Myths of Natural Hair

3 Natural Hair Myths

The Product Junkie

Source: https://embracethenaturalyoudetroit.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/that-natural-hair-product-junkie-life/

As cited by The Huffington Post, it is expected that Black women will spend up to 500 million dollars on hair products by the year 2017. From observation, one contributing factor to this overwhelming amount of spending on hair products is the fairly recent resurface of the natural hair movement. Furthermore, it seems like companies such as Dove, Sauve, and Pantene Pro-V, that have never sold natural hair products for African American women, have now recognized the market potential and created a zillion products that are claimed to enhance curls, moisturize hair, and provide shine even though a lot of unhealthy hair ingredients are in them.

Since many naturals do not understand the harm and the motives behind companies that have never shown interest in providing products tailored toward their hair texture, they tend to go out and buy every product that reads for naturally curly/kinky hair. These women are referred to as product junkies. The good news is that you do not have to be a product junkie. After 2 years of being natural I've found that no matter what the labels may read, not all products will work for you. So, if you decide to go natural please don't feel the need to run out and buy every product that's on the shelf. Besides shampoo and conditioner, a good deep conditioner, a curl enhancing product, and a natural oil is enough.

Natural Hair Policing 

Natural hair polices are people that critique and make judgments about others based on their personal opinions about what natural hair means. For example, there is a large network of Black naturals on YouTube who create tutorials showcasing information and tips about being natural based on their personal experiences. In the comment section of the videos there is a lot of negative feedback. Some critiques are statements arguing that women with colored treated hair, flat-ironed hair, and hair extensions should not should not be considered women with natural hair. The negative opinions of others should not stop you from going natural. Everyone has their own process/journey. I encourage you to continue to do research on having natural hair so that you may follow your own journey.

The Big Chop

The Big Chop is when a woman choices to cut off all of the straight, relaxed/texlaxed parts of her hair and keeps the remaining hair as it is her natural texture. Although many women choose to go this route, there are still many women who do not go through with the big chop. To avoid the anxiety of cutting off a lot of hair to get rid of straight ends, many women transition to natural hair. Transitioning is accomplished when women style their hair in ways that blend both the natural texture and straight, chemically processed texture. Two widely-known styles that are used to blend transitioning hair are braid-outs and twists-outs. "Transitioners" wear their hair in blended styles until the relaxed ends grow out completely; therefore, there is no need to cut the hair. Below you can find a video tutorial for doing a braid-out if you are interested in transitioning to natural hair. 

Enjoy! <3

Salena

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gXtT4-QBfU