Are We Protecting—or Hiding From—Our Natural Hair?
Black women have always worn their hair natural. I was natural myself in the mid-90s and have seen countless women with locs, short naturals and textured natural styles. Wearing our hair natural is a growing trend that I hope stays around for a while. I love the natural hair movement because it gives us a chance to be at one with our true texture.
I personally feel that every black woman should become familiar with the natural texture of her hair at some point so she can make peace with it. Once peace has been made, then you have the option to choose what to do with your hair—whether it’s a texturizer, relaxer or keratin treatment.
The natural hair journey can be easy or difficult, depending largely on your lifestyle and hair knowledge. It’s definitely a learning experience as you have to discover what products and tips work for your particular hair and curl pattern. The general market has embraced the softer texture of our hair but hasn’t quite embraced the coarser texture. But we’ll save that topic for another time.
Right now I want to address my pseudo-natural women. I am happy to explain what that means. A pseudo-natural woman is one who says she’s natural but never actually wears her hair natural because it’s in a protective style. Forever.
Protective styles are great for giving the hair (and the woman) a break with styling and caring for the hair, but it becomes an issue when the hair is always in a protective style. In this case, are you really natural or are you hiding from your natural hair? You can’t really want to be called natural when you never see or handle your natural hair. At what point do you take the protective style out and deal with the matter at hand?
I’m not trying to give natural women a hard time. I just want to bring this topic to the forefront because, as a hairstylist, this is what I see and hear on a constant basis. It’s also a conversation I’ve had with other stylists and we share many of the same sentiments on this topic. The care of natural hair is not difficult when you have the help of a great hairstylist that is willing to give you some great tips, such as how to detangle your hair, knowing when to go to a professional for a trim, and overall daily maintenance.
I encourage the pseudo-natural woman to give the braids and weaves a break and discover the beauty of her natural texture. You may just fall in love with it.
About Carline Dargenson
Carline is a stylist of owner of INSTYL Haircare
To learn more and book an appointment visit www.instylhaircare.com
