Lifestyle

Meet the black women who are transitioning to natural hair in lockdown


Lockdown has changed all of our beauty routines. With salons and hairdressers shut for the forseeable – we’re having to take matters into our own hands, which is both daunting and liberating.

Many women with Afro hair have decided to use this time at home to transition to their natural texture – either out of necessity, if they can’t get their hands on relaxer, or because it is something they have been considering anyway.

Transitioning to natural hair can be tricky, particularly if you have damage from years of heat or chemicals, and no two textures are exactly the same, so finding a hair care system that works for you can be a case of trial and error.

We spoke to some of the women who have opted for a big chop, embraced their curls, kinks and coils, or ditched the chemicals during lockdown.

They tell us exactly how they’re making it work, what they love about it, and whether it’s something they will stick with even after the lockdown ends.

Georgia

Georgia is a stylist and decided to use lockdown to let her hair ‘breathe’ (Picture: Georgia)

I was wearing a wig and had been doing this as a form of protective styling prior to being in quarantine, as my natural hair is so thick and quite hard to maintain with my job – as my schedule is very demanding.

The minute I realised I was actually going to be working from home for quite a long period, I thought it would be a good opportunity to let my hair breathe, trial some different ‘hair growth’ DIY formulas and just see how I got on. 

The process hasn’t been as easy as I thought, because even though I have been working from home, I still need to give my hair the attention it needs in the mornings and evenings, whether I was leaving the house or not.

It didn’t really mean my schedule would be less demanding allowing me more time to focus on how I manage my natural hair – if anything, I have found working from home has been more intense, so I haven’t really had the time I thought I would.

Georgia wearing one of her wigs at London Fashion Week (Picture: Georgia)

Shrinkage is my main issue, and the thickness of my hair. Although I love it, it is hard to manage. I’m sad to say that I really do not have the patience for it, but I so wish I did.

I am no specialist when it comes to natural hair and have looked into every YouTube tutorial there is. I have taken some advice on board but overall come to the conclusion, I just have to leave it to the experts.

With my hairdressers being shut, I have managed but it’s not been easy. A personal favourite expert of mine is @enitanhaircoach on Instagram. Go check her out.

‘I’ve made a pact with myself that I will only wear my natural hair or braids’ (Picture: Georgia)

I’ve been natural since January 2018 after having relaxed hair for nearly 20 years. It’s only now in quarantine the past six/seven weeks I wanted to embrace it without a wig (which I have found only caused more damage).

I do love my hair – I have had to adjust internally and externally and learn to embrace who I am and be unapologetic about it.

I’ve made a pact with myself that I will only wear my natural hair or braids – I find braids are a great protective style for me that doesn’t cause any damage and aids hair growth. It really is liberating.

Charlene

Charlene is hoping to build up her confidence rocking her short, natural hair (Picture: Charlene)

I usually have braids or crochet braids, but my hair was messy. I thought ‘come on Charlene. You’re at home you can do this.’ I have to admit.

I didn’t realise the emotions I attached to my hair. I’ve been a glasses wearer all my life and I usually wear contacts at work. So I feel a bit like the ugly ducking in reverse with my glasses and short twists.

I tried going natural a few years back, but when you don’t get the YouTube influencer’s results, you feel a bit deflated.

Whenever I decide to go natural, my mum always encourages me to get my hair done so that I can look ‘pretty’ or ‘more like myself’. Ironically, my son has his hair in twists and looks gorgeous, so I don’t have a problem with natural hair. I love it, but it never seems to work for me.

Charlene with her long braids (Picture: Charlene)

Nonetheless, I’m going to persevere. Tomorrow’s conference call will be interesting. I work in a predominantly white school in Kent and I know my hair will be a talking point.

I’m working towards being more confident with my natural hair and considered having a big chop or locs. But I guess it’s getting over the short phase.

I hope my confidence will increase with time and that I accept hair is just hair. I don’t want my identity to be determined by it.

Rebecca

Rebecca wants her young daughter to feel proud of her Afro hair (Picture: Rebecca)

I relaxed my hair from the age of 16 until my late twenties when I started to get into braiding.

When I was younger I was always guilty of relaxing my hair even when it didn’t need doing – I guess that was down to the pressure of teenage years. As I got older I guess I became more confident with my hair and started to experiment with more natural styles.

