Why My First Time Going Natural Was The Ultimate Fail

I don’t really tell many people this, but when I count my natural-anniversary, I’m counting it from the day I big chopped the second time. Yes,the second time.

I tried going natural once before, and it ended up being the ultimate fail. The first time I went natural was about 5 years or so ago. My natural hair was big and beautiful, or so I thought.

Going natural for me back then was more of a fad, and I did it because everyone else was doing it, and I didn’t actually love my curls, I just wanted to fit in with what was popular. So, I straightened my natural hair a lot.

So much so that people didn’t even know I was natural, unless I told them. However, during the summer I was a bit frustrated with paying to get my hair blown out, and it lasting for like 3 seconds due to humidity, so I figured I would start trying some natural heatless styles.

The first style I attempted was the wash and go. I watched a few YouTube videos, and pretty much knew what I was doing, except for one thing- when I wet my hair it would get wavy, but there was no curl pattern. I thought maybe I just wasn’t using enough gel. So I proceeded to use half a jar of eco-styler gel, yet still no curl.

The next style I tried was a two strand twist out, but got the same limp curl results. I mean I was confused. I was natural, I haven’t permed in years, yet my hair refused to curl. My roommate saw me struggling one evening and peeked her head in and asked if I wanted some help.

She was a natural too, so I obliged. I explained to her that I was having trouble with my wash and gos and twist outs… she then started laughing.

I thought maybe I missed the joke, so I asked her what was funny? She said she didn’t think I was seriously trying to do any natural styles.

She then told me that the reason my hair wasn’t curling anymore is because of the fact that I got it blown out weekly, and the heat killed my curls. I was crushed. It was from that experience that I then decided to big chop for a second time, and vowed to never get my hair straightened again.