Questioning my hair

**Tyana590** · 10-05-2009, 08:02 PM

Hey all Im in a natural hair rut and I just began to question my hair. Why is it that my hair is naturally dry? Why doesnt my hair form clumps? Why is it that even though my hair is short sebum still doesnt seem to coat the whole starnd and will I HAVE to rely on products forever in order to get my hair to do what I want it to do. Sigh

I dont mean to bring anyone down but sometimes it is hard havin 4B 4C Thick natural hair especially when you see the looser curl thinner haired ladies walking around with hair that looks like you could spray it and go meanwhile I have to put a whole lot of stuff in my hair to get it to look decent.

And it doesnt help that someone form the Natural Hair Chemist Consortium recently told me that I dont need to buy products for my hair to look good all I need is sebum. I mean paleeze I tried it for about a week no products and it wasnt working out! I would like to see her hair! Hmm

P.S I do LOVE my hair but when ur broke and really cant afford the kinky curly, castor oil qhemet biologics and oyin products it does get a little rough.

**Fuesha** · 10-05-2009, 08:11 PM

Sorry your feeling blue but dont fret. However first things first, you know your hair better than anybody, so if something aint working then ditch, and the heck with what anyone no matter if they work for say the natural hair chemis consortium perhaps

Good news! All of those product you just named, you dont have to use. I can get the same results from home goods or even the cheapy stuff you pass by everyday in your local store. It may seem like it but i can tell you that not everyone is using the natural products for the simple fact that everyone's hair does not like it, or it cost too much, or other, easier to obtain, cheapy products like Suave work just fine. You dont have to break the bank to have lovely natural hair.

Your just going to have to do some trial and error. When I went natural i was in grad school, so i didnt have money to go out any buy or order the much talked about natural product,so i didnt. I viewd the commerial forum, found np sista's with simlar hair to mine, used my own sense about what i knew my hair wasnt going to like and hit my local bss and wally world. Oh and in case your wondering i have the super thick, tightly coiled hair you speak of.

View Profile · 10-05-2009, 08:17 PM

Castor oil - assuming it would work for your hair - is actually quite inexpensive.

But that aside, it seems - and of course I don't know you and I'm just going by reading your post - it seems that you're wishing for something other than what you have going. Instead of looking at the albums and vids of nappies with looser/thinner/different hair from you, looks at the ones from ladies whose hair is like yours - of whom there are many. There are so many ladies on this board alone with stunning stunning stunning 4-B/CNapp/not curly hair that is would be impossible for you not to be able to find information that would help you.

Whoever told you that about sebum was mistaken. The structure of our hair makes it nearly impossible for sebum to travel all the way down the hair shaft. I am one of the finer hair napps you mentioned but even still if I didn't condition and moisturize my hair regularly it would not be a pretty picture.

Stay up! best of luck in finding what works best for you

**Cerendipity** · 10-05-2009, 08:17 PM

I always wondered my hair was the way it was. My mothers and cousins and aunts hair arent like this... so why is mine? I just had to buckle down and accept what I had and try to find what works for me.

conditioner washing , a nice hair milk or lotion and some oil. My hair could do find with that. throw in some shealoe and I can twist my hair happily. My hair is tooo thick to just expect product to get down to the nitty gritty. I have to section my hair , apply, and style. Thats just the way the cookie crumbs for me...... the end result is soft fluffy, kinky , coily THICK hair that isnt falling out.

once you get into the groove you will be fine, it takes time so bear with it!

**DeeLightFullNaps** · 10-05-2009, 08:20 PM

uh oh do you have curl envy?!?!? LOL seriously I have 4c hair that won't curl with the assistance of any product including the Kinky Curly products that I'm selling on the swap board ;-) I don't know if you hair is the lenght that is on your profile pic but that is sooo cute. My hair is very dry as well I have shea butter, coconut oil, cantu shea butter leave in, liv leave in, shea butter mixed with oils and even henna just try to see what works for you. Cause me n my cousin are both natural and what works for her 4a hair will make my hair laugh cause we have totally different texture same with my daughter she has very long 3c hair I have to use different things for her...........I have been disappointed to say the least with my new natural hair but you know what this is what I wanted and now I have to re learn my hair after being relaxed for so long and I have to adjust to "seeing" my real hair its a big adjustment for me so I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL (I can empathize and not just sympathize there is a BIG difference) so chin up it can only get better................................... I hope LOL?!?!?!

