Talking about Your Hair Routines with non curlies

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if any of you get embarrassed when discussing your weekly hair routine with other non curlies. I typically donate 3 hours or more to my hair once a week and typically will not go out on those days since it takes forever for my hair to dry. I feel as though I come off as being high maintenance or superficial when admitting to doing this.

Any thoughts? How do handle this

No, your not high maintenance or superficial; is just the nature of our hair requires a different routine than others. Such is the spice of life! Are the non-curlies that you speak to intrigued with your haircare routine?

The only person that knows about my hair routine is my boyfriend, and that's because he sees me everyday!

I'm way too embarrassed to share my routine with non-naturals.

Honestly think about it when women have a relaxer in their hair they spend all saturday morning at the salon every 2 weeks so its really not bad. I don't think its a bad thing to spend time caring for your body and hair. It pays off in the end and you end up with healthy beautiful hair! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

ps wow what was i on when i first wrote this post?? spelling errors galore..

So call me practical because I'm echoing Bevyboo628's post and adding a bit to it. I thik I'm actually wiser for not spending my day/night in a hair salon weekly or bi-weekly. I'm saving money, doing other things while my hair dries naturally and spending my money on great products for me hair. It's in much better shape than when I spent years of money on the creamycrack.

So I miss out on a bit of gossip - but that's what perezhilton is for anyway. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] **Plus I hate sitting in the shop - I have no patience.

Additionally, I'm finding out about me - that's worth more than anything and listen to all the GREAT advice you get here instead of being cooked up in a salon - even thought we are in the house on the computer - I'm actually outside in sunning CA enjoying some rays.

enjoy the weather, mixedstraightup!!

as for letting others know about the hair routine, I find that guys who understand the beauty that is black hair are impressed that a girl can take care of her natural hair!!!

lol I usually dont talk about my hair routine with non naturals I think it just gets people confused. They look at me weird like you wash with conditioner only? You style your hair with conditioner? Whats wrong with you. Why does your bathroom cabinet look like a kitchen cabinet full of food?

I'm like it would make sense if you were a curlie. Its almost like speaking a foreign language or something.

It's funny b/c everytime I meet a stranger and they immediately ask about what products I use and I tell them I don't use shampoo, that seems to be the thing that they can't wrap their minds around the most. One of my friends made fun of me b/c she kept asking me at the last minute to do stuff and I told her she has to give me 24 hr notice b/c my hair may not be "ready for the world." LOL. I work at home, so I can spend a lot of time deep conditioning, twisting, etc.

I have had the opposite, folks look at my curls and assume I have a texturizer, when I tell them I don't then the questions start. What is in your hair? Conditioner. How does it stay that way? It's natural. What styling product do you use? CON DIT ION ER!! gee whiz!!

Serenity23 wrote:It's funny b/c everytime I meet a stranger and they immediately ask about what products I use and I tell them I don't use shampoo, that seems to be the thing that they can't wrap their minds around the most. One of my friends made fun of me b/c she kept asking me at the last minute to do stuff and I told her she has to give me 24 hr notice b/c my hair may not be "ready for the world." LOL. I work at home, so I can spend a lot of time deep conditioning, twisting, etc.

LOL! The not using shampoo is definitely what boggles people. I told my mom I stopped using it & that she shouldn't use it on my 10 year old sisters tighly coiled hair. She said "so how does your hair get clean then?" I feel like just giving her a list of all the blogs I read and have her sit down and read.

I learned VERY quickly that you CANNOT have a conversation with a nonnatural about afro hair! Look how long it has taken US to get the knowledge we have/are getting?! I don't even divulge anything anymore, because I don't have 72 hours to explain!

sweetdrk1 wrote:I have had the opposite, folks look at my curls and assume I have a texturizer, when I tell them I don't then the questions start. What is in your hair? Conditioner. How does it stay that way? It's natural. What styling product do you use? CON DIT ION ER!! gee whiz!!

