5 Misconceptions About Natural Hair

5 Misconceptions About Natural Hair

Welcome back, y’all! Oh the joys of natural hair…the detangling, the washing, the day long deep conditioning process… You’d be surprised how many people don’t know how much time goes into maintaining natural hair.

You’d also be surprised the amount of misconceptions people have about natural hair and people who are natural. Today, I’ll be breaking down just a few natural hair misconceptions that I’ve heard and why they are misconceptions!

Five Misconceptions About Natural Hair

Misconception #1: Going natural is for broke women

Ha.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

No.

This has to be one of the funniest misconceptions I hear. Take a trip to your local Walmart or other grocery/hair/drugstore and compare how much a box relaxer is compared to a bottle or container of anything with the name Shea Moisture, Mixed Chicks, or Camille Rose Naturals.

Most decent natural hair products average anywhere between $5 to $16+ PER bottle or container. This might not seem like a lot of if you buy a product or two at a time, but if you’re buying multiple, the price can definitely add up.

Price is also a factor if you’re going to a salon to get your hair done, where some stylists might charge extra money to have services done on natural hair versus relaxed hair.

Misconception #2: Going natural is less time consuming

When you see those tweets about wash day, they aren’t kidding. Sometimes it takes a whole day or a good chunk of the day to wash, condition, detangle and finally style natural hair. I know that relaxed hair goes through a rather lengthy process as well, but wash day is a term geared more towards naturals for a reason.

When I first became natural, everything took so long to do: washing my hair, twisting my hair, all of that. While my “wash days” are now more of “wash nights” or “wash afternoons”, I still have to make time to maintain and take care of my hair.

I even detailed my own wash day process and trust me, it wasn’t a simple hop in and out of the shower.

Misconception #3: Going natural makes your hair grow faster/longer/stronger/weaker/etc.

Since going natural has been on the rise, so many people have tried to go natural as well hoping they will achieve curls like people they’ve seen on Instagram or Twitter, or get their hair to grow longer, or what have you.

Deciding to go natural, especially if you’re transitioning from having a perm, is a long and lengthy process that takes months or sometimes even years to do. For some people, it’s better to keep getting perms because that’s what keeps THEIR hair healthy. For myself, wearing my natural hair and getting the occasional silk press keeps mine healthy.

Everybody’s hair is different! It’s up to you to decide what is best for your hair, not the Internet or viral photos.

Misconception #4: Natural hair is better than relaxed hair

LORD.

ALL HAIR IS GOOD HAIR. Repeat it with me folks, ALL HAIR IS GOOD HAIR. NATURAL HAIR DOES NOT EQUAL BETTER NOR DOES RELAXED HAIR EQUAL BETTER.

These type of arguments pop up all over Twitter and they’re so stupid to me. If you’re happy wearing your hair out and it’s healthy, who cares if it’s natural or relaxed?

ALL HAIR IS GOOD HAIR.

Misconception #5: If you use x, y and z products on your hair, you’ll look like x, y or z celebrity

You can use all the products in the world to look like any celebrity, but if you don’t learn some techniques or have patience to learn your hair, all those products will be useless. There’s a lot of products out there that claim to help you get curls fast or maintain length, but products are only half the battle.

Sometimes, you can follow a tutorial down to the T, but your hair still might come out looking a hot mess. Like I said above, everybody’s hair is different and needs different products. Patience and care are key when taking care of natural hair.

I might use just three products and you might have to use an entire line of a product, but trust me, we’ll still look good either way!

 

I can go on all day about other misconceptions that I’ve heard, but then this post will go on forever! I’ll just save my other misconceptions for another day.

 

What are some of the misconceptions I missed? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Until next time,

5 thoughts on “5 Misconceptions About Natural Hair

  1. The amount of tutorials I watched when I first when natural was ridiculous. I think you have to get comfortable with what you have because so many twist outs, bantu knots, perm rods, etc. never worked for me early in this process. People always compliment my hair and I respond “It only took 5 years for it cooperate.”

    1. I used cantu a lot when I first started my natural hair journey! I have since switched to different products, but it’s perfect for beginners in my opinion. however, everybody’s hair is different! you just have to try and see what’s the best for your hair. hope this helps!

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