This article is about a few of struggles and stresses about having natural hair in today's society and how we take care of our hair. It is stressful but worth it!
1. Being a Product Junkie.
I'm not sure about you guys,but when I hear someone talking about a product that worked really well for them I HAVE TO GET IT! Its like my immediate response to go buy it. I can have all the products in the world and still think I need more. I have a full bin at home full of product that only I use unless my mother or cousin asks if they can use it.
2. Your hair Isn't growing as fast as you want it to.
I know when I see a girl who has been natural for like two years, she has done what we call a "Big Chop" and everything, and her hair is down her back, I'd be really frustrated with myself. Why? Because I have been natural almost my entire life and my hair won't grow like that. Sad isn't it. It really is a struggle honestly.
3. Some of the best products are the most costly
If you have ever seen that meme where it says "natural hair is for broke girls", that has to be the most untrue thing in the world. Seriously I end up paying probably $30+ just for shampoo, conditioner, and some oils. Product lines like Carols Daughter, Shea Moisture, Miss Jessie's, As I Am, Curls, Mixed Chicks, and so many others are very costly products because they are the most used products. And when you get a good discount-aw man it is a beautiful thing.
4. You have a bad day because, your "twist out/braid out/bantu knots" didn't come out right in the morning .
Listen I feel this on a spiritual level. Let me give you the run down. You're up at night before bed twisting, braiding or bantu knotting your hair. The twist are a nice size and juicy, you using the best curling smoothies and oils. and u wrap it up at night. In your mind, you just KNOW that this is about to come out so bomb. Only to wake up in the morning and untwist them and end up with nothing but disappointment. You just instantly get stressed because now your day started off bad and probably going to continue to be bad.
5. Wash Day LITERALLY takes a whole day.
When its that dreaded day of wash day, especially if you have a lot of hair, just know that all your plans that involve going outdoors are canceled. People think we are joking when we say no to going somewhere because of wash day. Like " it's just shampoo and conditioning how long could that take?". Usually it depends on when you start. If you start early you might actually finish before 8 pm. Now, why is it so long? It depends on routines, length of hair, thickness of hair and the state that your hair is in. You might have detangle then make a protein mask and let thatsit for hours. The deep conditioning takes hours. Then the washing and conditioning again. maybe a hot oil treatment. Tons of stuff to keep our hair healthy.
6. DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR !!
You know what really grinds my gears? I spend all night trying to achieve the perfect puff or fro. My curls be on fleek and edges are LAID, all for someone to come and try to touch and pull on it like "omg can I touch your hair?" "how did you get it to be so curly?". First of all NO NO NO NO, you don't ask someone can you touch their hair while already reaching to do so. Secondly, I'm not a pet don't rub my hair, because if you mess up my curl pattern, that I worked so hard on, I'm not going to be held responsible for the consequences you suffer. By the way, that is also sort of microaggressive...so just don't do it.
7. When your hair is in that 'awkward' stage
The awkward stage is when your hair is at a weird length in its natural non-flat ironed state and it is really hard to style it. It's between not too long and not too short (like mine). It is so difficult to find different hair styles that fit me perfectly. My hair is either too short for the desired hair style or too long for the other. ANNOYING! Then you get stuck wearing the same styles. It's the worst believe me.
8. Weaves, crochet braids, and other forms of fake hair our PROTECTIVE STYLES. We have hair!
So apparently people think we wear weaves and fake hair because we have none...lol That is hilarious. No, we wear them because they are what we call protective hair styles. It means that they protect our hair from heat and chemicals and being constantly manipulated by constant brushing and pulling and twisting. They also help our hair grown because we leave it alone and just make sure it is moisturized and oiled well. I personally don't like to put heat in my hair that much unless I'm doing a length check. I wear protective styles about 85% of the entire year and the growth I have gotten from it is wonderful.
9. SHRINKAGE -__-
So this word is the DEVIL. No seriously. Shrinkage, for those who don't know, is when your hair is coiled very tightly and it gives off the illusion that you have short hair. However, if the hair is stretched out to its max you can see how long it really is. It's like magic. This is a problem for when you want to do certain styles and you hair doesn't want to cooperate with you and stretch out some for this hair style so your fro or you puff looks way smaller than it could be. Different hair types experience shrinkage differently. Yes there are different types of natural hair curl patterns.
10. STOP SHAMING 4B/4C HAIR !!
For those who don't know, these hair types are some of the really diverse hair types but they are shamed because they don't look like societies view of "good hair" type of natural. Because it doesn't have a defined curl pattern people like to call it nappy (rude!). People with this type of hair experience the worst type of hair shrinkage EVER. But seriously if you say you love natural hair call 4b/4c hair nappy and bad hair then you ARE NOT for the natural hair care movement.
So that is all this article was long I know but I really wanted to educated people who didn't know much about natural hair. The numbers of women with natural hair are increasing so why not be a little well versed in certain areas of it.