**EvesDilemma** · 10-05-2009, 08:25 PM

If you are taking care of moisture on the outside, make sure your insides are on point as well. If you are not eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water, all the external fixes won't make a difference and your hair will continue to be dry.

**Kayin** · 10-05-2009, 08:44 PM

Originally Posted by tdrmaquillage

Castor oil - assuming it would work for your hair - is actually quite inexpensive.

But that aside, it seems - and of course I don't know you and I'm just going by reading your post - it seems that you're wishing for something other than what you have going. Instead of looking at the albums and vids of nappies with looser/thinner/different hair from you, looks at the ones from ladies whose hair is like yours - of whom there are many. There are so many ladies on this board alone with stunning stunning stunning 4-B/CNapp/not curly hair that is would be impossible for you not to be able to find information that would help you.

Whoever told you that about sebum was mistaken. The structure of our hair makes it nearly impossible for sebum to travel all the way down the hair shaft. I am one of the finer hair napps you mentioned but even still if I didn't condition and moisturize my hair regularly it would not be a pretty picture.

Stay up! best of luck in finding what works best for you

I wish to agree with this.
I want to add that it is important to find out what works for you. A "sebum only" approach may work for some people but doesn't have universal application (as you already know by now). That doesn't mean that you necessarily need to use a lot of product. My mostly 4b hair does well with black soap, a leave in conditioner, shea butter mixes for twisting and coconut oil. I sometimes use castor oil (note that a little goes a long way). Now, this may not be the right product combo for you but my point is that healthy natural hair doesn't have to be expensive. You should probably check out some of the recommendations/recipes in the homemade product section. Good luck!

**Tyana590** · 10-05-2009, 08:53 PM

Aww you guys are so nice. And DeeLightFullNaps I guess I do have samll case of curl envy because I saw this older lady on the bus with the most Beautiful curls *sigh* It doesnt help that I had long (12 inch) kinky hair about 3 weeks ago which I cut it off it order to start over with healthier hair. I guess I should remember my whole purpose in cutting my hair so short instead of fretting over how it looks and not taking goood care of it since I dont like it. (A mess i kno) lol EvesDillemna u are right about the taking care of your insides thing and I believe that might be an issue too, Im starting the mastercleanse real soon and im thinkiung about doing another bigchop once I get on it and strting over with truley healthier hair.

**Karibana** · 10-05-2009, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by tdrmaquillage

But that aside, it seems - and of course I don't know you and I'm just going by reading your post - it seems that you're wishing for something other than what you have going. Instead of looking at the albums and vids of nappies with looser/thinner/different hair from you, looks at the ones from ladies whose hair is like yours - of whom there are many. There are so many ladies on this board alone with stunning stunning stunning 4-B/CNapp/not curly hair that is would be impossible for you not to be able to find information that would help you.

Co-sign. As long as your looking at other looser haired girls and wonder why not you, you can never fully accept what you have. You need to develop an appreciation with the aesthetics of your hair, what it can do, what it looks like and not dwell on what it can't. Besides, a twistout can easily simulate the looser curls you want.

As for your hair being dry, step to the mirror (with good lighting), wrap a strand of hair around your finger. Does it reflect? Then your hair is not dry. Kinky hair simply doesn't reflect light like those with a more uniform texture and that is why it may look dry to you.

**DeeLightFullNaps** · 10-06-2009, 12:07 AM

Originally Posted by Tyana590

Aww you guys are so nice. And DeeLightFullNaps I guess I do have samll case of curl envy because I saw this older lady on the bus with the most Beautiful curls *sigh* It doesnt help that I had long (12 inch) kinky hair about 3 weeks ago which I cut it off it order to start over with healthier hair. I guess I should remember my whole purpose in cutting my hair so short instead of fretting over how it looks and not taking goood care of it since I dont like it. (A mess i kno) lol EvesDillemna u are right about the taking care of your insides thing and I believe that might be an issue too, Im starting the mastercleanse real soon and im thinkiung about doing another bigchop once I get on it and strting over with truley healthier hair.

Its ok to admire the curls but don't expect to wake up with a head full of curls.