Transition from Relaxed to Natural Hair, Part 1 | A Difficult Choice

The choice to transition from relaxed to natural hair isn’t an easy one for some, but the reality is that it can be a very liberating experience.

The decision to allow my naturally coarse hair to grow out and to cut off the hair that had been chemically straightened with a relaxer was something really I agonized over at first.

It actually took me almost 15 years of wanting to wear my hair the way it naturally grows out of my scalp without any chemical straightening treatments before taking the leap into naturalness.


I had a million reasons why going natural would not work for me. 

• I told myself I didn’t have the time to care for natural hair or the extra money for frequent beauty shop visits.
• I thought that I wouldn’t know how to style my natural hair in its natural state.
• I didn’t think I would look as pretty. I mean, I would have been going from a 14 inch weave that blew in the wind and had men following me down the street yelling, “Hey, Pocahontas!”, to a small ‘fro that was not nearly as sexy, in my then limited view.
• I was afraid of the pain. Transitioning from relaxed to natural brought back memories of my mom raking a comb through my thick, dry hair and me screaming and sometimes crying until it was over.

But every time I saw someone with natural hair I knew I had to have it too. 

I really used to admire the ladies I saw around town who had their natural hair styled to perfection. Their hair was thick, worn curly or twisted and above all shiny and healthy looking. Their hair was an integral part of their overall trendy, sophisticated, urban look and they rocked it! These ladies were head turners and absolutely commanded attention.

The truth is that transitioning from relaxed to natural hair provides a type of creative freedom that relaxed hair can’t.

Relaxed hair limits styling options because it permanently thins hair but natural hair can be straightened or worn to any degree of thickness that is desired creating a range of styling options.

I haven’t purchased weaves, relaxer kits or had my hair professionally styled since going natural and have saved a lot of money as a result.

But I’m most happy about not having the added weight of weaves on my scalp, not feeling the tightness or twisting of extensions and not having to hold down my weave when the wind blows so that no one sees the individual tracks. 

Talk about liberating.

Autthor:
Chanel Polk

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