced to the “Creamy Crack”, hair relaxing products by our parents as children as a way to create more manageable hair styles, and others transitioned to it after being tired of the hassle of maintaining our wonderful natural hair. Hence, why the following opinion exist:
Being natural isn’t for everyone…..
And I mean that in non disrespectful way towards the movement. Obviously being natural is for everyone seeing as that its how our hair grows from our scalps, but it can be a task and a half at times. The movement is great, but it just isn’t for everyone, and i’ll explain why.
Being natural is…..time consuming!
It takes time to be natural. Daily twist outs, weekly wash/conditions, detangling, moisturizing, preparing for the natural life, and so many other factors that we don’t factor in when considering being natural. For women who have a busy lifestyle, being natural may not be beneficial because they don’t have the time to commit to their hair. Of course you could always be natural without putting a lot of time into it,but the best hair comes from maintenance.
Being natural is…...expensive!
Think of all the things that you need to maintain your hair properly. Shampoo, conditioner, combs, moisturizers, supplies, etc. Well being natural is doubly expensive because of all the products that are needed to maintain our hair. I’m talking oils, moisturizers, regular conditioner, deep conditioner, co wash conditioner, curl enhancements….need I go on? And the constant flow of having to re purchase and buy more things to try can become very tedious. Although the trying new products part is fun!
Being natural…..can be disheartening
How many of us have seen poster children of the natural hair community with luscious 3c/4a curl pattern? And how often does this image give a false impression of what a sister’s natural hair will reflect? Quite a bit. You’ll hear “ I didn’t know what my real hair looked like until after I cut it…” or “Why doesn’t my hair look like that?” Reason being, a good percentage of natural African Americans have 4c hair, which is tight. Some people’s hair is thick, others have dense hair. After seeing what your real hair looks like and not liking it, you’re headed to get some weave BUT you have to get a closure because your real hair doesn’t match the texture of the hair? Yea it can be a little much at times.
This is not to discourage ANYONE from going natural, it is to educate you on some things you may not be aware of before going natural. It's more so to help you avoid cutting all of your precious relaxed hair to only determine that natural hair takes work so you want to go back relaxed, like me.
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