Unless you are one of the few women who have never had a relaxer, you have come to a point in your life where you have decided to go natural. Once you make the decision that you’re ready to take that big step and truly begin your natural hair journey, there are several considerations that you must make.
Going natural doesn’t have to be difficult and this guide is designed to help you begin your natural hair journey. Keep the following statement in mind, there really isn’t a “right way” to go natural. The important thing is that you have made the decision to go natural and we are here to help make sure your journey is successful.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do. If you’re interested in learning exactly what’s required to become natural, feel free to read the content below:
Many women face a tremendous amount of push-back and receive negative comments from family, friends, and sometimes strangers when they make the decision to go natural. Here are some articles that will help you accomplish step one.
Planning is really important. It leads to goal creation and mitigates your chances of having an unsuccessful natural hair journey. The act of writing down a plan for your hair makes it easier to track progress as you learn about your hair over time. The articles below will help you avoid things that will cause your journey to fail (or postpone success) and teach you how to create a natural hair journal.
To officially become natural, you have to make a decision to do one of three things: big chop, transition from relaxed to natural or start dreadlocks. Regardless of your choice, the articles below will help you with the process.
If you decide to big chop:
If you decide to transition from relaxed hair to natural hair:
If you decide to start dreadlocks:
Make a commitment to yourself that you will keep an open mind during your natural hair journey. There are several things that you will need to learn along the way, it’s important to be patient and learn the basics before you begin worrying about more advanced topics. Every natural will need a basic set of products. Next you will need to begin the learning process and document how certain products work on your hair. I’ve compiled a few articles below that will help you create your beginning natural hair regimen. Note: You will fine tune your regimen over time as you learn more about your hair.
- How to Create a Natural Hair Regimen – Part 1
- How to Create a Natural Hair Regimen – Part 2
- How to Create a Natural Hair Regimen – Part 3
Choosing your initial set of natural hair products can be difficult, especially when you’re newly natural and unsure of what to look for in a quality natural hair product. We have created a list of natural hair products that we recommend. These are products that have worked for thousands of other naturals and might be great products for you also.
If you have any specific questions about Going Natural – please let us know.
We wish you the best during your natural hair journey.
About Kenneth Byrd
Thanks for sharing. My daughter took out her weave after almost 5 months. It was bad. She’s only 16 and I tried to tell her but anyway, her hair grew tons but matted so we had to but chunks out. She got a new weave but now wants to go natural when this comes out. She wants to do a big chop to even things out and then just wear clip in extensions while growing. She’s done with the relaxer. She sees how badly it messed up her hair.
Thank God even though it was rough.
Michelle – It sometimes takes a traumatic experience for some to decide to leave relaxers. Sounds like your daughter made the decision herself and everything will work out just fine. I’m happy for you and her. Take care.
Kenneth
Kenneth,
Yes sir, you’re right about how sometimes bad relaxer experiences prompt people to go natural. But still I know there are probably many women that go natural although their hair did fine with relaxers. That makes you wonder about people that say “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” to suggest that you should only go natural if relaxers aren’t working out for you.
Plus, sometimes you don’t know it’s broken until you see your natural hair again and remember how different it is from what the new normal is. That’s what happened to me. It had been MANY years since I saw my relaxed hair. I forgot how thick and healthy my hair used to be when I was a kid but I thought it was different in adulthood simply because of age. SO not true.
The one thing that needs to be remembered when wearing weaves and wigs is to take care of your hair that is actually growing underneath. Tell her to stay encourage and not to keep the weaves for extended periods of time.
Keep us posted
Hey Michelle! Speaking of clip-in hair extensions, just today I wrote a post about using those to get through a transition period. I see you posted this a while ago though so how did it go for your daughter? You should update your Facebook followers about it. Inquiring minds wanna know! LOL. TTYL
My relaxed hair curls .I want to go natural but I am wondering what my hair will even look like excited and scared. Any tips??
Rachel – How long have you had a relaxer? Do you have any pictures prior to getting a relaxer – maybe when you were a kid? If not, it’s tough to tell exactly how your hair will look once you stop relaxing.