Naturals, transitioners... come inside... poll

[Caramela]

When deciding to go natural or transition out of a relaxer, how much of an influence did your curl/wave pattern or lack thereof play in your decision? If you have a defined pattern does that make you any more likely to want to transition/be natural? Or does the natural pattern of your hair have no bearings on your decision?

 

[discodumpling]

No influence what so ever. It is what it is.

 

[Miss_Luna]

June will make it a year since I had my last relaxer. I don't recall what my natural hair looks like since I've been getting relaxers since I was around 8, maybe younger. So, to answer your question: No, my curl pattern didn't influence my transition. I just want healthy hair. I don't even think I have a curl pattern. My new growth is thick and dense and shrinks up a lot. But it's so much fuller and healthier than my relaxed hair.

I believe that for some, after transitioning for a while their curl pattern can influence whether or not they continue to transition, but this is just my observation.

 

[LunadeMiel]

I'm going to be honest and say that it had an influence....

I voted other because while it had some influence I wouldn't call it a Huge influence. There were many other factors, this was just one of them.

 

[Cheleigh]

I didn't know what my curl pattern looked like--I had no memory of it, since I'd been relaxed for over 20 years and pressed 10 years before that.

I went natural primarily because I was tired of going to the shop and getting retouches. I figured that I might have some type of curl on my head, but wasn't sure, because I was more focused on just going natural. I could never have guessed that my hair would look like it does.

 

[dicapr]

The curl pattern had nothing to do with my decision. I didn't get my first relaxer until 16, so I knew I didn't have type 3 hair. The softness of my newgrowth vs the dry overprocessed relaxed hair had the most influence on my decision.

 

[Roland]

It had very little to do with why I went natural. Things like having to relax every couple of months, hair breaking, the idea of having long unstretched natural hair had more of an influence in making the decision to go natural.

 

[Caramela]

I believe that for some, after transitioning for a while their curl pattern can influence whether or not they continue to transition, but this is just my observation.

And this is probably how I should have worded my original question. Having said that, noticing now that I have a defined wave pattern is hugely impacting my decision to transition. If I didn't have a defined pattern I don't think I could go through with the transition.

 

[BrownSkin2]

My natural curl pattern had no influence on me going natural. My relaxed hair was in a state of bad damage and going natural was the best decision at the time. My hair has recovered nicely and has regained its thickness. However, after being natural for over 2 years, my 4 a/b curl pattern is driving my decision on whether to texlax/relax again. I'm fighting knots, tangles, breakage while detangling that sabotages my length. I'm tired of braids and twists, and it take alot of heat to straighten my hair. I'm seriously thinking of texlaxing.

 

[Rapunzel*]

it had some what influence, i seen how my hair would grow faster when i stretched my relaxers. i just mis natural its very versitile. especially when i tryed to relax in the begginning of feb and didnt get it straight

 

[Cichelle]

I was mistaken about what my hair type would be. I didn't realize I had curly hair. So, that did not influence me. Once I really began to understand what it might look like, I was well into my transition.

 

[Southernbella.]

It had no influence.

I didn't even know I had a curl pattern until after I big chopped.

 

[frankie]

The pattern of my natural hair did not influence my decision to transition. Prior to my chop I believed that I would wear my hair straight most of the time...I was afraid that my hair wouldn't look right loose. I was wrong.
I love my fro

 

[Britt]

And this is probably how I should have worded my original question. Having said that, noticing now that I have a defined wave pattern is hugely impacting my decision to transition. If I didn't have a defined pattern I don't think I could go through with the transition.

Interesting thread Caramela...
I def. agree with the bolded. I will admit, this is the very question I'd think about if I ever decided to go natural. I won't say much b/c i'm sure someone will come in and jump down my throat about hating my natural textured hair . But I def. agree with this ...

I believe that for some, after transitioning for a while their curl pattern can influence whether or not they continue to transition, but this is just my observation.

 

[anon123]

I only had a perm for a few years, so I knew what my natural hair was when I started wearing it nappy (for me this is when I count myself as being "natural" - I burned for a long time). I actually thought 95% of black people had my hair type . So I thought that while I didn't have a coveted texture, that it was pretty standard and I didn't think it was "bad" so much as just really common so no reason that should discourage me.

The followup question I wonder about is, for people who went back to relaxing, if they didn't know their texture before they went natural, if their texture influenced their decision to return to relaxing.

I sure am not about to beat down on someone though who, in part, decided to not perm again because they had curls and appreciate the honesty, in fact.

 

[Divine Inspiration]

Interesting thread Caramela...
I def. agree with the bolded. I will admit, this is the very question I'd think about if I ever decided to go natural. I won't say much b/c i'm sure someone will come in and jump down my throat about hating my natural textured hair . But I def. agree with this ...

Well, they'll just have to jump down my throat because it has made a difference for me, and that's not something I'm ashamed of or apologizing for because it's not even about this self-love/hate...for me, it's an issue of manageability/lifestyle/time commitment. I my texture, but if I didn't, I don't believe I would have ever considered extra long stretches, much less transitioning.

I wouldn't say it made a huge difference, but it counts for something. If I saw that my hair was disgustingly unmanageable or ridiculously time-consuming I would bet that I'd be shying away from transitioning.

