10 Reasons to Go Natural – #5 Will Shock You

Want to learn some solid reasons to go natural? I asked myself this question over a decade ago, as I wanted a change from chemical hair relaxers. So, what would be the reasons to go natural?

For various looks? Self-acceptance? For believing that natural hair is “easier to manage” since it appears more wild and free? I’ve got 10 reasons to go natural right now, and #5 will shock you!

Ready to learn them? Let’s go!

10 Reasons to Go Natural – #5 Will Shock You

1. Decreased Chance of Heat Damage

When we start to embrace the texture that grows naturally from our scalps, straightening the strands happens once in a blue or not at all. My hair hasn’t been flat ironed in almost 2 years compared to getting it washed and straightened every 2 weeks professionally in prior years. Every natural is different, but hair straightening is not completely off-limits.

Some get their hair silk pressed twice a year or even four times a year without damage, but I’d personally get my hair straightened just once out of 365 days yearly. Of course, there are ways to avoid heat damage by using heat protectants before blow-drying and flat ironing your hair. However, the best protection against heat damage is to rarely or never use direct heat on your hair.

 2. Way More Versatile than Chemically Processed Hair

I love a great blowout and press because it really showcases the true length of my hair. Straight hair is more manageable, but lacks versatility. In other words, it’s boring!!😅🤷🏾‍♀️

Now textured hair, on the other hand, the styling options are endless. There are wash-and-go’s, which allow us to wear our true curl pattern. There’s one of my faves, the twist-out style. Get the twist-out look on wet or dry hair.

Just have to be sure to use a good leave-in conditioner, a twisting-style cream, and/or gel or mousse (optional). The high puff (curly or Afro), flat twists, braid-outs, need I say more?!

3. Better Straightened Results

Yes, I said what I said 😅! Above is a picture of the last time that I had my natural hair straightened – when I was pregnant with my daughter in February 2021. In 2008, I decided I no longer wanted to get relaxers. So, I bounced around from salon to salon until I found my home in December 2009.

I would get the same hairstyle – a blowout and flat ironed consistently for almost a decade on a biweekly basis. My hair was flourishing. Long, healthy, and manageable. I always received compliments and questions about whether or not I had a perm.

I was so happy to answer NO! Additionally, I was able to wear it straight all year around, even during the summer months! As I said, I love my straight natural hair, but I wanted to explore my true texture. So, I decided to stay out of the salon and learn to care for my own hair in 2018.

4. Natural Hair is Liberating

Although I had given up relaxers, I was still a slave to my straight natural hair. I could not work out consistently because I did not want to sweat out my hair. I couldn’t do much physical activity at all to avoid sweating.

Since I went true natural, I no longer worry about sweating when I exercise. Guess what? I work out on a regular basis!

5. Chemical Hair-Straightening Products may cause Cancer

When I tell you that I had no idea about this health crisis!! As of November 2022, four black women have filed lawsuits against well-known companies that their chemical hair-straightening products have caused them to develop uterine cancer. One of the women, age 55, stated that she’d been using chemical hair straightening products from age 8 to her early 40s.

Unfortunately, she had developed an aggressive form of uterine cancer that spread to other parts of her body. She’s had a hysterectomy and chemotherapy treatments. Additionally, another woman had been using relaxers from 1983 to 2015. She too has developed uterine cancer in addition to breast cancer. This is so sad and it really hits home for me, as I had used relaxers from age 12 to 21.

A new study from the National Institutes of Health revealed that women who use hair-straightening chemicals are more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer in comparison to those who don’t. Had my mother and the thousand or even millions of black women known of these harmful side effects, relaxers would have been banned from continued use.

6. Chemical Straighteners have been Linked to Uterine Fibroids

Another shocker that I and many others likely had no idea about. Thankfully, I do not have fibroids, but I have heard of black women being more prone to developing them. I have an aunt that suffered from fibroids. Again, a well-established scientific research study has found that the high rate of uterine fibroids in black women, particularly in the US, is linked to using chemical relaxers.

This study appeared in the American Journal of Epidemiology back in 2012.

7. Processed Hair is Prone to Damage

Have you ever heard a black woman blame her short and fragile hair on a “bad perm” when she was a little girl? If I had a dollar for how many times I have heard someone say that in person and on TV, I’d be a millionaire by now! Lye, found in some relaxers, causes hair breakage and weakening.

Lye is a harmful chemical that is also used to unblock drains. Why would a toxic chemical that unblocks drains be used on our delicate strands? It’s no wonder that this toxic chemical is linked to breast cancer.

8. Perms can cause Scalp Burn

I could remember the pain from perms like it was yesterday. This is one of the reasons why I decided to stop getting them. Fortunately, I did not have many scabs on my head when I would get my hair relaxed, but I do recall having them. Sodium hydroxide causes the burn.

Now that I am natural, I no longer experience uncomfortable burning sensations on my scalp.

9. Most Natural Hair Products Contain Harsh free Ingredients

When shopping for products, we still have to be careful of what we purchase because what works for one specific hair type may not work for the other. The product(s) that are great to purchase for everyone is one that lists water as its first ingredient. For example, avoid ingredients like Formaldehyde and Isopropyl alcohol.

Formaldehyde could be extremely irritating to the skin and eyes, while Isopropyl alcohol strips away the natural oils from the scalp, leaving the hair dry. Natural hair is naturally dry enough. It craves and needs moisture to thrive.

Last, but certainly not least…

10. Embracing the Hair that God gave You

This one can be the hardest to do. Natural hair could be challenging as well as viewed as less than the “standard of beauty.” Some of us have loose, long curls while others have tightly coiled, coarse curls. Whatever you’ve got, love them and nurture them! Just like some of us have had to learn to be comfortable in our skin, we must also learn to accept ourselves and love our true textures.

So, there you have it! Are you convinced by these reasons to go natural? Feel free to comment below! Also, join our email list for more tips and tricks to manage your natural hair!