Learning how to wear our natural hair confidently is a major part of our natural hair journey. After transitioning for a year, I finally did the “big chop.” I was left with a “teeny weeny afro,” also known as a TWA. One thing for sure, I was not used to such short tresses, so the first thing I did was install box braids. I had built up enough courage to do the big chop, but I had not built up the confidence in wearing my natural hair out. I think many naturals can relate to this. Today, I will give you 5 tips on how to confidently wear your natural hair!
Wear it Out!
One of my biggest regrets was not wearing my hair out when it was in the TWA phase. I would do braided protective styles often and opted to straighten it so it could appear longer. After about a year of being fully natural, I felt a little more comfortable just wearing my hair out. It had gained some length, and plus I was tired of paying for protective styles. One day I just decided to embrace my natural hair and wear it out! I experimented with different styles and just learned to have fun with it.
Learn about your Hair!
Hair Type
You should definitely take the time to learn about your natural hair. For starters, I suggest finding out what your hair type is. The natural hair typing system is used to categorize different hair textures. Hair typing, in general, is a controversial topic in the natural hair community. I mainly use hair typing as a guide to figure out what will work best for my hair. I think it is beneficial for creating a hair care regimen along with styling.
Hair Porosity
Next, you should learn about your hair’s porosity. Well, what is hair porosity? Hair porosity is your hair’s ability to absorb or retain moisture. Knowing your hair porosity can help you choose the right products to help style and maintain your hair. There are 3 categories of hair porosity: low, medium, or high.
The easiest way I found to discover my hair’s porosity was the float test. Your hair must be clean, so after wash-day grab a cup and fill it with water. Take a strand of your clean hair and place it in the cup of water. If your hair sinks to the bottom, you have high porosity. If it floats to the top, your hair is low porosity. Lastly, if your hair stays in the middle, you have normal porosity.
Hair Density
Lastly, you should also know your hair density. What is hair density? According to naturallycurly.com, hair density refers to ” how closely [hair] strands are packed together on your head.” In layman’s terms, it is how thick or thin your hair is. It is important to be mindful of your hair’s density so you can determine which products will work in your hair and give you the result you need to confidently style and rock your natural hair.
Ignoring Negativity
At the beginning of my journey, I would get various snide comments or questions pertaining to my hair texture. Presently, natural hair has become more prevalent, but there are still socially negative connotations associated with natural hair especially in the workplace or at school. Those biases are slowly but surely being removed and more states are trying to protect black employees and students by passing laws in favor of allowing our beautiful tresses to not be looked at as a distraction, or unprofessional. So I say ignore the negativity because people will have something to say regardless of how your hair looks.
Acceptance
You may not like certain things about your natural hair. Your hair may not be as thick as you would like it, or you may even want a looser hair texture. You have to learn to look past those things you see as imperfections of your natural hair. Learn to work with what you have. Most importantly, learn how to do certain styles to minimize your insecurities. Remember, most people don’t even notice what we consider imperfections.
I love the fact that natural hair is so versatile. We can go from kinks to curls, to straight, within hours. Now that is definitely magical! I’m here to tell you, if you are on this journey, sit back and enjoy your natural hair and most importantly rock it confidently.
