Three years ago, I made the decision to stop chemically relaxing my hair. It was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made. Since I've gone natural my hair has grown faster, thicker, and overall healthier. I love telling people the benefits of going natural. For me, it hasn't been that much additional work (I keep my hair straight with a flat iron).

1. Versatility

This is probably my favorite thing about natural hair. When I feel like wearing my hair straight, I pull out the flat iron. When I feel like wearing my hair curly, I add water. It's easy to achieve the style I want without adding chemicals. I can be a different person any day!

2. Better growth

Since going natural, my hair just grows better. When I had relaxers, my hair would grow to a certain point, then stop. Now, my hair is continuously growing. Like most girls, I love having long hair. Without the damage and breakage of having relaxed hair, my hair is finally free to grow to its full potential.

3. Relaxers suck

I'm sorry to say this but I hateeeee relaxers. When I was younger, I always wanted straight hair. But the process to get there involved many tears, sores, and headaches. I would cry everytime I got my hair relaxed. I'd have sores in my head for days. Not. Worth. It.

4. Healthier

My hair is so healthy now. The shedding has stopped. It's full and thick. It's hold volume. Basically everything I wanted my hair to do then, it does it now. Looking great is great. But, actually being great is what's really important.

5. Can achieve better styles

Because my hair is thicker and holds more volume, it holds styles longer and better. When I curl my hair, it will stay bouncy for a week! In my relaxer days, my hair was too thin and frail to be stay curled for a day. What fun is that?

6. Lots of information available

Thanks to the Natural Hair Movement, there is so much information online about how to properly take care of natural hair. I had no idea how to take care of my hair when it was relaxed, let alone in its natural state. Now, whenever I have a hair problem, I just let google and youtube tutorials be my guide.

7. Lots of products available

Another shout out to the natural hair movement, the products. Three years ago when I decided to go natural, I simply bought a transitioning kit online that helped me with going from straight and fragile to kinky and strong! You can find so many products that are natural and have lots of health benefits for your fro!

8. Self-love

I think the best thing about going natural is learning to love my hair how it is. For so long, I was trying to achieve a style by any means necessary. I never found my natural hair to be beautiful. Honestly, I never really saw its true form until now. Now, I've learned to really appreciate my hair and love it no matter what.

Being natural has so many benefits. Not just for your hair, but as a black woman, it also benefits who I am and how I feel about myself. If going natural sounds like it's for you, leave a comment and I can help you get started!