I’ve written a lot on my blog. A lot. And much of that information is scattered throughout my blog. So I regularly receive e-mails and messages of currently relaxed ladies or newly naturals who have no idea what to do and are finding all of the information overwhelming. In the hopes of having one central place for all newbie and wannabe naturals to go to for some guidance, I re-jigged my blog and you can now find them when you search for ‘newbie’.
Many of my readers have asked me how to go about being natural. So, where to start? As Julie Andrews says, let’s start at the very beginning 😀
Here’s how I can best summarise the steps I’d recommend to going natural:
1. Decide
Are you going to stop relaxing your hair or not? If yes, why? What is or are your reasons? Write them down somewhere where you can re-read the reasons when you reach a low point in your journey. It’s different for different women. I started a blog (!) and I wrote about my decision to go natural here.
2. Transition or big chop?
That’s really up to you and you alone. No one else is living your life and will be walking around with your hair. If you’re not ready to go short or fully natural, wait until you are. The advice I’m going to give is to take care of your transitioning hair the same as you would your natural. Use this time to research products and techniques and get used to seeing natural hair in a way that inspires you. Sunshine of Natural Sunshine rightly suggests taking a break from mainstream media which is bombarded by women with straight and relaxed hair. Have a look at natural hair blogs, videos, magazines. Find inspiration in another natural haired woman in real life or online to help you and your mind get accustomed to seeing natural hair in a good light. I jumped and big chopped three months after my last relaxer and even though I didn’t know it then or the few months afterwards, that chop did wonders for my confidence. It really tested me, because after that I figured if I could walk around outside of my house and interact with people with hair 1 inch short, I could walk out of my house rocking anything.
3. Prepare
Yourself, your significant other, your family and friends. Going natural isn’t a walk in the park for everyone. For some it exposes a lot of insecurities that they may not have even known they have.
- Yourself: In many cases, going natural means having to re-learn how to care for your hair. You’re probably an expert in maintaining your relaxed hair or weave or whatever your pre-natural chosen style is. So start researching and preparing going natural as soon as you can. Again, Sunshine from Natural Sunshine suggested a great way of conditioning yourself to natural hair and that’s by taking a break from mainstream media for a little while. As big as the natural hair ‘movement’ is getting, straight and relaxed hair is still the norm for women (Black or other) in the media. So we’re used to seeing that as a beauty reference but our minds are malleable. You can actively decide to stay away from magazines or websites that don’t portray women with natural hair and look for places that do. Have a look at natural hair blogs, Google natural hair images or try my favourite space for natural hair inspiration: Pinterest. Once you begin seeing beautiful, sexy, confident women rocking their natural hair and in all sorts of ways, you’ll feel less worried or scared to join them.
In part 2 of this blog post, I’ll be sharing my suggestions of how to prepare your significant other and your family for your decision of going natural. (Please note that these posts are merely my advice and based on my own experience.)
For more tips for newbie naturals including how I went about going natural, search for the keyword ‘newbie’.
Thank you Aisha for a wonderful blog. just read the first part of your 'going natural'' and remembered how at uni i used to wonder if that was really your hair! haha, clears up alot now
I have started my natural hair journey.
Luckily for me, i have not used relaxer i think since 6th form, my hair has been in braids in and out, experimented with weaves and hated them, went back to braids, had dreads, cut them off and now i am ready to get started for real for real
By the way, looking at your products, i was wondering, is it possible to substitute olive oil for avocado oil?
Hi Aisha, I've been thinking of going natural for a few months now and your posts on Pinterest have been my greatest source of inspiration. … Thank you! ! Now I am working up the courage and knowledge to make that big chop. I am actually pretty excited 🙂
I actually just big chopped for the second time, and my hair has actually never been this short! It really does wonders for confidence lol
It sure does!
Great post 🙂 you're totally right. I started a blog last month to keep myself on track when I decided to turn my stretch into a transition. Following natural hair blogs like yours definitely helps, looking at pictures of natural hair too. Keep it up
naijagirlnextdoor.blogspot.com
Thanks for your comment Sandra 🙂
Lovely post! For me, I started my transition from relaxed to natural hair like 2 months ago and to be frank, I'm so luving it cos my hair now looks and feels healthier. Also, to attain my goal (which is to increase the length) I've also started eating foods for hair growth such as avocados, nuts and lots of protein in general. Works like Magic.
Thanks Dobby! Yup, to see results on the outside (for hair, skin etc) you also need to take care of the inside. It all works together and we forget that sometimes.
Hi Aisha, Tanx for that wonderful advice. Am four months in to the journey but sometimes I feel frustrated with my hair. ur advice has encouraged me and is of great help. Ride on sweety.
Thank you for your comment 🙂 Keep going!