These days, more sisters are embracing their natural hair – straying away from harsh relaxers and drying chemicals for a more free feel to their hair. The transition to going natural can be a tough and lengthy decision for some (chopping off your hair/growing out a relaxer) – but, the end result can be well worth it.
In entertainment, where glam and long lengths are to the full front – it’s always great to see others like India Arie, Jill Scott, and Erykah Badu hit the stage with natural dope hairstyles. Its also great to see the growing movement of locking, that’s has even been considered trendy these days despite its roots and historic value.
So with natural and non-relaxed hair becoming more emphasized and popularized – its important to learn where to start and how to transition if you are thinking about taking this step. Here is a list of site where you can do your research and get help on beginning this journey – whether it be for natural curls, a super fro, or long dreads:
It’s also important to know that straight hair isn’t the only type of hair with alot of styling options – that are many fly natural styles to choose from as well! Check these blogs on ideas for styling:
These fierce ladies show that you can be just as fab in Hollywood with natural locs! Who is your favorite natural hair’d celebrity? These aren’t the only ones of course, so feel free to shout out the ladies I forgot to feature!
People need to be more natural anyways and stop with the weaves and perms. EVERYONE..Yes I am talking about u too white folks.
At #58……cute comment
Thanks so much for this! Natural hair is healthy, beautiful and versatile. It’s great that we have lots of options and sisters ought to do exactly what they want with their hair. However, it would be mentally and spiritually healthy if we could get past the good-hair bad hair slave mentality syndrome. Women who rock natural styles look confident and beautiful. We also get hordes of compliments. If you’re interested or doubtful, please read Alice Walker’s “Oppressed Hair Puts A Ceiling On The Brain” from Living By The Word. Enuff said!
If you have the self esteem to do it, I encourage all sista’s to go natural. Be inspired by a lot of the sista’s from the 70′s. While many of them wore wigs, many wore fro’s and other natural styles.
I say down with the weaves for a while.
#120, I know a lady who has gorgeous locs, but she pays the same to get it twisted and washed as the next woman would to get relaxers, washes, color, etc., so I get what you are saying. She never does her own hair. She said she likes for someone else to do it. Her daughter is natural as well w/2 strand twists. I personally do not believe in little girls, 4-12 years old, getting relaxers. I see so many little girls with invisible hair lines and no hair in the back. I personally have never had issues w/relaxers and color such as breaking off, burns, falling out, etc., so it was never a big deal to me. I do not need a relaxer, but I think for a lot of people, it’s something done out of habit.
YAY!!!
Bout time yall did a spotlight! Im natural with nappy kinky krazy hair, AND I LUV IT!
I’ve been natural since 2004 and I love my hair for the first time in my life. Never liked my hair when I had a relaxer.
Doesn’t the natural thing only work if you are biracial or something? Don’t mean to seem ignorant but I’ve always wondered whether every type of black woman can grow a curly afro? Most of the celebs shown seem to be African American light skinned. Any African girls rocking an afro? What’s it like??
Wow! I’ve been natural all my life and one thing i despise is when people refer to going natural or being natural as a movement.
Why does hair have to be such a political statement. That’s why some black girls do not want to go natural because of fear of being associated with a revolution or movement.
P.S Great thread!
I researched for 5 years and talked to ladies who had already loc’d their hair. I never liked relaxers. As a child I had long, thick, beautiful hair, but as an adult it was limp, thin, and dull due to chemicals. In August of 2007 after spending all day removing fake hair from head that I had worn in twists I had a “waiting to exhale moment” and cut all of my hair off. I wore a natural for a month and in September 2007 I loc’d my hair using the latch hook method. It is the best decision I ever made in my life. I feel so much better about myself. It was a big self-esteem builder and I feel so beautiful and sexy. I don;t have to worry about the weather and I can wear my hair in so many different styles just like I did with a relaxer, except I don’t have to worry about my hair “falling” or looking a mess because it rained or it is humid. It was a physical and spiritual journey for me. Other than battling others ignorance (including my family and friends) I have received nothing but positive feedback. I use Tah Waajid natural haircare products which can be ordered online if you can’t fine them in the store. She uses all natural ingrediens and she is a sista so I like supporting her. The products are light and non greasy and do not build up. The website is http://www.blackearthproducts.com or http://www.naturalhair.org. Going natural is not about saving money because I spend money to have it “tightened” and on natural haircare products just like I did with a relaxer. Peace, love, and hairgrease! Be blessed!
Sorry I misspelled the name in the previous email. I guess I am still sleepy. The haircare products I use are Taliah Waajid.
