Hi everyone, I hope all is well. Today’s post will be another check in on my hair journey. I’m sharing my reasons why I have decided to switch to becoming a straight haired natural.

Before we start, can we just recognize how everything in the natural hair community has an official term? lol. I didn’t even know this was a thing until I started my research back in Dec last year. I love this because I love when stuff are properly defined lol. ok lets begin

If you havent already, check out my previous post on rediscovering my natural hair where I laid a pretty good foundation for this post. This post is an expansion on that.

So, why am I switching to a straight haired natural?

When I first went natural in 2011, heat was so frowned upon. Not necessarily because of heat damage although it was a big part but I felt like the conservations were leaning more towards the ‘image’ it portrayed (lack of a better word). I felt it was more so ‘if you blow dried your hair, you were no longer a ‘proper natural’ simply because your hair wasn’t in its natural state i.e. not coily/curly and that meant you hadn’t fully accepted your natural hair. Then of course heat damage but not due to improper & consistent use but more so, any heat even once could damage your hair, so don’t do it. The whole vibe summarized really was relaxed hair= straight hair. Natural hair = curly/coily hair. So if you have gone natural why do you want straight hair? As ridiculous as that sounds to me now, I believed and went with it so yes, no heat touched my hair. I was proud of that because my hair was ‘healthy’ so when I would braid my hair and they would blow dry it first I would be so upset!( It wasn’t till much later, I mean years later that I became a bit more relaxed about heat so I blow-dried at home like once in a blue moon, but still heat was the devil lol)

Looking back, I actually never wore my hair in its natural state but it was never because I hated it. At the very beginning, I did all the twists out, braid outs, wash & gos and all the other ‘natural hair styles’ I could think of BUT they never turned out right. I watched a ton of tutorials and had a lot of products- they just never worked so I gave up. I could never get a defined whatever out, and my hair was left with knots, tangled and frizzy. This was very frustrating. If you have 4c hair or natural hair, you know these are not 5-10 min hair styles. They take a while to do properly and to fully dry so after doing them over and over again and not getting the results I wanted, I just had to leave it for my peace of mind lol. Maybe I just had an unrealistic image but seeing other 4c naturals achieve a defined twist out etc with the exact products I was using but not been able to do it too? phew. HURT! I think I only ever wore a wash and go once successfully but I hated it: too many knots and gel. My go to hairstyles were literally two flat twists OR a slick bun/pony ( Ive looked through my pics, I was very consistent with these 2 styles lol). I don’t really like slick buns because its just too much gel (outer hair is dry but inside is still wet with gel) for it to last a week before you start getting flakes, SIGH.

This gets boring very quickly: its either that or protective styling. When it comes to protective styling, honey I have tried them all! braids, twists, faux locs, pick & drops, kinky hair twists! I think the only style I hadn’t tried is the boho/ goddess braids lol, which I don’t really care for tbh. I also have a good collection of wigs and tried diff textures and styles. I AM BORED OF THAT! I could go back to trying twists outs etc again but at this stage of life, I just don’t have the time.

I had a lot of time in Nov to think which started this whole journey and I thought to myself why am I limiting myself to protective styling or 2 hair styles lol. Why am I so restricted when its the hair that grows out of my head? my time and money. And whatever I have been doing wasn’t working. Clearly I know the absence of heat doesn’t equate healthy hair and I don’t really wear my hair in its natural state so why cant I try something different?

Heat is not the devil and I spent a lot of time just learning about heat damage: what is actually is and how it occurs. This Dyson article is a good start .Then watching a ton of videos of straight naturals who regularly use heat but with no damage, great length retention and healthy hair? That just sealed the deal for me.

So I’m becoming a straight haired natural because I want to do something different with my hair. I want to wear my own hair and enjoy it and move away from the over reliance on protective styling. I’m not saying I will never touch a wig or braids but I just don’t want it to be 1 of 2 styles I can do.

I’m becoming a straight haired natural because heat is not the devil and the absence of it doesn’t equate healthy hair. There are other forms of damage.

Im becoming a straight haired natural because I never wore my hair coily, I doubt I will miss it. And from heat training my hair, if my coils become slightly looser, I count that as a benefit because it will mean less single strand knots!

Im becoming a straight haired natural because I want to lol and if I don’t like it ,I can simply try something else with my hair, colour sounds very exciting!

I have a texture release and silk press to look forward to next month and I am so excited. I cant believe that in the 13 years I have been natural, this texture release/silk press will be the 1st major thing I’ve done since a relaxer! I have been preparing my hair for it since December! Making sure I have a good moisture routine, getting a trim and striking a good balance between olapex/ protein/ moisture treatments. My hair feels so much better than Dec. My shedding & breaking have reduced too. I’m getting there!

I will share my blow drying routine once I have worked out all the kinks lol. (excellent use of puns lol)

These are some articles I found useful as I was deciding on whether I wanted to do this or not

https://www.byrdie.com/heat-training-400255
https://www.dyson.com/knowledge/hair-care/how-does-heat-damage-hair
https://www.dyson.com/knowledge/hair-care/heat-damaged-hair-causes-treatments-and-prevention

I hope this post was helpful! I feel I should do a few more posts on other myths/trends in the natural hair community I followed religiously (some) only to discover its actually not needed: using natural products only otherwise you weren’t a natural? ooh chile we have been through it!

catch you later!