Debunking natural hair myths 3: Ignorant hairdresser!

Hey guys, I hope everyone is doing great! If you read my previous debunking natural hair myths, Part 1>> http://wp.me/p1uQOd-Ju Part 2 >>http://wp.me/p1uQOd-JM  you would know it was inspired by things I heard or read. Today’s post however was inspired by a conversation I overheard lol yesterday between a ‘hairdresser’ and another man.

He said

Natural hair is just a trend that will die down soon. You know how people catch on to trends. They will realise its expensive and it’s not suitable for UK weather. Natural hair is not versatile, there’s not much you can do with it

Because I was eavesdropping (lol, well I wasn’t I was in the next room and the door was open lol) I couldn’t just barge in and lecture him. I thought about what I heard all the way home and how it’s a pity to hear this from a hairdresser. He’s probably the type to convince you to relax your hair if you walked into his salon. Anyway today’s post will focus on debunking all the myths he said

1. Natural hair is a trend- I think this is subjective depending on who you talk to. For instance, if you talk to someone who has seen a lot of perfectly defined twist outs and amazing voluminous hair, they are somehow led to believe that will be their case once they transition. They don’t really know what goes into that process aka pre poo, detangle, wash, deep condition, LOC then twist, dry, fluff then ROCK lol. So they transition only to find it’s not the case and give up, it is to those people that natural hair is a trend. I believe most things started off as a trend but stuck because people found it worked for them and they liked it. I also I believe if you did your research prior to transitioning and you had a personal reason/issue why you transitioned aka you had damaged hair etc, and you believe transitioning to natural hair is the only way to recovery, then  you are more likely to keep your natural hair afterwards. it will not die down for those people that has become their lifestyle
2. Natural hair is expensive- I must confess I thought the same thing when I first became natural, and of course I thought I needed a separate conditioner to detangle and condition. I also thought I needed 10000 different oils for my hair. But now I believe it’s either more or less expensive than relaxed hair. It will cost whatever you put into it. I can have natural hair and use the bare minimum products or relaxed hair with the most products. But for the sake of this man, let’s look at some prices comparisons of natural and relaxed hair products in the same category.

Shampoos

Relaxed hair- Elasta QP shampoo for relaxed hair £2.49/237ml

Natural hair- Motions nourish and acre active moisture shampoo £2.99/473ml

Conditioner

Relaxed hair- Olive oil formula replenishing conditioner- £2.99/250ml

Natural Hair- Eco natural cocktail conditioner- £2.99/8oz

 

I could go on. It’s what you decide to buy.  A lot of these products are suitable for all hair types too. I think the main reason people think it’s expensive is 1. Some time ago, companies that made natural hair products were very limited hence the high price 2. I believe when you transition or first become natural there is a lot of products that are thrown at you that you want to try out, hence you buy, buy, buy. Trust me when I say about 60% of products you would buy in the first year of been natural will not work for you. As you experiment and play around with different products, you will know your staple products and what works best for your hair.

If he is saying natural hair is more expensive because of all the styling products or oils we buy, once again he is wrong because we just swapped wrapping/setting lotions for curl defining cremes/gels and so forth. But again this really depends on the individual and how much they are willing to spend on their hair products

3. It’s not suitable for UK weather- 1^st of all, no hair is ever suitable for UK weather lol that’s why we got weaves, braids and wigs. Say no more
4. Natural hair is not versatile, there’s not much you can do with it- well mister take a look at the countless videos on YouTube and decide for yourself

I hope I did a good job debunking these myths, what do you guys think? I would love to hear others opinions on some stuff he said, make sure you comment below: whether you’re relaxed or natural!

Naturals do you think been natural is more expensive than when you were relaxed? People that transitioned but when back to relaxing their hair, what made you go back? Was it a trend for you or did you find it difficult/ not enough time? Do you think I am been defensive because I am natural?

It really gets on my nerves to hear ignorant stuff about natural hair, what people decide to do with their hair is their personal business so why say foolish things about something just because it’s not the norm?. Anyway let me go and drink this tea and apply my oils and sleep lol.

Love

Sarah