Is it just me...or does it seem like there is an overwhelming amount of naturals

[fluffylocks]

I'm glad. I have nothing against relaxed hair, but why shouldn't being natural locs or loose be the norm for black women?

It also means more great products for our hair will be developed.

And relaxers will be dirt cheap lol.

I do think they should be the norm and that people should have natural hair without even thinking about it and think hard about getting chemicals as it was reverse for a long time--But i think natural hair is something that is very important, and i am dreading that people are all going natural as a "style/hot at the moment" type thing for a couple of years, and to me, thats worse than no-one being natural at all because their will be no value on the hair.
Alot of people go with the styles with the snap of a finger---70's afros, 80's jherris, 90's firm/stiff/precise relaxed styles, alot of the 00's alot of loose curls flowing type hair, different weaves......then 2010's nothing but naturals, then 2020's somthing else....I hope its not going to be one of those things

 

[fluffylocks]

easy.

smooth haired roots attached to kinky twist hair or smooth haired roots with braids attached.

ok bmore, either the hair was relaxed OR it has to be flatironed. what i saw was not nappy new growth attached to nappy kinky twists

i've seen it too many times

Me too.....What i think happened is they relaxed before getting the kinky twists, or the twits are getting to old, and sliding down the relaxed hair

Other than that, they should be tight, and you shouldnt leave them in that long were they slide down, and you should see nothing but newgrowth and not be able to tell (i think)

 

[LynnieB]

Me too.....What i think happened is they relaxed before getting the kinky twists, or the twits are getting to old, and sliding down the relaxed hair

Other than that, they should be tight, and you shouldnt leave them in that long were they slide down, and you should see nothing but newgrowth and not be able to tell (i think)

exactly or it's freshly flatironned.

there are some times when i'd love to refer people to this website or NP but i don't want to risk offending someone or even worse, getting fussed out.

 

[glamazon386]

easy.

smooth haired roots attached to kinky twist hair or smooth haired roots with braids attached.

ok bmore, either the hair was relaxed OR it has to be flatironed. what i saw was not nappy new growth attached to nappy kinky twists

i've seen it too many times

ETA: Bmore, not everyone (even hairdressers) can do what you do and make it work and look fab doing it. i've seen some really messed up sorry stuff down here

That just didn't make sense to me. People shouldn't be braiding if they don't know what they're doing. I've never seen straight roots growing out of braids though. That might be part of the reason why some people's hair gets taken out from the braids.

ETA: But you know what, now that I think about it I remember somebody on here posting about a friend they had that would relax the new growth when they had braids so I guess it is possible. IDK why somebody would want to do that though. That's just crazy.

 

[JustKiya]

*LOL* Girl, I've seen some sadly done braids - SADLY - makes me hope they didn't pay for em kinda sad - but on commericals, it cracks me up when I see a twistout/braidout - and perfectly smooth/flat/straight roots.... I know some sistas can gel down the edges to perfection, but DANG!

 

[Crissi]

*LOL* Girl, I've seen some sadly done braids - SADLY - makes me hope they didn't pay for em kinda sad - but on commericals, it cracks me up when I see a twistout/braidout - and perfectly smooth/flat/straight roots.... I know some sistas can gel down the edges to perfection, but DANG!

LOL everything you said got me rolling!

 

[TCatt86]

And relaxers will be dirt cheap lol.

I do think they should be the norm and that people should have natural hair without even thinking about it and think hard about getting chemicals as it was reverse for a long time--But i think natural hair is something that is very important, and i am dreading that people are all going natural as a "style/hot at the moment" type thing for a couple of years, and to me, thats worse than no-one being natural at all because their will be no value on the hair.
Alot of people go with the styles with the snap of a finger---70's afros, 80's jherris, 90's firm/stiff/precise relaxed styles, alot of the 00's alot of loose curls flowing type hair, different weaves......then 2010's nothing but naturals, then 2020's somthing else....I hope its not going to be one of those things

It may happen because to alot of women, of any race, hair is an accessory. You yourself mentioned the 70s where Fros' were the end all be all. I have seen women have their weaves match their shoes, purse and necklace. ( I live in the hood). I don't think anything is wrong with a temporary trend of natural hair, to me hair is hair and if people want to make a fashion statement with it so be it. I will say that I am seeing more natural styles IRL, but I also hang out in an artist culture, so those people are of a different mindset, but outside of that group it's not that prevalent. I also live in the N.O. where it is humid as heck.

 

[abordeaux]

I've been trying to tell this really pretty actress girlfriend of mine to ditch her straight-haired wigs and get with an afro one. I told her that even if they forget her name they'll never forget her hair. She'll get more work.

You're right. Besides loving my natural curls, one of the reasons why I went natural was to make me more marketable as an actress. One of my advisors when I was in film school practically begged me to go natural, but I was too scared to do it at the time. Casting directors for commercials LOVE natural AA women. 9 times out of 10, the black actress will be natural. I'm curious to see how my new "do" will affect my role choices. And my bank account.

 

[SerenavanderWoodsen]

i havent noticed this although i dont get out much lol,, but i find it exciting,, i would love to see more naturals,, and esp less weaves here in NY,, i love things as nature made them

 

[PanamasOwn]

Yea..i feel that alot of people are doing it because of "style" and trends... I pretty much plan to stay this way...

but hey....change is good sometimes..the trend may actually turn into a steady thing

 

[glamazon386]

You're right. Besides loving my natural curls, one of the reasons why I went natural was to make me more marketable as an actress. One of my advisors when I was in film school practically begged me to go natural, but I was too scared to do it at the time. Casting directors for commercials LOVE natural AA women. 9 times out of 10, the black actress will be natural. I'm curious to see how my new "do" will affect my role choices. And my bank account.