Taliah Waajid
What about dread extensions???
i’ve been rocking my hair natural on and off for about the last 6 years now… i’m 25…almost 26…. and have rocked it consistently for about the last 4 years!!! i feel soooooooooooo much better about myself when i’m natural rather than having the looooooooooong flowy hair down the back!!! my natural hair is long anyway but i feel good when it’s rocked in a fro or kinky curly fro type deal!!! and surprisingly guys have approached me more when my hair is in a fro because they like the fact that i’m so bold i guess… and that i stand out from other chicks who are so concerned about their hair being straight!!! i’m a black woman… born black…will die black!!! my hair is like wool…. softer….but same concept… i embrace the fact that i’ve been given nappy roots… and i love it… that’s the hand i was dealt and so i’m gonna play it no matter what!!! LOVE YOUR NATURAL BLACK FEATURES LADIES!!! LOVE IT!!!
natural is beautiful maybe i’ll have to guts to do it one day too, but as for Yaya’s haristyle and the cover where the girl who is featured has curls that gold and brown.. do they have hair that looks like there’s almost to where you could buy in a store and have someone sow it in ? would it be like water wavy ? or what kind of style would you call it ?
Niger Girl
Sunday, May 3, 2009 /
“Doesn’t the natural thing only work if you are biracial or something? Don’t mean to seem ignorant but I’ve always wondered whether every type of black woman can grow a curly afro? Most of the celebs shown seem to be African American light skinned. Any African girls rocking an afro? What’s it like??”
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see that’s the beautiful thing about natural hair: the freedom! even if you don’t have loose curls like traycee ellis ross, you’ll still love your hair. natural hair works for every woman that wants to make it work for her. if you can, hit up some of the suggested sites, because you will see ALL types of women rocking great natural hair…biracial, multiracial and yes african (like you asked). all hair textures (because that’s what your referring to) can be grown and maintained with a lot of care. personally from what i’ve seen, every woman has hair that grows in some kind of curl pattern. however, it’s just the tightness or looseness of the curl (one’s hair type) that varies from woman to woman…but i have seen some women on hair sites who have said that their hair has NO curl pattern. so i guess it depends on who you ask.
i added a few links of a young woman with (what she describes as) afro-hair. afro-hair can be translated to meaning that she has coarse, kinky hair. her natural hair journey is incredible…and she proves that you can have and GROW great hair in ANY texture.
http://www.slide.com/r/IB...;ciid=2522015791535884898
http://members.fotki.com/Sera252/about/
i hope that this helps
by the way, i’m not natural (although i have been in the past)…i just have a wonderful appreciation for all hair
great post!
This is really a great post!!! I’m transitioning now and I can’t wait to rock my beautiful natural do. Its only been a little over 4 months but i’m so happy I’m off the “creamy crack”!
the bald is cute, that curly sh– is ug–, that look like MEDUSA
It’s so refreshing to see Concrete loop celebrate natural hair. Going on 4 years here, its a rebirth, an awakening. Caring for your hair encourages you to care for the rest of your body and soul.
If I can give one piece of advice, if you’re going to go natural, use natural products, no petroleum or commercial products. Shea butter and mix of vegetable glycerin & water is all you need. Vegetable glycerin makes my hair super soft, softer than any commercial conditioner, AND it’s natural. Also try sleep on a satin pillowcase to prevent breakage.
Good luck with any woman on a new natural hair journey!
Does anyone know of any good but affordable shops in nyc for locs???? I keep hearing of madd shops in jersy that charge around 40-50, but in nyc everyone charges like $100 or more which i think is crazy….
THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES FOR THIS! I’m currently transitioning from relaxed to natural, and the big chop is not an option for me! This will give me some great ideas!
@84 re: … some black people’s hair is not like those pics above.
I am SOOOOO glad someone said that. So many people who are “natural” don’t want to be “nappy.” I HATE HATE HATE that the natural hair movement has become just another way for certain black people to obsess over long/curly hair.
I think way too many people think “natural” equals the whole Joan from Girlfriends look. I found out quickly that my hair was NOT going to do that. I went through alot over that, especially since on a lot of these so-called “natural” sites, all you will see is curly curly and more curly. I went to that natural hair expo here in ATL last month. Baby, if there were 400 products being hawked there, 200 of them were curling pomades and 199 of them were curling devices! I find it all so frustrating – it’s just another form of self hate.
I won’t go on and on, but I blogged about this: http://shade4days.blogspo...o-be-nappy-not-quite.html
If you want to go natural, by all means, do it. But be realistic about what it means and understand that you may not get what you think you will get – but that doesn’t mean your hair isn’t any good. You also can get a curly look with twist outs if that’s what you like.
