Cutting my Relaxer and going Natural....maybe!

I haven't had a relaxer since August 2010. I didn't do the big chop. I just kept it braided or in a quick weave until it all grew out. I have a sew in now and I love it. When I do wear my natural hair I rock an afto puff or a blow out.

Hi Chika!!! Nothing against naturals this is just my story Im 30. For my entire adult life i have been hideous to my hair and i started paying for it around the age of 25. I love different styles, especially weave!! I do braids, I do perms, cuts, color, etc. Well after years of damage i decided in November 2010 to take care of my hair starting with going natural. i grew my hair out for 6 months wearing sew ins and braids. I then did the big chop. Now, i never wanted to sport my natural curls as i have what i consider bigger features and i dont think that it fits my face,, with that being said, the big chop for me was to just to get rid of all the perm, which i thought was my breakage reason, all together. Fast forward to January 2012. I had a nice length, chin lengh bob when straightened. I was happy. Then came the problem. Working out!!! You cant work out with a natural, unless you want to rock your natural curls lol. Anytime your hair gets wet, sweating, rain, etc, your hair curls to its natural state and remember i want to wear my hair straight. So after trying to limit my working out due to my hair and getting frustrated, i went back to the creamy crack lol. i loved the way my hair felt natrural but it didnt work for me because i was unwilling to rock my natural curls. Now i have focused on living with my hair and not weave while working out. I have learned that no matter if you perm or dont perm your hair....how you treat it is going to determine how it looks and feels. I wash and do either a protein treatment or a deep conditioner at home every week and go to the salon bi weekly. I probably spend 100$ a month on my hair, but now that its trained to wrap properly with less heat and that i take care of it i absolutely love love love it!!! i always thought you had to choose between working out or your hair, but its really about how you manage it. So when i workout...which i do almost everyday at random times, i wrap my hair and put a cotton scarf on it (cotton soaks up sweat better...i do sleep in a satin scarf) and go workout. immediately after working out i take the wet scarf off. Each head is different...i can sweat for an hour and the only part of my head that gets really wet is the front. the key is to let it dry. after removing the wet scarf i put i dry satin one on and get ready for work. it takes me about 45 minutes to get dressed for work and for the most part my hair is ready by then. if you work out overnight it will definitely be dry in the morning. For example this morning i worked out from 6 am to 7am..put my satin scarf on my hair at 7am....showered and got dressed and unwrapped my hair at 745 am...ready for work its been such a journey to get to where i am today with my hair but im a so happy that it ended this way. i feel like i have found my hair zen...:happy: my opinion is....whatever you choose you are going to have to spend a little time maintaining your hair...I suggest not going natural if you are not ready to really "Go Natural". Now if you are ready to rock your curls, go natural!! i see so many woman at the gym who shake out their curls and go!! its a beautiful thing!

Hit up CurlyNikki.com

Great site for advice. I find that being natural I spend a bunch of time doing my hair at night vs in the morning. I'm still spending a bunch of time on my hair. Going natural will not let you go from bed to shower to out the door. You still have to style it. And ain't nothing like being a newbie and trying out a style. Spending an hour before bed twisting and stuff for your hair to look like total crap when you take it out. Just like weight lost, it's a progress. Good luck though. I've been natural for years and love it.

Relaxer free over here! For two years once this august passes. I love that my hair is soft now rather than crinkly. I am still not completely used to managing it sometimes, in other words I get more frustrated. But I'll just twist it and leave it alone for a week when that happens.

Edit: After the big chop I had last summer, it became a lot more easier to manage the hair. i'd recommend doing that sooner than later, but I'm biased since it was easier for me that way.

I love my NATURAL hair! Best part about it is no matter what rain, sweat, snow, sleet, sex (LOL), I can withstand any element and now have to worry about my hair. It's a truly liberating thing. The money and time spent maintaining a relaxer is ridiculous to me in hindsight. My only regret about going back to natural is that I didn't do it sooner (8 years chemical free).

Join the "Natural Hair" group on Facebook (the one with about 35,000 members). It is one of the most resourceful natural hair havens on the internet. Check out You Tube and search natural hair. It too is a wonderful resource.

I LOVE my natural hair !! Do it !! Its healthier anyway

Do it, do it!

You're looking after your body, so look after your hair too

Kimmaytube on Youtube is really good.

bump!

I went natural 11-ish? years ago. I grew up doing press and curl, then jheri and perms (or rather having them done to me!) ... and suffered so many chemical burns on my head that my hair had a pretty rough time. Still pretty thin on top all this time later. I cut the perm off gradually and wore twists until I was brave enough to loc my hair. 5 years in, I cut off all my locs .... STUPID! but as soon as my hair got enough length for itty bitty twists, I twisted it and it started growing like gangbusters ... (well, except that front part). Here are a couple of blogs I've run across:

http://www.curlynikki.com/
http://hairitis.tumblr.com/
http://hairnista.blogspot.com/

best of luck with whatever you decide!