In an effort to keep their hair long for life and not fall into the trap of that “creamy crack”, as a relaxer is known, many ladies have been been doing the “natural” hair journey.  Unfortunately, as with anything, there comes a time when one wants to know what to do when tired of natural hair.  This is an uphill, daily battle.  Many of us interact often with friends who have  straight hair that say “I wish I had your curls”.  Black/curly hair girls would be cringing : “Noo!  You do not want to have my hair!”  When we meet other ladies with curls who have slayed a hairdo, we trade battle stories.  Sometimes, I think we like boasting how long our hair took to do–the longer the better!

As a stylist, you get clients who have had their last migraine and you have to talk them off the relaxer ledge.  I do this because I know within 3 weeks, there will be remorse, some tears and we are back on the journey again.  For some reason, a 3-week period is pivotal in this process.  Maybe it is because that is when the regrowth happens and they are back longing for the thickness of the natural.  To combat this, here are some suggestions on how to get you over this hurdle.

  • Trim your ends:  most times it gets difficult to comb out natural hair because there are split ends.  They become tangled and break at various points.  Most ladies with natural hair do not get it trimmed regularly, but this helps tremendously with growth and is less painful.
  • Get a Blow Out:  This could mean just with a blow dryer and/or a flat iron.  The plus is your hair will feel much lighter for up to a week and then it goes back to normal.
  • Add Extensions:  you could have braids, a weave, faux locks done.  These last about 2 months so that gives a bit of a break.  The drawback happens when it comes time to take them out but dousing your head in conditioner goes a long way to stop that.
  • Locking:  This is not for everybody but it is something that comes up a lot now that it is not seen as going onto the dark side.  It requires a huge amount of patience and maintenance can add up.
  • Try a different style every week so there is no room for boredom.  If you always have your hair in a ponytail, try some twists or cornrows for example.
  • Colour:  Look into changing your hair colour.  The change can just be a semi-permanent colour that does not enter the cortex of the hair so there is minimal damage.  If you are very bold, you could of course try something a little more drastic but this is also an option.

I hope I have helped you with options about what to do when tired of natural hair.    Humans are an evolving race so it is natural to have a need for change ever so often.

By Paula Barker, Silkielocks.com

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