naturals, what would you do if...

[chebaby]

for whatever reason your hair stopped growing or you just couldnt seem to retain growth? im talking about if youve been natural for lets say 5 years but your hair is the same or worse as it was at 2 years natural.
would you go back to relaxers? weave it? lock it? or become a straight hair natural? or maybe keep a twa?


for me if i just could no longer retain and my hair was always breaking i would lock it. i love love love locks. they dont fit in with me now because i like loose hair, i love fros and twists and braid outs so right now locks wouldnt work for me. but thats what i would turn to.

what about you?

 

[Enyo]

Well, the reason I went natural was for healthier hair. So length wouldn't play a role in what I normally do: wash it, brush it, oil it, love it. Nothing would change if my hair stayed short.

 

[GoingNatural]

I'd find a new regimen.

 

[Uber]

I'd weave/braid it

 

[Kash]

I'd find a new regimen.

i would too! the problem isn't hair growth, it's hair retention.

 

[chebaby]

i would too! the problem isn't hair growth, it's hair retention.

yea thats what i mean. if for some reason you cant seem to reatin, no matter what you do. if your hair is always breaking or always knotting what would you do?

 

[mrsjohnson75]

I would do more protective styling. Less is more

 

[ms.blue]

being relaxed won't help retain and locks which I think are nice won't help retain either b/c it's the shed hair along w/ the hair growth which makes them longer. Like it was mentioned b4, I would find a new regimne.

 

[Junebug D]

I relaxed mine. There was just no point in continuing something that clearly wasn't working out for me. I'm not talking about throwing in the towel after one setback, after a few months or even after a few years either. It no longer was conducive to the goals that I set for myself or for my lifestyle at the time.

 

[silenttullip]

I'd find a new regimen.

I second that emotion if you stick with a non working reggie you're just asking for stagnation. Honestly in my 2nd - 3rd year I had breakage and I protective styled all the time BUT I hadn't a regimen I'd just get whatever was on sale I even washed my hair with dishwashing liquid once smh, and it didn't help that I was trying to get my scalp under control. With the help of research, YOU LADIES, and youtube I was able to bounce up and resume growing. I love ya'll and now I'm gonna go before I start crying

 

[Kash]

yea thats what i mean. if for some reason you cant seem to reatin, no matter what you do. if your hair is always breaking or always knotting what would you do?

you gotta do something different to change your results.
i'm natural and was not retaining my growth at all. I began stalking the natural ladies here with long, natural hair.
one member in particular was very helpful and she helped me develop a regimen that stopped my hair breakage.

 

[maysay]

I'm in this position right now. I've been natural for 24 years (since birth) and my hair looks pretty much the same as it always has. It's a bit longer, but not by much. My hair issues are the result of my ill health (I have a chronic illness), accompanying medications, and a horrible diet.

Since my hair growth has slowed way down, my shedding has gone way up (getting bald patches again), and my hair is super prone to splits because it grows out weak (due to illness, medication, and bad diet) I've decided to go back to wigs. Right now I'm far more worried about my health and losing weight so once I deal with that I'll start worrying about my hair again. Until then it's flat twists under a wig.

 

[chebaby]

I second that emotion if you stick with a non working reggie you're just asking for stagnation. Honestly in my 2nd - 3rd year I had breakage and I protective styled all the time BUT I hadn't a regimen I'd just get whatever was on sale I even washed my hair with dishwashing liquid once smh, and it didn't help that I was trying to get my scalp under control. With the help of research, YOU LADIES, and youtube I was able to bounce up and resume growing. I love ya'll and now I'm gonna go before I start crying

ita, you have to find a reggie that really works for you.
my hair is growing and retaining just fine right now but im only in my first year. i use a ton of different products but i know what works and i think thats the keys. once you find what works you can do ALMOST anything and not have problems.

i made this thread because i saw somewhere else that a lady had been relaxed for 5 years and said no matter what she does her hair wont grow past sl. so she was thinking about getting a relaxer. it just made me think about what i would do if i were in her shoes.

 

[ThickHair]

I would go to a twa.