I also didn’t want to perm my hair whilst pregnant after reading up on the effects of doing this. As soon as I had my daughter I was almost certain that I was going to go back to relaxed hair – my hair became so tough and dry due to pregnancy hormones but, surprisingly, I didn’t.

Due to the stresses of being a new mother going to the hairdressers was the last thing on my to-do list so I started to experiment with wigs from AliExpress.

Rebecca with her braids (Picture: Rebecca)

I visited the hairdressers a week before lockdown and made the decision to focus on improving my natural hair. My main motivation is to show my daughter that natural hair is beautiful.

We live in Kent and therefore she’s not exposed to many girls like her at nursery. She’s an intelligent three-year-old and is fully aware that she’s brown skinned and has said so many times that she wants long hair like her friends.

It breaks my heart to know that she feels she needs to have European silky hair to be pretty.

I want her to know that mummy has hair just like her and we are beautiful with our Afro hair too.

Rebecca before she transitioned (Picture: Rebecca)

While I can’t go to the hairdressers to treat my natural hair, I’ve ordered a curly wig online rather than the straight ones I use to wear and every morning my daughter and I bond whilst we condition our natural hair – I have been doing a lot of online research and ordered Shea butter, Jojoba oil and conditioner to help with strength and growth.

Maria

Maria is finding the balance between wearing natural hair and wearing wigs (Picture: Maria)

I grew up wearing my natural hair, but then had my first weave installed when I started university – having a weave was the norm back then.

However, because I straightened my hair so much to match my weaves, my natural hair became damaged and I cut my hair all off – which led me to the wig life. I have been wearing wigs since 2010 and the only time I really ever let my natural hair to breathe is when I’m at home.

My usual routine is to wash my hair, cornrow it so that I can put my wig on. When we went into lockdown, I started working from home and had a wig by my side in case I had to jump on a meeting. I was tired of doing that.

So, on wash day, about four weeks ago, I decided to just let my natural hair out and use this period to figure out how I want to style my hair and what my hair needs to remain healthy.

On colder days, when I do my essential shopping or go for a walk, I’ve noticed that my face gets cold – now, I’ve been wearing wigs for 10 years straight so it’s taking some adjusting to.

Maria rocking one of her wigs (Picture: Maria)

Another challenge is figuring out what products I should use – I’ve asked some of my friends and watched some YouTube videos and there are a lot of products out there and it’s quite overwhelming. It can be also time consuming – with a wig, I can wear it, brush it and go but I find that I have to spend a bit more time styling my natural hair. 

Having my natural hair out this past month has been amazing and it made me realise that I’ve been hiding a part of me that’s so beautiful and pretty – I appreciate my hair, its texture and curls.

I will definitely have it out more often and will continue to cater to its needs. But, I’m not going to lie, I will continue wearing my wigs; it’s all about finding the right balance.

Stephanie

Stephanie was using a texture release to transition to her natural hair (Picture: Stephanie)

I have not relaxed my hair since November 2018, originally I wanted to go natural as I had been relaxing my hair since I was 15 – almost 20 years.

My hair was quite long and thick, I didn’t have the guts to do ‘the big chop’. So I decided (with the help of my hairdresser) to grow my relaxer out, and while I’m in the transition phase, use a texture release instead.

Of course, because of lockdown I’ve not been able to go to the hairdressers. So, the decision to not carry on doing a texture release while growing out my relaxer was kind of out of my hands.

Right now, I’d say 1/2 to 3/4 of my hair is now natural, while the remaining part still has relaxer. So, the tricky part is dealing with two very different textures.

Wash day is also a pain as it takes up most of the day – luckily I have plenty of time on my hands at the moment!

Stephanie before she started her transition (Picture: Stephanie)

It’s actually quite exciting because when I wash my hair, I can now see my natural curl pattern, see how my hair is changing and compare it to what it looked like three months ago, six months ago, a year ago.

Because I’m conscious that my hair is still going through it’s transitional phase, I’m trying not to put heat on it in between wash days (I blow-dry my hair out) and do as little styling as possible – so no tight buns or high ponytails.

At the moment, you can’t really tell much of a difference in my hair – because of the texture release I still wear my hair straight. I’ve been really interested in knowing how other women that are transitioning to natural hair are coping during lockdown.

Tayo

Tayo is learning to embrace and love her curls (Picture: Tayo)

I decided to go natural because I have been straightening my hair for far too long now and I fear that I was damaging it in the process.

