Has this happened to you?

[MrJohnsonsRib]

Has your hair grown out as say 4a then over time grow out as 3c? I talked to the lady who was helping me with my dental eval yesterday and she was natural. Very gorgeous soft 3 something hair. She said her hair was not always like that and that her hair grew out that nice after about 2/3 years of being natural and chemical free. Her friend told her that her hair should look better and to give it time. Sure enough she got some nice 3 hair. She tells me that her friend explained that the PH level of the scalp helps determine how your hair grows out...so of course after your hair stops geting relaxed the scalp goes back to it's natural more balanced state giving your hair folicles a much better environment causing it to grow out beautifully...has this happened to you or someone you know or is it a figment of the imagination? I mean I don't really know. I never saw her hair before that day and could not be the judge of it myself. Could someone give me their input on this idea. I would appreciate it. Feel free to discuss it and post up pictures or info about PH leves and your scalp.

 

[Ramya]

I've heard of scab hair and I actually had some. I still have a few patches to cut out but the ends of my hair did not resemble the new growth after I BC'd. I've been natural before and at this length my hair looks different than it did the first time. I'm just going to wait it out and see what happens.

 

[BrownEyez22]

Hasn't happened to me, but I've seen a few pictures of naturals who seemed to hair tighter coils/curls at first and as they gained length the pattern looked very different from their BC. Could be a scab hair type of thing?

I'll be making my year in a few days and everything looks the same still.

 

[lilree]

It has not happened to me. I am currently transitioning.
BUT I have read (Eating for Beauty by David Wolfe) that eating a more alkaline diet can affect your hair texture, creating a different curl pattern. So, an affect of the acidity of a relaxer on the scalp seems also possible.

 

[ThickHair]

IMHO I think as her hair grew it got heavier and stretched out her curl. If she cut it short, I believe she would be back to her 4a hair. I have seen plenty yt girls with wavy hair and when it is short it is very curly.

 

[Pandora1975]

I don't know for certain if it was scab hair or what, but I am going from cnap to 4a in the front. I'm thinking that length and, more importantly, moisture angeneral health plays a role in that.

 

[Ramya]

IMHO I think as her hair grew it got heavier and stretched out her curl. If she cut it short, I believe she would be back to her 4a hair. I have seen plenty yt girls with wavy hair and when it is short it is very curly.

hmm that could be it. My hair was a lot longer the first time I was natural. And I remember Cichelle's? hair was like that. It was really curly when she first bc'd and then as it got longer it started to look wavy vs. curly.

 

[crazydaze911]

This MIGHT have happened to me. Before i was told i NEEDED a relaxer and my hair was horrid and rough, blah, blah, blah. Now when i go to the salon i hear how 'nice' my hair is and how they could never picture me needing to relax erplexed. So....

Either some vitamin im talking changed it, or it changed with my age, or some growth aid, or i conditioned it into submission after finding this site or smthg - but the texture has def changed.

i think anyone transitioning and frustrated should at least wait 2 years before deciding their hair is really unmanageable and rough....it might change with length.

 

[SEMO]

IMHO I think as her hair grew it got heavier and stretched out her curl. If she cut it short, I believe she would be back to her 4a hair. I have seen plenty yt girls with wavy hair and when it is short it is very curly.

I agree. Plus how you style your hair makes a difference. My curls look bigger and more 3c depending on how I do my hair (ex. using my Jilbere shower comb vs. using my Denman brush).

Example:

vs.

 

[Libra08]

They say your hair changes every 7 years. It has happened to me. I used to have mostly 4a hair now I have mostly 3c hair. But I don't know if this is because I'm taking better care of my hair now and it is allowing my curls to pop more.

 

[Urban]

My hair's curl pattern has definately gotten loser... I don't think it's as dramatic as changing from a 4 to a 3. ITA with the weight thing, I think the extra weight has just weighed it down, losening the curl. My curl pattern used to be extremely tight, and people who've helped me do my hair in the past have noticed the change too.

 

[MrJohnsonsRib]

I agree. Plus how you style your hair makes a difference. My curls look bigger and more 3c depending on how I do my hair (ex. using my Jilbere shower comb vs. using my Denman brush).

Example:

vs.

OH MI GOSH YOU GOT GORGEOUS HAIR!!!

 

[MrJohnsonsRib]

See this is inspiration to keep growing my hair as natural and not relaxing because of the "improvement" that comes along with it sounds really really interesting and I'd hate to be back at square one which is almost 7months ago....and I don't have 7 months to just throw away like that. I am so excited...now if I could stop having such DrY HaIr then I'll be straight...well curly,lol!

 

[Neith]

About what the lady said...

Your scalp's pH does not take 2 or 3 years to normalize.



While I would guess that a drastic change in texture is possible under certain circumstances, hair texture just doesn't change drastically like that.

Your GENES are the most important factor in hair type. Environment/health does have an affect, but I would say they have a rather small affect compared to your genes.

With that said...

Longer hair may appear to be more loosely curled because it is heavy and lays down more.

The health of your hair affects how it looks and behaves.

Also the way you style your hair and the products you use can make your hair look different like Semo pointed out

So...

There are many factors which determine how your hair looks. but I really don't think that the majority of healthy individuals are just going to change to a drastically different hair type.

Every heard of someone with type 3a turn into type 4a hair? Or type 1a to type 4b? 4a to 2a? Just saying... people's hair texture don't just change randomly and drastically like that for no reason It would be very strange to me to be honest.

In any case... whether my hair stretches out to a type 3 looking texture or it stays type 4 looking in the future... it'll be beautiful and healthy and I'm going to be happy with it

Good luck on your natural hair journey!