Are You Really Natural?

More and more people are going natural and it is a beautiful thing, but there are some comments I have heard. There seem to be these rules and regulations popping up and some of them are quite interesting. To me, natural hair is hair that is not chemically treated to alter the texture, however there appear to be rules that stop people ‘qualifying’ as natural. I’m going to go over the most popular ones I have heard.

‘You are not natural if you apply heat to your hair’. Applying heat to your hair does alter the texture of hair, but it is not permanent (unless you get heat damage). One of the wonderful things about natural hair is that it is extremely versatile – you can wear it in a naturally curly state or you can wear it straight. I don’t think applying heat to your hair reduces your natural credibility or means that you are not natural.

‘You are not natural if you wear weaves or hair extensions’. This is quite a controversial topic, but I feel like it has more to do with preference rather than defining whether you are natural or not. People wear weaves or extensions for many different reasons, sometimes it is to change up a hairstyle or used as a protective style for the hair; I think it is an individual preference.

‘You are not natural if you don’t do protective styles’. This is a strange one for me as a protective style can help with length retention, but I don’t think it should be used as a marker for whether you are natural or not.

‘You are not natural if you don’t use all natural products’. I personally use mainly natural products, but that is out of choice and because they work for my hair rather than me seeing it as a ‘natural rule’.

These are just a few that I have heard and I'm sure there are several more out there. Have you heard any natural 'hair rules'?