Talking about Your Hair Routines with non curlies

I was at the club on Saturday and a young girl with long, flat-ironed hair walked into the bathroom while my and my friend were in there washing our hands. This girl was young, she looked too young to be in an over 21 club. Her hair was long, and nicely styled, but thin at the ends and greasy.
She came and stood by me, and then the questions started.

-I like your hair, how do you make it do that?
-But you have a relaxer, huh?
-Are you biracial?
-Oh, so are relaxers bad?
-Will my hair do that like yours?

It got to the point I didn't even know what to say to the child. When she started to gear up to "Well, I would do that but my hair wouldn't look as nice as yours, my hair's too nappy," I smiled politely and bounced. My friend was cracking up.

What do these folks want?

Ha, I tend not to talk about my hair unless someone asks and I keep it real plain. I found that my friends who ask have been interested in transitioning anyway. They always say wow that's a lot but then I point out how much time and money they're spending at the salon. I went to a Dominican hair stylist for years and always hated devoting so much of my day just to get my hair done! The minimum I'd spend was 4 hours because she'd always send me back under the dryer.

I really don't miss those days and I love air-drying my hair!

The only non-curly that knows a bit about my routine is my husband. But to be honest, he stopped listening a long time ago. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Char82 wrote:The only non-curly that knows a bit about my routine is my husband. But to be honest, he stopped listening a long time ago. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That might be working in your favor. My hubby wants me to do everything I do to my hair on his hair. I feel like a personal stylist.

@tiashauntee: I've never looked at that way... I'm seriously style-challenged, so I'm glad I don't need to look after two heads of hair.

I have been getting a ton of questions lately.

*Do you have a texturizer?
*Are you going to dread?
*why did you do that? How does it curl like that? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

tiashauntee wrote:

Char82 wrote:The only non-curly that knows a bit about my routine is my husband. But to be honest, he stopped listening a long time ago. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That might be working in your favor. My hubby wants me to do everything I do to my hair on his hair. I feel like a personal stylist.

LOL. I have to make extra now since I started letting my boyfriend use my whipped shea butter mixture. He swears by it now.

I LOVE talking about my hair and my routine with non curlies. I'm the only one in my family that is natural....but they love it...especially my husband.

My sister is an estitician so when I explained why I don't use shampoos or use a no suds shampoo she said that makes "perfect sense". Told another friend of mine and she has put aside the shampoo too and is loving it and she is relaxed. Having natural hair takes a lot of love and dedication....but WORTH EVERY MINUTE of it.

Fear makes one stay ignorant...don't let it bother you girl...

MochaBella

I occasionally get questions from relaxed heads, I would obliged them every so often but i have little patience.
Haven't got any questions from non-ethnic folks tho

I'm not embarrassed either, but I do get irritated by some of the ignorant questions/comments. I agree that my routine is no worse than sitting in the salon weekly or bi-weekly. Yes, there is a financial benefit of being natural that I'm taking advantage of. And most importantly, my hair is in the hands of someone who is truly invested in it.

I receive a lot of the stupid questions, "how do you get your hair like that? Are you mixed?" I hate that question! "Well you can do that because you have 'good' hair." or "ummm she's natural...so you're really not going to flat iron your hair anymore?...really? Ok wait you're going to flat iron it for your wedding right?" ha ha haha

Giving advice to people is what irritates me because like many others have said non-curly folks have a hard time wrapping their minds around this new way of treating their hair. You don't know how many times I've had to repeat myself about co-washing, moisture, mineral oil, sulfate, and co-washing all over again. After a while I just let them do whatever they want to do and listen when they call me. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

SisterBoyd wrote:Ok wait you're going to flat iron it for your wedding right?"

I got that question all the time right before I got married this year. Or this one: are you going to braid your hair/put a weave in? And I was like: no, why would I? I have nothing against all those things, but I'd like to look at my wedding pictures twenty years from now and see ME.
Besides, the wedding, wedding night and honeymoon are so much more relaxed if you don't have to worry about your hair all the time.

Char82 wrote:

SisterBoyd wrote:Ok wait you're going to flat iron it for your wedding right?"

I got that question all the time right before I got married this year. Or this one: are you going to braid your hair/put a weave in? And I was like: no, why would I? I have nothing against all those things, but I'd like to look at my wedding pictures twenty years from now and see ME.
Besides, the wedding, wedding night and honeymoon are so much more relaxed if you don't have to worry about your hair all the time.

I got the same questions too, it was so annoying. My response was "I want to look like ME in my pictures, but you can wear your hair how you want"

Honestly, I'm scared/hesitant to answer questions about my hair routine. Becuase I know that once I say, oh I don't use shampoo, I'll get a lot of weird looks. And I won't have the patience to explain it.

But I'll get over that, because not using shampoo has really helped. I once got sidetracked and DID use a shampoo on my hair and I felt like it was stripped of EVERYTHING! It felt so naked and fragile....

Char82 wrote:

SisterBoyd wrote:Ok wait you're going to flat iron it for your wedding right?"

I got that question all the time right before I got married this year. Or this one: are you going to braid your hair/put a weave in? And I was like: no, why would I? I have nothing against all those things, but I'd like to look at my wedding pictures twenty years from now and see ME.
Besides, the wedding, wedding night and honeymoon are so much more relaxed if you don't have to worry about your hair all the time.

The funny thing is that I'm no where close to being married unless Mr. Right comes out of the sky with a ring i his hand. ha haha

But I do agree that everything will be more relaxed if I don't have to worry about keeping a style.

tiashauntee wrote:I got the same questions too, it was so annoying. My response was "I want to look like ME in my pictures, but you can wear your hair how you want"

I love that response [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I don't have much of a routine but, today when I had to explain to my cousins why I cut my hair off, we got into a discussion about har. They said a lot of...ahem...not so educated things but, it's not their fault they don't know, I assume. I proceeded to direct them to LHCF & Curly Nikki (: I explained all of the little methods & procedures to keep hair healthy, moisturized, & growing. They seemed to be overwhelmed but, they understood that if they keep it simple, they can grow long hair just like their non AA counterparts (:

ok so could some one explain the the non shampoo thing. and because where i live is half and half with natural and relaxed the comments are not so negative. but because of where i live most people assume i will put in dreads. its like nope i'm not going to i just want my hair natural. it should be easier for me cause mostyoung girl home are KEPT natural untill they leave high school. so most person know how to comb natural.

Marche' wrote: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.

LOL!!! the "juices & berries" comment cracks me up, b/c i just went home with my boyfriend to his parents house for Thanksgiving (1st time seeing them since the BC) and his father kept saying the same thing, every morning when I styled my hair!