1. Do you have the time to invest in your hair’s health?
If you are looking for something super low maintenance, you may want to re-think returning natural. Taking care of your hair will require a lot of time and patience. Wash day for some naturals can span up to two days. If your goal is overall hair health you will need to make sure your hair is properly moisturized at all times. In the end the take away from this that the amount of time it will for you to properly take care of your hair will vary depending on your particular hair type, length and texture. Just know that it will take more time than relaxed hair does.
2. Are you ready for the commitment?
Natural hair is a commitment and life style change. You may think it’s just hair but it isn’t. In order to obtain truly healthy hair (regardless of the length) starts on the inside of your body. Eating the right nutrients and exercising will promote healthy, shining, and strong hair. For some this may mean they have to completely change how they approach their day to day life. Also not every day will your twist out, bantu knot out, braid out, etc come out like you want. There will be days when your hair just does not want to cooperate and you will be tempted to reach for the creamy crack. Don’t give up; this is when you go to protective styling. You can braid it up, slap on a wig or get a sew-in. Just stay committed.
This is one I think a lot of naturals deal with in the beginning and it is completely ok. When you are transitioning from straight hair to curly hair can be shocking. You are not used to seeing yourself with coils or kinks so it can be devastating at first. This is completely normal. Don’t let that turn into “curl envy”. Learn to love your texture and embrace it. You may not have those perfect waves or those ringlets that you were imagining but what you have is still amazing.
4. Is your skin thick enough?
So even though we are living in a society that is becoming a little more curl friendly, there are still a lot of people who feel natural hair is unkempt. This is why you need to have thick skin. You will encounter a lot of stares, side eyes, and smart mouth comments. These will come from strangers and even family sometime. You have to not let these things get to you or shame you into hiding your hair in a “protective style”. Make sure in these situations you take the time to educate them but do not argue. Some people will never see the beauty in our kinky, curly, coily hair. Keep your head held high and rock your mane with confidence.
The take away from this is that natural hair is wonderful, versatile and fun. But with that being said it takes time, patience and commitment. If you be good to your hair, it will be good to you!
What other advice would you suggest?