I felt that being in lockdown was the perfect opportunity to stop straightening it and look after it.

I have been doing long, deep conditioning treatments and taking the time to care for my curls. It’s the best thing I have done, it’s actually taught me to embrace my curls and Afro hair more. I think it’s been a real shame that I got into the habit of straightening it so much.

Tayo with her straight hair (Picture: Tayo)

I would say the only struggle has been the fact that my curly hair requires a lot more maintenance. Having straight hair was so easy because it literally didn’t require any effort. Regardless of that though I am loving having my curly hair again.

I am so happy I’ve gone back to my natural hair, I don’t want to damage my hair anymore with all the heat I am putting on it.

I think this experience in lockdown has really taught to embrace the amazing hair I have been blessed with and not try to hide it or conform.

Emma

Emma decided to go natural because she couldn’t go the hairdresser (Picture: Emma)

I decided to go natural now because I was sporting a weave during a theatre show I was performing in just before lockdown, and soon realised once we locked down that there were no hairdressers and it had to come out!

I did this myself and then washed and conditioned it. I started out wearing a pony tail instead, but soon got fed up with taking it on and off and pinning it. After all… I’m not going anywhere glam unless you count my back garden.

Emma was wearing a weave for a theatre show before lockdown began (Picture: Emma)

I saw a Facebook post by a friend who posted herself with her first twists during lockdown and she looked stunning! Inspired, it made sense at this point to embrace my natural look – something I haven’t done in a while as my natural hair is really thick and takes quite a bit of intense combing through after a wash.

Right now, I am loving it. It is great to go natural and just be myself! I recommend it.

Flavia

Flavia was sick of spending a fortune on keeping her curls as straight as possible (Picture: New Vintage Photography)

I’ve tried so many different treatments to turn my 3B curls as sleek and straight  as possible. When I realised the stupid amount of money it was costing me, I made me radical decision of going for the big chop – I had my hair styled into a Pixie cut.

Well, I went from a rock to a hard place: finally the chemicals were gone, but now I was hooked on the blow dryer/straightener duo.

I starting accepting the idea that my curly hair and I could live well in harmony after I moved to the UK from Rio de Janeiro – looking around and seeing the way other mixed-race girls were rocking their hair inspired me. 

I have to admit that there’s some sort of practicality in straight hair – I just wake up, brush it and I’m good to go – so, in the rush of everyday life, it can be handy as my biggest challenge was always the time it took me to style my curly hair. 

‘I’m ready to become the curly queen I was born to be!’ (Picture: Flavia)

So, now that I have all the time in the world thanks to lockdown, I gave my blow dryer and straightener a rest to help my poor hair recover from years of heat damage.

You know, there’s something so liberating in just washing your hair, putting on some oils and creams and… that’s it! I’m done! 

The other day, I actually caught myself hand teasing my hair to plump up the curls – ready to wear them as a crown and become the curly queen I was born to be.

Sacha

Sacha thought ahead and stocked up on products ahead of lockdown (Picture: Sacha)

My journey to going natural started just before we actually went into lockdown. I was due to have my roots done and a treatment and a trim over the Easter break and I was a bit concerned that we might go into lockdown, so I brought some products to help just in case I wasn’t able to get to the hair dressers.

Many of my friends and partner have suggested that I keep my hair curly, but I always said I don’t think I could keep up with the the styling and products as I don’t know where to start.

A few days into lockdown, I decided to ditch the straighteners and just braid my hair, but my hair is a very soft texture and doesn’t stay neat very long, so I did some research on some products that may get me the curly result.

Sacha with her straight hair (Picture: Sacha)

My partner was really encouraging about the curly hair as he had never seen it other than in pictures, so he said if I name the products he will look and buy them and send them to me.

When the products arrived I washed my hair and used them. I twisted my hair and let it set with a bit of heat and a plastic bag on my head. Then, in the morning I took the twists out and loved the curls I was left with.

I am dying to get to the hairdressers as I am well over due a trim and worried about the damage of leaving it too long. But, since the lockdown, I haven’t used my straighteners, and I have been alternating between braids and the curls and received many positive comments about my hair.

If you’re considering going natural but need some advice on how to care for your hair, we’ve collated a really comprehensive guide for Afro hair care in lockdown.

If you’ve gone for an extreme style, shaved your head or had a big chop in lockdown – we want to hear from you.

Get in touch: metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.

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