Going Natural: Growing Out Your Relaxer

I’ve been getting a few questions about how to “go natural” or grow out a relaxer. So let’s discuss it.

There is not really a step-by-step process for going natural, but I can tell you how I did it. If you are considering growing out your relaxer, you have two options:

1. Cut off all of your relaxed hair and start from the beginning.
2. Grow out all of your relaxed hair.

I did a combination of the two.

I started growing my hair out in 2002. It took me about a year to get rid of all of the relax parts of my hair, It was probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. However, I stayed down for the cause because I knew my hair would be a lot stronger and healthier once I got rid of the relaxer…and I was not disappointed.

The first inch of new growth was easy to work with, but beyond that point, my hair just seemed so unmanageable sometimes. The top half of my hair was curly; the bottom was straight. The ends of my hair seemed to be getting so weak. I didn’t know how to wear my hair, and to add to that I was living in Florida at the time, probably one of the most humid places in the country. My hair was always swelling up and getting frizzy soon after I left the hairdresser.

Basically what I did to get through the process was get my hair straightened as frequently as I could afford, which at that time was about 1-2 times per month. During the summertime, I got braids. Towards the end of the growing out process, I had this great idea to wear a curly afro, but because the ends of my hair were still relaxed, the hairdo looked stupid. I became so frustrated that I chopped them all off with scissors. And that’s how I grew out my hair.

I didn’t and still don’t have a magical way to make the growing out process any easier. Just remember that growing out your relaxer is huge commitment that won’t happen overnight, so be patient if natural hair is something that you really want.

- Stacy Davis, sgrahamhunt@gmail.com