I get the same thing! I love the 'how did you get your hair to do that' question. 'Umm...I let it grow out of my head and didn't beat it into submission with a relaxer?' Of course I don't say that, but I wish I could! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

interesting and diverse responses. i should have specified that I don't have trouble talking about my natural hair with those who have relaxers or weaves who I think understand the time it takes to take care of our hair well. I'm mostly embarrassed when discussing my hair care regimen with my non-african american friends. i definitely think there's a big culture gap when it comes to hair.

If my non-african friends ask, I love to tell! I put a twist across the front of my daughter's hair on Friday, and her Asian teacher asked me if the twist was going to unravel! I said, "No, curly hair loves to twist around itself; it'll stay." She thought that was so amazing and just loves my daughter's hair. I've received more compliments from non-africans about my hair than I have from anyone in our race.

I used to get really defensive when people had comments about the time it took to do my hair but then I read this book for a research paper I was doing on the history of black hair in the US and it strengthened my confidence. I still avoid those questions and comments but I at least have a better attitude about them thanks to this book. It's called Nappyisms: Affirmations for Nappy-Headed People and Wannabes! If you happen to read it, don't expect any profound answers, just some encouragement!

I agree with Krenea, I cannot discuss my hair with non-naturals because they don't want to listen to what I am saying and say things like, "You just have good hair!" or "You don't mean that you don't shampoo you just use a dry shampoo" and when I tell them my routine they think that I am lying. So I just give up and discuss my routine with curlies/naturals. It is so frustrating! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh I have a good one. I am curently looking for a dress to wear to a wedding, and I asked for someone opinion... She told me how can I be fro chic uptop and Nordstroms at the bottom!! I was like WOWZA!! I then knew that talking about Natural hair with non curlys is not always good. Good thing for me almost every woman in my family is natural. I was the last to cross over. So I always have them to talk too. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My mom, who is relaxed, loves to comment on all the "juices and berries" in my bathroom. I used to try to explain to her the importance of maintenance and more natural products, but now I just let my hair speak for me.

Well your hair is very beautiful so it says A LOT! I love the Juices and Berries leave in conditioner from Oyin Homemade and people make fun of me all the time for using it. I don't have a lot of women in my family with relaxed hair but, I am slowly but surely bringing friends over to the natural side. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Unfortunately, I can't even have those discussions with my best friend as all she keeps saying is "So, when are you going to flat iron your hair?" or "Seriously, you're not using anything with cones - how on Earth will you get slip?"

aarrggghh

I wouldn't bother..they wouldn't understand...no one has asked me anyways lol

It's funny I get asked if I have a jerri curl lol then I get asked how do you get ur hair like that lol....I usually get weird looks bcuz I rarely use shampoo ppl are like "well how do you wash ur hair?" lol I also get looks for not using grease to "grease my scalp" ...Someone once said "what do you are a white girl?" LOL I usually laugh it is usually funny, impart some knowledge plus I have a head full of hair to show that other ways work. And some of my frnds spend ALL day getting their hair done so there is no way they could talk about my routine.

Well I have 4b/c hair and have found that it is only hard talking to my family about my hair. Co-workers and friends think it is awesome that I had the courage to go natural. My family can't decide if they like it or want to make jokes about it. But either way, I don't let it stop me from answering their questions.

I am glad that I have taught my daughter to not look to others for that pat on the back or encouraging words. All the black girls in her class have called her nappy headed and the white/hispanic girls seem to love her hair. My baby holds her head high and keeps strutting! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] She said she knows a hater when she sees one.
Middle school can be cruel.

Don't have a problem with it, if they really want to know I just tell them and answer the questions they have....but my routine isn't that much different from when I was relaxed, I still shampoo, condition and oil my hair as I did then only difference now is it's just more curly so I don't get a lot of screw faces, lol

I think it's high maintenance to go to a salon and drop $100+ for a relaxer and style.

Most non-curlies I know say I do too much. But I don't mind because while they spend their $$$ at the salon, I am buying a new pair of shoes!