Ironically I get ‘waves’ with my twist out – but I prefer it to ‘fro out! lmao I also like locs that are bigger rather than those skinny ass ones. Go figure!
PS: I don’t care what ANYBODY says, I fail to see how ceramic pressing your hair every week will not take your hair out. Heat is heat.
I love my locs, Im 3 years in. My hair is strawberry red on the tips and everybody wants to knw who did my hair . yes! Never Dark & lovely perm my hair again EVER! lol!
Interesting….
I started going natural back in 2006. Don’t get me wrong… growing out the relaxer and flat ironing the roots was a certified pain in the a**! But now that I’m all natural I will NEVER go back to relaxing! I love my hair. True acceptance is a beautiful thang. Finding beauty in the natural gifts God has granted you… priceless.
I have been a fan of Concrete Loop for quite a while. I am so happy to see that my Natural Hair Blog has been mentioned in this post. Thank you…. very cool!
Karen
http://www.naturalbeautifulhair.com
http://naturalhairbeauty.blogspot.com
Bravo! I love to see a site where being natural is ‘hot’ and not ‘extreme’. (I’ve heard some insults that were supposed to be complements, TRUST. ) Anyway..
@ Chigo, locks do not make your hair fall out. I’ve heard stuff like that before.. It’s all supposed to scare you off from the style. I’ve also heard that relaxers make your hair grow and if you stop getting them your hair will fall out. This is also not true. Though sometimes the relaxed hair will fall off, it’s only because of the damage previously done to it, not the fact that you went natural. Infact, most people have to actually CUT the hair off. So that’s not true. If you’d like to give locks a try shop around for the best price if you want them done in a salon, or you can just do it yourself. (It is not as hard as some make it look, trust me. )
As for the cutting of locks if you don’t want them anymore, that is KINDA true. You can pick them loose, but it would probably be mostly a waste of time, since locks are formed from shed hair. Meaning, when you pick that long long lock apart, most of the hair will just drop off, as it is shed hair anyway. Locs were pretty much meant as a permanent hair style, as it takes so long to acheive, and is nearly impossible to pick apart. If you do decide on locks, know that you will more than likely have to cut them off if you don’t want them anymore. (And for all those ‘experts’ out there, I actually have locks.. I’m not just blowin’ it out my butt here. I have a little experience. :p )
Anyway the most important thing is to have your mind set to do it. Just like going natural it takes having a well made up mind or you’ll just go back to the usual. People are going to have all sorts of ‘advice’ for you. (Especially advice to NOT do it.) You have to weed out all the crap and just get the straight truth. Say thank you, and go for what you know is best.
Oh and Chigo, you don’t have to cut off all your hair to lock. It’s not well known, or frequently told, but you can even start with RELAXED hair. (If white folks can lock, what makes you figure yours is too slick with a relaxer to lock? )
However, that relaxed hair may be damaged and may break and the lock may not look the same all the way down. But you can always take care of your loose natural hair, then start your locks once you get some growth.
A good site to take a look at is http://www.nappturality.com , you’ll need to let Dee know you’re wanting to join if you have a ‘free’ email address. (hotmail, gmail, yahoo, ect.) because of all the spammers comin’ up in there. But the site is FULL of information. It will do you good to check it out.
Yeah..I’ve been natural 7 months now! I love it!
@ 84 you are so right btw.
@ HealthySistersUnite #100.
Just because a black woman’s hair is curly does not mean she has a texturizer, or is mixed ,in some cases this is true for either but not all. Our hair comes in so many varieties and most of us have more than one texture on our heads anyway. So let’s not go talking about things we are unsure of.
And for those of you who are new or thinking about going natural, don’t free your self from the relaxers and get bound into natural hair typing. No one’s texture whether straight, curly, or kinky is better than the other, it’s just different.
I ‘ve been “semi-nautral” as I like to call it for 2 years now. What I mean by semi-natural is I only relax my hair 2-3 times a year, which means I stretch my relaxers. I love doing this b/c I still have the option to wear my hair curly, too. My hair is much more THICK, and overall healthy. And anytime I need my hair bone straight, I just break out the CHI iron. It straightens your hair like you’ve just had a fresh perm. Don’t believe me? You guys can check out my pics at
fotki.com/denishiaj
I love being natural. Its the best decision I’ve ever made and honestly, I feel prettier now than ever. Sometimes I have my regrets about not having cute springy curls, but I would rather have my nappilcious hair than anything else.
hairsmystory.com
Sheer Beauty
This is a great post, thanks!
Ladies, save your edges!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A pretty face and straight hair doesn’t look cute with bald spots and a hair line that starts behind your ears. Go natural at the first sign of thinning…. Nice post and I’ve been “kinky” for more than 5 years.
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