Top 10 Natural Hair Myths

[written by Sabrina via Naturallycurly]

Despite the Natural Hair Movement (NHM) making substantial waves in the hair, style and fashion there still seems to be some inaccuracies about natural hair and what is means. Myths can be detrimental to a movement and since we want this to stay as positive as possible I’m sharing some well-known myths that need to be put to rest.

Natural Hair is harder to maintain

The truth is it takes work and KNOWLEDGE when going natural. For many women going natural they have been relaxed for YEARS. Many forget that they didn’t miraculously know how to take care of relaxed hair but some feel being natural will take no practice or effort. There is a learning process but no less harder to maintain than relaxed hair once you have a routine in place.

There are natural hair relaxers

There is no natural way to chemically alter the hair permanently. I discussed a DIY recipe for relaxing or straightening the hair naturally, (So-called) Coconut Relaxer but found this to only be a deep treatment conditioning recipe despite what some may claim. The bottom line is to relax or straighten the hair without using heat requires chemicals.

 Natural hair is unprofessional

This couldn’t be further from the truth as many more women in corporate America are wearing their hair naturally whether they wear Locs, Fros or the hundreds of other natural styles. Some may balk at natural hair but the tide is shifting and many of the so-called problems some face with natural hair in corporate America is self-inflicted.

“My conversation with her had me thinking about my own natural hair experience and working in a corporate office with other individuals who are not black. I realized that at no point in time did my boss, the CEO of the company, or anyone in Human Resources ever say to me that my hair had to be styled a certain way. In fact, when I did the big chop a few years ago and feared going into the office with my textured hair, my mind was instantly put at ease when I received compliments about my new look. It was then that I realized that a lot of time we as naturals often put parameters and limitations on how we think our hair should look and be styled. I realized very quickly that I had the problem with how my hair looked thinking that it wasn’t “professional” enough, inappropriate or too “wild” for the workplace.” CurlyNikki.com

You have to protective style to grow long hair

There are numerous examples of naturals who rarely protective style with healthy, long gorgeous hair. It takes each individual natural to find out what works for her so before you limit yourself to only one way to have healthy hair check out what else there is out there so you have all the information possible.

 4C hair type doesn’t grow or doesn’t grow long

All hair grows. 4C hair may need to be manipulated less or use protective styling more for length retention but to say it does not grow is false. How well you take care of it matters as well as what you do to it. Just check out the hundreds of women proving this wrong on Black Girl Long Hair on their 4C Natural Hair Style Icon series for proof.

 You can’t workout with natural hair

It is just as easy to workout with natural hair as relaxed hair by just having a plan. You may need to wash or co-wash more often to wash away the sweat from working out but there are tips on being natural and working out. 5 Tips for Working Out with Natural Hair

Natural hair is expensive

If anything many naturals have found it cheaper! There are tons of DIY recipes for hair products but if you choose to buy them many of the natural hair items are priced reasonably. Most naturals are doing their own hair and skipping the weekly or by-weekly trips to the pricey salons.

 Texturizers are natural

Texturizers are just chemical straighteners, or relaxers, that are not applied to the hair as long as the traditional relaxers. They are in no way natural and if you have a texturizer you are not natural.

If you color your hair you are not truly natural

A lot of naturals who color their hair use natural methods like DIY hair lighteners or Henna. Some feel using any chemical coloring is no longer being natural but color may or may not alter the texture of your hair. There are semi-permanent dyes or some brands like Shea Moisture that have less harmful ingredients like ammonia and sulphates.

You have to know you hair type.

Several naturals don’t even know or want to know their hair type with healthy hair. Knowing your hair’s porosity has helped many on what products or techniques to use to find the right methods for healthy hair.