5 Tips You Need to Know to Go Natural

If you’re contemplating on whether to go natural or not, you’re probably overwhelmed, nervous, or even scared. Don’t worry! I’ve been there too. I remember when knew I wanted to go natural and not knowing what to do or where to even start. That’s why I decided to write these tips as a guide for you! These are the 5 tips that I would tell the younger me, if I could go back in time! Enjoy!

1.) Decide if you want to big chop or to transition.

When you decide to go natural, you can either choose to do the big chop or transition. The big chop is when you cut out all of the relaxed or damaged hair. This will leave you with the hair that has your natural curl pattern. Transitioning is when you gradually cut off the relaxed/damaged parts of your hair over time. Usually people who don’t want to lose their length do this method and then cut the rest off when they are comfortable.

Please don’t let anyone tell you what you HAVE to do because this is totally up to you and what YOU are comfortable with. I personally did the transition method when I started my natural journey in 2010 and I was fully natural by 2011. Remember you started this journey for YOU, so only YOU can make these types of decisions.

 

2.) Decide if you want to be a straight or curly natural.

This is one tip I feel like a lot of people don’t talk about AT ALL. I want you to decide if you will wear your hair mostly straightened or mostly curly. Why? Because your answer dictates what steps you need to take afterward.

For example, I decided to go natural in 2010. In 2010, I was continuously getting my hair straightened. I never wore my hair in its curly state. Didn’t even know what my curls looked like. That is what I call a “straight natural.” There is NOTHING wrong with being one. I just don’t want you to expect to wear your hair straight all the time and then think your curls are going to flourish. SOME people don’t get heat damage and that’s a blessing, but most of us naturals do.

So, if you choose to be a curly natural, I would HIGHLY recommend to limit the use of heat. No one told me about heat damage, so I was straightening my hair at least every month. Then when I wanted to try two strand twists or wash and gos I was frustrated because they didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to. That is why in 2014 I did the big chop and cut all my heat damage out. NOW, I’m a curly natural.

Now, being a curly natural doesn’t mean you can never straighten your hair. It just means that it might be at most every quarter, so the heat doesn’t affect your curl pattern. PLEASE know there is no right or wrong choice when you decide you want to go natural.

3.) Do product research.

When you do decide to go natural, finding the right products for your hair can be very overwhelming. If you didn’t know, some natural hair products can be more expensive than others. Doing your research before buying products can help save A LOT of money. (Something I didn’t know, so now I’m the ultimate product junkie!)

Now there are tons of natural hair brands out there and, instead of buying new products every time a new line launches or every time you walk into Sally’s (I’m guilty of this), take the time to look it up. See if your hair can really benefit from that specific product.

When you decide to go natural, your hair is going to need A LOT of moisture, so look for products that specialize in helping hair retain moisture. Maybe your hair is colored, so you’ll want to look at products that specialize in color treated hair. Something that is really popular now is using products that are silicone, alcohol, and sulfate free. Research which products contain those ingredients and which ones don’t and go from there. Honestly, that could be the difference between a product that costs $3 and one that costs $15. (Just putting it out there!)

4.) Find natural hair inspirations and curlfriends.

When I first decided to go natural, I felt all alone. I didn’t know who to turn to for help or advice. So I turned to Youtube, and found natural hair inspirations there. Find natural hair bloggers that you can get inspiration from. This helped me soooooo much on my journey. Watching trials and tribulations of other people’s journeys can give you motivation to keep going on your own journey. Even finding styles to create made my journey fun.

When I started my journey, my go to YouTubers were: Mahagony Curls, Mini Marley, MoKnowsHair, and Naptural85. I would watch videos for HOURS listening to their advice and trying the styles they were doing. I will say that sometimes my styles wouldn’t come out like Mahogany Curls and MoKnowsHair because we didn’t have the same hair texture. So, I HIGHLY recommend finding hair inspirations that have hair that looks like yours. (This is one of the reasons I started my Youtube, because when I started my journey I couldn’t find many YouTubers with hair like mine.)

Now, it seems like every one is natural, so find a group of people that can help you through your journey. Find friends that are also natural that can help inspire and motivate you to keep going on your journey. Those are what I call curlfriends! If you don’t personally know anyone who is natural, find your curlfriends on social media. I have made so many curlfriends on Instagram!

5.) Be PATIENT!

This tip is CRUCIAL. I will not lie to you and say that the decision to go natural is easy. Because it isn’t. Especially starting off. You will get frustrated. You will want to go back to relaxers. If you are transitioning, your hair will seem like it’s breaking all the time. You might just cry! (I know I did). So, I advise you to take the time and be patient with your hair. This journey takes time; it won’t happen over night. I REPEAT: You won’t become natural overnight. Unless you do the big chop, and even then you might cut your hair one day and can’t believe you did that the next. Just breathe and keep going. Give your hair the T.L.C it needs and it will flourish. I PROMISE!

 

 

Going natural isn’t always easy, but to me it’s so worth it! Let me know if you have any other tips below in the comments. I would love to hear them!