The Black Woman and her natural hair

There's no doubt that there's already lots of discussions about black women and their hair, nonetheless, as a black woman, I would like to contribute my own voice to the discussion.

For black women who live in a country or area where the majority of people and women don't look like her, how she represents and presents herself is an issue for consideration.

As a black woman, I tend to have to think carefully about how I want to wear my hair because our hair is so different (in texture and looks), so whenever we wear our (natural) hair we either get questions or looks (of curiosity, disdain or disgust). Hence, why we have to feel confident in ourself first and how we present our hair.

I'm in my late 30s and I've more or less maintained my natural hair. I have only texturised it once for my wedding (in my early 20s). But, apart from that, I've never permed my hair. I usually wear braids or wigs - and that's mainly because I'm conscious about how my natural looks and how I feel wearing it.

When it comes to wearing my hair naturally in a "professional" environment, I always have to consider how I want to wear it.

Because I've worn extensions quite a lot when I was younger (and also possibly because of postpartum hair loss), I am conscious of my hairline and I don't feel confident wearing certain natural hair styles. I would also add perhaps if my hair was a little longer, I would feel a bit more confident rocking more natural hairstyles.

So to deal with my hair concerns, I've worn wigs or crochet styles; but I've found with crochet styles it has been impacting hairline as well. So I have been thinking about which style that I can wear that will not do further damage to my hair line but still makes me feel great - because more and more, I feel that there are some natural styles that don't currently resonate with me or represent me, like certain plaits (cornrows) or twist out styles.

However, I know that I do not necessarily feel like I want to drastically change or alter my natural hair (i.e. perming or texturising it) so, I've been thinking about how I can style my natural hair in ways that resonate with me and represent where I'm currently at.

So, I've experimented with this hairstyle (natural hair leave out with kinky straight hair clips in, a middle parting, pulled back in a low bun) and I like the result!

I can still maintain my natural hair, it provides less tension on my hairline and I feel that it resonates with where I am currently at and the image that I want to present for myself.

It doesn't mean that I won't wear braids or wigs again, but for a while, I've been wanting to get to a place where I could wear a natural hairstyle that represent "me" (or where I'm currently at in life) and that won't provide further damage to my hairline.

So my sisters:

1. How often do you wear your natural hair?

2. Which are your preferred natural hairstyles?