 

[Southernbella.]

I'd either loc or do a TWA.

 

[dymondgurl]

for whatever reason your hair stopped growing or you just couldnt seem to retain growth? .......what about you?

to relaxers and weaves

Later in life I think I may loc my hair anyhow so I guess I'd alternate between being a straight haired natural and rockin a fro in various sizes.

 

[Whimsy]

I'd find a regimen that worked.

If this is just a hypothetical type thing where changing the regimen wouldn't help and there are no other alternatives to achieve growth normally, I'd just cut my hair into a cute lil twa and keep it moving.

 

[tocktick]

I don't see how relaxing would be the solution for me. I'd have to learn a whole new regimen (especially don't like the idea of stretching) and seeing that I do not trust folks to apply the relaxer properly I'd have to learn that too. Ultimately though, I'm just not of relaxed hair on me.

I would analyse my regimen properly and see where I was falling short. I would then work on seeing what I could improve and I would probably go into ultra-low maintenance mode for at least a year. I've been natural 4 years and I've made mistakes along the way - sometimes through being inconsistent/lazy and sometimes through just not knowing what my hair needed as it changed. Each time I had to fix my ways, tweak my reggie and be patient with my hair. I fully acknowledge that my hair isn't as long as it could be because of this but I'm fine with where I am. I would rather have made the mistakes when I did than to have a set back at a longer length. Right now, I consider myself on track and I realistically know the potential of where my hair could be in a 1-2 years because I'm aware of what to avoid.

 

[ckisland]

After 2 years of being natural I can easily do any hair style I want, so I would just enjoy my hair as is (between APL and BSL) . If I was craving long lengths, then I would definitely lock. Because with shed hair and not having to ever detangle, you can reach some crazy lengths with locs .

 

[chebaby]

After 2 years of being natural I can easily do any hair style I want, so I would just enjoy my hair as is (between APL and BSL) . If I was craving long lengths, then I would definitely lock. Because with shed hair and not having to ever detangle, you can reach some crazy lengths with locs .

my bff has never had long hair. weve been bff since JHS and her has was always that chewed up relaxed hair that made the tiny little pony tails lol. now she has locks and her hair is down her back. shes been growing them for maybe 3 or 4 years and they are like bsl.

 

[TemiLnd]

Emmm, as long as I had reached APL I'd just enjoy it. I may straighten more often.

 

[Eritreladiee]

if it was impossible for my hair to get any longer I would just accept it for what it was-- I wouldn't relax or weave. If I'd get bored then I'd cut it short into a cropped style and keep flat ironing/straightening. When I'd get bored with that I'd let it grow a bit and start some locs. After that, I'd TWA.

 

[Lylddlebit]

I would keep wearing my hair in straight and natural hair styles like I do now. I do intend to lock my hair in my lifetime, but that will be when I am older and want get up and go hair.

 

[mkd]

I would rock a TWA.

 

[Ms Lala]

My hair has been about the same length for about 3 years. I have seen positive changes in my hair health and thickness but not much in terms of length. It's only hair. I am enjoying my hair and still trying to reach my goal but not stressing about it. Life goes on.

 

[Stormy]

I would wear a twa. I actually kind of miss it these days anyway.

 

[claudia05]

Since I'm not pretty enough to carry a twa, I'd loc...

 

[shinyblackhair]

If I could at least get shoulder length, I would be happy with that. Especially if my goal is just to be natural.

 

[I Am So Blessed]

"jheri juice retention"

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I relaxed mine. There was just no point in continuing something that clearly wasn't working out for me. I'm not talking about throwing in the towel after one setback, after a few months or even after a few years either. It no longer was conducive to the goals that I set for myself or for my lifestyle at the time.

Same here.

After having APL snatched away from me several times after a never ending battle with knots, I relaxed. Fast forward a year and a half and my longest layer is 3 inches away from WSL.

I have said before that the only way I'd go natural again is if I resigned myself to short hair, but I think I could retain length by straightening on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I got caught up in that whole "heat is the devil" nonsense and was petrified that even minimal use of direct heat would leave me bald.