I would agree. I've had way more people contact me now that I'm natural. And they want me to wear my own hair. I'm guessing they're tired of seeing everybody with long weaves all the time. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

[BahatiSeey2]

And relaxers will be dirt cheap lol.

I do think they should be the norm and that people should have natural hair without even thinking about it and think hard about getting chemicals as it was reverse for a long time--But i think natural hair is something that is very important, and i am dreading that people are all going natural as a "style/hot at the moment" type thing for a couple of years, and to me, thats worse than no-one being natural at all because their will be no value on the hair.
Alot of people go with the styles with the snap of a finger---70's afros, 80's jherris, 90's firm/stiff/precise relaxed styles, alot of the 00's alot of loose curls flowing type hair, different weaves......then 2010's nothing but naturals, then 2020's somthing else....I hope its not going to be one of those things

I guess my take on this is totally different. Then again, I'm in MS and there aren't many naturals here. Maybe this is true in other areas of the country, however I've never been in an environment where naturals outnumbered people with processed hair. Perhaps more people are just becoming more confident in just being themselves, who they want to be...or being different from what people/society says they should be I'm not sure about most people, but very few people spend as much time as it takes to transition or chop off 10 or more inches of hair b/c it's trendy. I suppose it depends on the individual. Trends are about fitting in, it's hard to do that with a TWA. Just my take

 

[Ms Lala]

I've been natural for over 6 years now and there are definitely more people natural now as well as people who aren't natural rocking natural styles. I still think more AA women I met have relaxers though. I definitely notice more naturals on tv and in magazines. I get alot of women asking me questions too about natural hair and growing out their own. I think it's great!

 

[SweetCaramel1]

i read an article in a fitness magazine and it stated more african americans are going natural due to breakage from relaxers and the difficulty in maintaining them. it also stated the cost of relaxers as a factor.

it said around 30% of aa's were natural and/or planned on going natural in the future.

 

[Forbidden]

i read an article in a fitness magazine and it stated more african americans are going natural due to breakage from relaxers and the difficulty in maintaining them. it also stated the cost of relaxers as a factor.

it said around 30% of aa's were natural and/or planned on going natural in the future.

Honestly that is the exact reason why I stopped relaxing without intention of "going natural" per se. Several months later I found LHCF and ended up BC'ing a few months after that.

 

[Sui Topi]

I'm going natural because I dont want to be dependant on annoying people for relaxers, and because I realized I dont need one to do styles I like anyway. What really pushed me over the fence is the beautiful natural hair I see here on LHCF. But anyway, I do notice alot more naturals in the media. I dont know about on the street here in Toronto, but thats probably because I'm inside watching baby all the time

 

[Tenacious]

I hope that going natural isn't just another "fad".

Yes, i'm glad that commercials and campaigns have black women with natural hair, but if people are all jumping on the bandwagon just because, they're in for a rude awakening b/c it's not only a hairstyle, it's retraining our state of mind that many have grown accustomed to for years.

I don't think that many natural heads i've seen (outside of LHCF) are truly ready to fully appreciate the transition. Many women will be like "I got good hair", thinking that their hair will come out like a 2b or 3b Alicia Keys' or Jennifer Freeman and are disappointed (which they shouldn't be) at a head of 4b hair, then they return to the endless, shameful cycle of assimilation to what we consider "less black".

Many women I've seen have used their natural hair as a means of pointing out that they are "mixed descent". Lots of women are 3b and 3c and are African-American, yet some women take that idea that their hair is "good hair" and attribute it to being "mixed". I've just met one girl who was natural and she used it liberally (and indirectly) to define her ethnic background (she claimed she was biracial, but it was false).

Anywho, I'd give this "natural thing" another 5 years. I bet many who are on the "bandwagon" may go back. The hair may have trainsitioned, but the mind is still confined to it's domain.

 

[MoeB424]

on the board??

And not just here...but like every 1 in 5 heads I see in Houston are natural now too.... Did I not get the memo???

Everytime I log in, there is a new thread about naturals, everytime I go to the mall it looks half the chicks just BC'ed....

Has the movement begun, and I'm just catching up????
Inquiring minds would like to know...

(that it's just not me, and I'm not crazy)

Definitely not just you. I see them EVERYWHERE. I decided to go natural about 5 years or so ago but only got the courage to do it about a year and a half ago. My decision was from getting perms so much since I was about 4 and my hair getting over processed to the point where I couldn't do much with it because it was so thin. My hair was braided up under some sort of wig or tracks so I figured I'd just start over. A coincidence I guess... but you're not alone

 

[MoeB424]

I've been natural for over 6 years now and there are definitely more people natural now as well as people who aren't natural rocking natural styles. I still think more AA women I met have relaxers though. I definitely notice more naturals on tv and in magazines. I get alot of women asking me questions too about natural hair and growing out their own. I think it's great!

you'd be surprised who's natural these days with all these gadgets to temporarily straighten hair.

 

[AvaSpeaks]

It's trend.

Plus there are alot of ladies that are texturalex as well. So it gives them certain kinds of hair textures as well.

I still don't see too many "afro-textured" hair naturals running around unless they are adult women over 45 and maybe on some of these college campuses.

But more and more naturals are going back to being relaxed or blow dry straight. Especially the natural celebs.

 

[SleepyJean]

I have noticed that there are more naturals in the media, but not too many in my everyday life (I live in GA). I would definitely like to see more people celebrating their natural beauty.

ITA! I don't think the commercials are an accurate depiction of all black women. I wouldn't mind seeing more naturals. I like the diversity of black hair.

 

[glamazon386]

ITA! I don't think the commercials are an accurate depiction of all black women. I wouldn't mind seeing more naturals. I like the diversity of black hair.

Well most black women are relaxed. So I do think it's interesting that the majority of the black women we see in commercials now are natural.