I have 4C hair and I love it.

I find it quite disappointing when I see some people with 4C hair struggling to accept it as something that is beautiful and deserving of admiration. There was a post a while ago on CurlyNikki.com where a girl outright said, and I paraphrase: 

"I envy people with 3C, 4A and 4B hair because it's nice and curly. I hate my hair because it's ugly and kinky. I can't go natural because I don't want to show this mess to the world"!

I was stunned because clearly the girl hates her hair and secondly, by sharing that level of hate she makes other 4C girls start to think that there is something wrong with our hair. I just shrugged it off and thought, "Whatever", clearly there are deeper problems here than just hair...this brings me on to the all-important topic of curl pattern!

I get loads of emails from people asking why their curl pattern isn't "developing" or whether they should big chop again to get a "better curl pattern". Here are the facts on curl pattern:

• Your curl pattern is determined by genes. 
• Some people's hair is curly, other people have kinky hair. You cannot change that.
• Although you cannot change your curl pattern at all EVER you can manipulate it with styling techniques.
  
• Curly and kinky hair types are both cool and beautiful.

What styles look good with kinky hair?
The classic afro, afro puffs and styles using scarves. Seriously, curly is not better than kinky and vice versa. Just accept what God gave you and learn to love it if you don't already.

If you have kinky hair how can you make it look more curly?
You can plait, twist it or use curling rods.

If you have curly hair how can you make it look more kinky?
You can't.

Hope this helps!

I went natural in March/April 2011. I don't remember the exact date. My hair had broken off at the back so I had about 1 inch of hair on two-thirds of my head to begin with and a couple of inches at the front.

At the time, my hair was so badly damaged that I couldn't care less about hair growth - I just wanted it to get healthier. Looking back on it I think ignoring hair growth and focusing on health is the best strategy one can go for because my hair has been growing and any growth I get comes as a happy surprise. If you expect nothing, everything and anything you get will be a positive.

I also don't do length checks. I have done one before but I don't think it's that important. You will know if your hair is growing depending on where it reaches.

Anyhow, fast forward 2 years and and 3 months to July 2013 and this is where my hair is at. I'm happy with this length to be honest. If I get more, great; if I don't, it's about health first anyway so it doesn't matter.

In addition to these products, to maintain soft hair consider:

• 5 Best Products For Thin Natural Hair
  
• What Is The Best Leave-in Conditioner For Your Natural Hair?
• Moisturising Natural Black Hair: LOC Method vs. LCO Method
  

When you find the ultimate products for your natural hair you will continue to use them from the transitioning phase through to when you are fully natural.

I got asked this question today.

The answer for this is simple, you can't.

When hair is relaxed the chemical bonds in hair are permanently dissolved. This process cannot be reversed in order to become natural. If you want to go natural you can either transition, big chop or do the stepped chop.    

Some hair types don't take very well to relaxer so they never really straighten properly. I have been told by at least one person that because of this when they went natural they didn't have to transition in any way; this was only because the hair never straightened in the first place not because the relaxer process had been reversed.

You might also like:
How to Go Natural: Big Chop vs. Transitioning. #BlackHair
An Alternative to the Big Chop: The Stepped Chop!

In a big chop or BC, you cut off all the relaxed hair.

This is the quickest and easiest way to go natural. The result is normally called a TWA or Teeny Weeny Afro.

I would recommend getting your hair cut by a salon. Tell them that you want the relaxed hair only to be cut off. 

My aunt walked into a white men's barbershop to do her BC and she's regretted it ever since: apparently the barber took an electric shaver and before she realised it he'd shaved her hair off very close to the skin. Her hair has been thinner ever since!

The Advantage of "doing the BC" is that you start learning to manage and understand your natural texture immediately. 

The disadvantage of a BC is that many girls prefer longer to shorter hair so they are reluctant to cut it short. I regret not doing the BC because I realise now that it would have grown back, that's what hair does!

Transitioning involves leaving the relaxed hair as it is and cutting it off bit by bit as the natural hair grows. You can transition by braiding/twisting your hair.

I did both.

All my relaxed hair fell off at the back (an involuntary BC as it were) and I snipped the remaining relaxed hair off bit by bit over a period of eight months.

The advantage of transitioning is that you don't have to cut all your hair off.

The disadvantage of transitioning with a mixture of natural and relaxed hair is that it detracts from learning how your natural hair works and plus having two textures on your head looks a little silly.

I tried to hide my relaxed hair by sewing my own little cap (see picture to left) and I looked VERY silly. 

I still haven't forgiven my hubby for letting me go into work looking like this. This picture offends me, I only keep it as a reminder of the fashion disaster and how far along I have moved from geek to chic (& sometimes geek chic).