Our natural hair is so versatile. Almost like magic, we can cover a handful of styles ranging from pin straight to ‘fro, and everything in between – all in the span of one week. We can even temporarily change our curl pattern to another curl pattern by braiding or twisting. There’s no limit to what our hair can do.
Like all magic there is a dark side. Many of us have pursued dangerous, chemically straight treatments to achieve the pin straight look, and many more have had to lob off the dead weight of those decisions. So, we went natural. But what does natural mean?
The #NaturalChicks who wear their curls like a crown still style. We still brush, comb, loc, twist, sew, braid, and girl those p r o d u c t s. We can spend a whole day conditioning and treating—and a whole two days air drying! Fitting wash day into a busy week can feel like jury duty.
The pressure of wash day gets to some of us, so instead of doing it ourselves we book an appointment at a salon and have them blow it out. It’s easy to throw a bonnet on at night and wake up the next day without needing to apply products to style. For several days, we can experience a level of low maintenance that only exists in dreams and cartoons. Maintenance goes from hours of washing and conditioning, moisturizing and twisting, to a bi-weekly appointment and avoiding any heat-styling tools in the interim. We embrace the delayed wash day and watch our hair transform back to its curly nature.
For those of us that dread wash day. I mean, wake up late for work, have a dental appointment, disciplinary meeting with your boss kind of dread. We can’t fathom spending a whole day fighting with our curls, or even cleaning them up in the morning before we leave for work. To us, blowouts feel like a weight being lifted from the tops of our heads. With our curls straightened out, detangling is as easy as brushing our teeth.
Here’s the thing, though. Just because we straighten, doesn’t mean we don’t deserve a seat at the #naturalchicks table too!
Within the realm of curly, coily, kinky, naturals, our straight-by-choice naturals are just that—Straight Natural.
And, hey, why not? Our straight natural might ditch the salons for a season and wear her curls with pride. With so much versatility we have hairstyle choices that others without our genes can never achieve. Our hair is our choice, we can wear it our way.
— Charley
