Everything you need to know about going natural

Natural hair has become more and more popular and acceptable in the recent years, mostly thanks to Black Women advocating for our beauty aesthetics to be taken seriously. As African women we’re very creative when it comes to beauty, especially when it comes to hair. Rather than focus on hair products and what to do to your hair, here’s some ground facts to keep in mind before making any decision.

Take time to learn about your hair

Before making any decision, get to know your hair, and this goes beyond what your hairdresser tells you about your hair type or the best oils to use. Figure out under what temperatures your hair thrives best in, the kinds of oil that it prefers and so on. All natural hair is beautiful, but your own kind of beautiful – there’s no one size fits all.

Mental preparation is key

Start picturing yourself with kinky/curly/coily hair and start following natural hair Social Media pages (like this one! @naturalfeministablog on Instagram, and @naturalfeminist on Twitter). Are you about to undergo a big chop? It can be heart breaking watching your curls fall in large tufts on the floor and you may be compelled to rethink your decision to go natural. Are you considering transitioning instead? If so, be prepared to take care of two types of hair on your head. Going natural requires commitment, and women who have been natural for a while can attest to this. In spite of the amazing looks and confidence boost, it takes twice the effort to maintain. Are you ready for a night care routine and wash day routine?

Develop patience.

You will need it and you will be grateful once you see the results. Patience is truly a virtue and natural hair demands it. You know of “haraka haraka haina baraka”, so in other words rushing through a task will not yield very good results. Trust that this kinky/coily/curly crown we’ve been blessed with lives by the same principles. Give yourself time even though you don’t see the results right away. You may think your hair isn’t growing, or better yet you’re convinced it will never grow. The truth is, it all takes time. Trying to rush the process will give you single strand knots and shrunken twist-outs.