How come so many naturals can’t ‘do hair’? Is that why we went natural??

20 February 2010 ~ 58 Comments

How come so many naturals can’t ‘do hair’? Is that why we went natural??

Okay, so I’ve noticed that a lot of naturals can’t do much more than fluff an afro… and don’t be mad that I said that. Because that’s pretty much all I could do when I went natural. Well, I could do a crooked plait… but that was about it.

Now I’ve heard two versions of the natural who can’t do hair; a.) She wanted to become more proactive about caring for her hair and depend less on chemicals & stylists, so she cut off/transitioned out of her relaxer and went natural. b.) She felt that natural hair was less maintenance and easier than a relaxer, so she cut off/transitioned out of her relaxer.

I did a Skillz Chart below (I’d say I’m about a 2) that documents the various levels I’ve seen among natural women.

Skillz Chart…
0 You can hold a comb… But that’s about all you can do with it.
1 You know how to plait, but only large plaits. Your parts are perpetually crooked. A nice pony puff is your idea of an advanced style. Twists are hard for you to do.
2 You can do fine plaits, and even some large cornrows. You pull off a mean flat twist now and then. Twists are your safe place.
3 Plaits, cornrows, twists, flat twists… you can do it all. But heat styling (like setting natural hair on rollers and blowdrying), wet setting and fancy updos are another story.
4 You can do any style you want… but you can’t replicate it on other people’s heads.
5 You might as well open a natural hair salon in your basement.

What is your skill level? And do you find that a lot of naturals are kind of low skill? What is your take on that?

Oh, and feel free to create your own category on the Skillz Chart… It’s just a general guideline…

Tags: Afro Hair Styles, Black Hair Styles, Natural Hair Care, Natural Hair Growth, Natural Hair Pictures, Natural Hair Styles, Natural Haircare

58 Responses to “How come so many naturals can’t ‘do hair’? Is that why we went natural??”

revolution girl 20 February 2010 at 6:59 pm Permalink

1 :(

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BuenaventuraAvenue 20 February 2010 at 7:13 pm Permalink

I give myself a 3.5. Theoretically, I can do anything but I’m so slow with it! It takes me forever to part straight or cornrow so I rarely do anything beyond a braidout. I practice on others when they let me but not often enough to develop speed. :(

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Tonya Mosley 20 February 2010 at 7:18 pm Permalink

I’m certainly a #4 – now that I’m natural I can make my hair look fly and my daughter’s looks good most of the time…but I’ve always had that problem even when relaxed. In college girls would come to me and ask me to do their hair because they thought mine looked great…but I could never replicate it.

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Simplicidee 20 February 2010 at 7:21 pm Permalink

I took offense to this a lil bit. It rubbed me the wrong way. But don’t take my comments as an attack or anything. i’m just tryin to suss this out.
What do you mean by “do hair?” fluffin an afro don’t qualify?

Something to consider is many naturals have embrace low maintenance and handling of hair to encourage healthy hair and growth. I know i’m just plain out lazy, and most days don’t want to be bothered with my hurr. I love it tho, but i’m just not willing to mess with it daily or even weekly if I could get away with it. I guess that’s why it kinda rubbed me the wrong way. I can knock up some mean cornrows in my own hair and in other people’s hair, but I don’t do that stuff on a regular. Do you know that the naturals can’t “do hair?” or you assume because of their everyday styles?

To me, I don’t find many naturals low skill. It seems that most of them that I know IRL or from hair boards and fotki, they develop MORE skills after they start wearing their hair natural. I guess some of them, myself including might be style challenged, but we do the styles that are conducive to our lifestyle. LOL. i don’t know how to put that.

I’m too lazy to do a skillz chart, but I fall into multiple categories. Again, it’d go back to how and what you define as skillz and doing hair.

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Monique 20 February 2010 at 7:25 pm Permalink

Unfortunately I’m a 1 on that scale. I can fluff and puff and that’s about it:(

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BrownFace CEO 20 February 2010 at 7:33 pm Permalink

I’m a 4.5. I was a BEAST with my styles when I was relaxed and do mostly everything I did then, now, actually I do more. It’s a little more challenging to get thru, but I love a challenge…lol I need to get cracking on my styles on youtube.

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LBell 20 February 2010 at 7:36 pm Permalink

I definitely wanted to be more proactive about my hair care and eliminate dependence on salons and stylists. However, I’m not sure where I fit on your skillz chart.

