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I realize lots of threads on natural hair.

What was your main motivation to take the step back to natural?

I have contemplated, started and not continued a couple times. Just feeling out other people's reasons.

My main reasons for going natural, then starting locks were:
1. Don't have to worry about waking up and my hair still laying on the pillows because of perming too much.
2. Easier to maintain because I'm always working out.
3. I have more comfort in colouring my hair and not worrying about it falling out.
4. I just find that it looks better on me, and I have way less 'bad hair days' with natural hair than I did having a perm.
5. Not having to spend all freaking day in a hair salon fuh one style!

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The older I get.. the less time I want to spend fixing my hair.
Plus all those chemicals ain't good for the hair... I saw how relaxer ate out the hair in the back of a fren ah mine head... and I say before I get to that stage lemme stop use that shit NOW... she was relaxing her hair since she was about 12 or so... whereas relaxer didnt touch my hair til I was like 17 or so... so my hair was still in good condition when I stopped with the chemicals.

i always liked my hair natural, but when i moved back to the UK i knew i just couldn't be doing the wash and go thing. so i relaxed it, but last year i was like nuh uh fack it, i want my curls back. so i did the chop, now it's growing back ringlets living large

I am still trying to find my reason, for some reason I feel like I just woke up and said I want to go naturals (it happened so quick and sudden). I haven't looked back since.

Cool, I've felt a bit of many of those however I never stayed with the decision.

I love my hair natural, however on a couple occasions after laboring for months I've given in and permed for a last minute styling for a special occasion.

Has it ever been an issue workwise for anyone particularly if you locked it?

I wore my hair naturally 2 weeks after starting law school, and it was in a short natural when I graduated. I work for the federal government and I used to do a lot of trial work, so I dealt with the public a lot. No one had an issue with my hair. Wearing your hair naturally is not as big of a deal anymore. As long as it's worn nicely (neat, clean, clean-looking and clean-smelling) you should not have any problems. My office has a good mix of folks, but it's still predominantly white, and di white people dem love locs. I don't know if they secretly want to have that "artsy" black friend to associate with, but they seem to like it. I started locs almost a year ago, and I still go to court. My co-workers, judges, peeps in public that I deal with don't have a problem (not that I'm aware of). I've drawn smiles and mad compliments from everyone. It's 2006. Some black people (esp. in the south) have some old notions of what your hair is supposed to look like, but women in major cities are breaking away from that. I'm thinking about going into the private sector and I'm learning that women in law firms are wearing their hair in naturals, locs, etc. I need to see more before I'm convinced, but that's what I'm hearing.

can't recall why I cut my hair into a short natural when I did. It was the best beauty decision I ever made. It just happened. I decided to lock it several years later when I wanted to have long natural hair. It's working for me.

thats what happened to the first time...now the second time around..i know the purpose ..makes it special

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frankly, i just got tired of relaxing my hair. i was always paranoid of letting too many people touch up my hair so if my mom or her hairdresser wasn't doing it, i would do it myself. when my mom moved and her hair dresser moved her shop, i started doing it myself.

my hair is stubborn as hell so it never really took the relaxer the way i wanted it to and i was always flat ironing it. what's the purpose of having to still press it after i relax it? it got old & i loved braids so i just let the relaxer grow out once and haven't looked back since. it's been natural 5 years now and i think i'm going to just dred it for my 30th birthday in december. i work out more now and even braids are growing out at ridiculously fast rates so it's time for another change...

[QUOTE=Chicktitude]I realize lots of threads on natural hair.

What was your main motivation to take the step back to natural?

I have contemplated, started and not continued a couple times. Just feeling out other people's reasons.[/QUOTE

I started mine, cause I made a major change in my life! So these loc's will remind how well I turned my life around.

Cool

I asked in particular about the work thing becuase I was surprised a couple months ago to actually witness someone being harrassed for it. Well it was a guy, but it was neat and everything and he was working in store as a security guard I believe and I heard the manager talking to him about it. I did think that was outdated, old fashioned and recognized for the hypocrisy it was.

I agree too in terms of blacks in law and social works and a lot of these areas wearing locks. I'm trying to build up the resolve to do it, just want the motivation to commit to the initial locking periods though.

I'm usually on the go so I hate the time appointments take to perm etc. Luckily though I've never really had much trouble with my natural hair so I guess thats part of my motivation there. Sometimes I want to try different styles with the braids, but I always thing of the time to take them out.

I'm really interested in eventually locking my hair, but my hair is kinda fine in texture and I guess I'm a bit afraid i'd only get those thin more straggly locks that looks great on some people but is not what I want.

for me it took 16 years to build up the resolve, but after the step down.. years of being natural in my gut it just felt right. like i was ready to show out side what i felt inside. so i loc'd up. but i do get grief over my loc's at school sometimes but im at the point where i just tell them to haul it! but i love it. best thing i ever did and even though my hair was always tough even when it almost all fell out after to colour treatments & a perm all in one week my hair feels better that ever now.

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i couldnt deal with the perm burning meh damn scalp every time i did it...the dryer hot hot in meh rasshole head (although it's just as bad with the locs, but i dont have the locs now so i cool).....it's a whole bunch of reasons why i chose it, but the main reason is i wanted to remain as natural as possible