 

[TaraDyan]

It had absolutely no bearing on my decision initially. I chose to go natural because my scalp can't tolerate any more harsh chemicals. My last few relaxers 'bout sent me runnin' to the ER. But I will say that seeing my naturally curly pattern is helping me to continue with the transition and not even think about relaxing.

 

[vangrey]

hmmm... this is a good question!
I knew my pattern before transitioning because I relaxed at twenty
and the only reason I happened to relax was because
I thought it would keep my hair from frizzing
knowing all this...
being natural or relaxed never had anything to do
with liking or not liking my natural texture
(hell, i didn't even know what "type" of hair i had)
at that time it had to do with not wanting my hair to frizz
and since it frizzed whether relaxed or natural
i saw no point in continuing to relax my hair

 

[FemmeCreole]

I voted other

I was relaxed from age 9 so I didn't remember what my hair was like ...mostly because my aunt combed my hair so I never had to manage it myself.

I stopped relaxing because of information I read about relaxer causing damage to scalp and some women getting cancer as a result of burns etc.

 

[naturalgurl]

No influence what so ever. It is what it is.

Nuff said! or ITA! It is what it is!!!!

But to answer the question it had no influence, I was just tired of it falling out from perms.

 

[Lucky's Mom]

Curls Had nothing to do with it.
this book did:

http://www.amazon.com/No-Lye-African-American-Natural/dp/0312151802

Changed my life for ever.

 

[Rapunzel*]

Nuff said! or ITA! It is what it is!!!!

But to answer the question it had no influence, I was just tired of it falling out from perms.

and too much shedding

 

[neks4u2c]

I voted other because my decision to transition was more of a quest to save my hair from further damage. Right now, at approximately 16 weeks post, I still have no clue as to what texture my hair is. I have to say, it will only be when my hair is all natural that I will know if I will keep it natural (texture may be part of that decision). On the bright side, because of the wealth of information LHCF has to offer, I know that I will be able to finally maintain a healthy head of hair whether relaxed, texlaxed or natural!!!! The journey is on.....!!!!!

 

[Britt]

Well, they'll just have to jump down my throat because it has made a difference for me, and that's not something I'm ashamed of or apologizing for because it's not even about this self-love/hate...for me, it's an issue of manageability/lifestyle/time commitment. I my texture, but if I didn't, I don't believe I would have ever considered extra long stretches, much less transitioning.

I wouldn't say it made a huge difference, but it counts for something. If I saw that my hair was disgustingly unmanageable or ridiculously time-consuming I would bet that I'd be shying away from transitioning.

This sums up my feelings *exactly*.
I know there are plenty that say it doesn't take them much time to do thier hair.. but i'm soo used to relaxed hair and the manageability of it. For instance, every morning, i could just slap my hair back into a ponytail or pin it up and keep it moving.. I can't do that with natural hair.

 

[adf23]

It had absolutely no bearing on my decision initially. I chose to go natural because my scalp can't tolerate any more harsh chemicals. My last few relaxers 'bout sent me runnin' to the ER. But I will say that seeing my naturally curly pattern is helping me to continue with the transition and not even think about relaxing.[/B]

Cosigning w the bolded. BEING HONEST- if my hair was tighter in curl, I prob would have BC'd by now, as I can see how dealing with 2 drastically different textures would be very frustrating. I am sailing through my transition with minimal difficulty. But either way, texture had/would have had no impact on the decision to transition in general.

 

[ajargon02]

I choose "other" b/c I didn't know about "curl pattern". I mostly kept my natural hair in braided extensions for a long time, got a relaxer, it broke my hair off badly, so I went back in braids. One day I just didn't feel like doing my hair and searched the web for sites to tell my how to style my hair w/out a relaxer and didn't find anything helpful at first. Then I found someeone at church with a style that I liked (twists) and started to ask her questions. She started to tell me that she was natural, and started to twist my hair. After she twisted it once, I was hooked. I looked again for sites to tell me how to do the twists, when at the last minute my stylist backed out on me. I found Nappturality.com and it was the BEST THING FOR ME EVER!! There I learned alot and I love that site and this one too. BUT to make a long story short, I have been natural ever since, and didn't and still don't care about my curl pattern I love all my napps!!

 

[Sunshine0801]

I didn't know what my pattern would look like before I went natural and I didn't care. I just wanted to be free to rock my natural hair. I knew I would love whatever texture I had because it was mine.

 

[cclark1]

Nothing to do with it whatsoever! My new growth at 6 weeks post looked/felt nothing like it looks now at 6 months post. And when I bc I'd really don't know what to expect. In fact my older fotki transitioning pics look so different from my newer pics.

 

[LadyKaypnyc]

My pattern had absolutely no impact on my decision to go natural. Heck, I didn't even know what my real texture was

I just wanted my thick head of nappy hair back...

 

[bLackButtaFly]

None whatsoever. I didn't really know what my texture would be I just knew that it was alot softer then my relaxed hair(which was brittle and yucky), so I chopped the dry parts. A huge part of my decision to go natural was so I wouldn't be financially burdened by my hair.