- Individual anything (twists, braids) I can do fine. It’s the flat styles (flat twists, cornrows) I struggle with.
- The only way I can get an even part is if my hair is straightened or completely detangled. Otherwise, it’s always crooked.
- Most heat styling I can do (except hot combing; never could get the hang of that).
- Most of the above I can do on other people’s heads.

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naturalnubian13 20 February 2010 at 7:38 pm Permalink

i dont think its necessarily that we dont know how to style hair,but that we dont know how to style our “NEW” hair. I liken it to the first time our mothers let us style our relaxed hair. At first my hair used to look HORRIBLE. I used to go to school w/ nasty looking slicked back ponytails and clips everywhere. But then, as I became more experience eventually I learned how to properly curly, flat iron, ect. our hair. When I first started transitioning my hair was looking a hot mess (though I never thought so or would have admitted it then). Now, slowly as time passes I’m getting the hang of it.

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kdub1119 20 February 2010 at 8:32 pm Permalink

i am about a 1.5. I can do plaits and two strand twists but cornrows and flat twists are a no go.

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andrea 20 February 2010 at 8:45 pm Permalink

Um…I’m hovering around a 3-5. I can do others natural hair fine, my skills are lacking in cornrows, that’s it.

When I had permed hair i was CONSTANTLY in it, doing something, coloring, styling etc, or I was in my friends hair doing stuff.

I originally went natural just for my hair health…you can’t do many styles with large bald spots ;-/

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Ashley 20 February 2010 at 8:58 pm Permalink

I think I’m a 5. But not a perfect 5. I think that a lot of girls and women don’t know how to do hair and the problem only shows itself when one goes natural. This is probably because many of us have our hair relaxed at such a young age that we don’t really have to do intricate hairstyles.
It might also depend on where you fall in your family. Between my sister and me, I can do hair because I’m older and my sister has less skills because there was always someone to do her hair for her. A lot of people rely on their mothers, aunts, cousins, sisters, and hairdressers to do their hair for them.

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Diana 20 February 2010 at 9:04 pm Permalink

I actually thought that most naturals knew how to do hair. I guess i was wrong.
Anyways, i’ve been natural for 5 months. I feel like i’m a 3…:)

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oakland mama 20 February 2010 at 9:35 pm Permalink

I don’t think we should feel bad. I think most women (of all colors) can’t “do” hair. It’s a specific skill set that takes practice and at least for me that wasn’t part of my home culture to “play” with hair.

I’m a 2 but since I’ve been natural for the first time in my life I’m INTO my hair instead of meremy tolerating as an accessory to my look.

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Black Married Momma 20 February 2010 at 9:37 pm Permalink

I’m definitely at a 5. Being able to do natural hair should be requisite for black women, and more particularly so for black mothers.

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Cassie 20 February 2010 at 9:57 pm Permalink

I cannot do hair and that’s why I went natural. The constant perming was eating out my hair, so I decided to chop it off. I have to admit that my natural hair does not look too great right now – since it is extra nappy and shapeless.

I’m waiting for it to grow out so that I can either get some braids or otherwise style it.

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Angelina 20 February 2010 at 10:01 pm Permalink

I am about a 1.5 I can two strand twist, box braid, and I rock a mean afro puff.

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Black Girl With Long Hair 20 February 2010 at 10:15 pm Permalink

@Diana… You know I think there are a lot of naturals out there who do hair really really well. But I’m also surprised by how many naturals are struggling. And I put myself in that category. I don’t think you need to be a super stylist to turn out a beautiful head of natural hair. But I have had to apply myself and learn a few new things to give myself more options.

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Ru 20 February 2010 at 10:32 pm Permalink

1 :’(

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Nicole 20 February 2010 at 10:33 pm Permalink

I’m probably a 2, and .5 of that only came because I went natural, but I’ve never known how to “do” hair. I showed no interest in learning as a child, as my sisters did, and even yet still haven’t developed an especially keen interest to further my skill. My mother has been telling me I need to learn for the sake of my future children; but going natural wasn’t a choice for me if I ever wanted to have hair past the middle of my neck at some point in my life and wanted to keep my hairline.

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Jarquisha Hollings 20 February 2010 at 10:54 pm Permalink

I feel that I am definitely a 5 and actually do hair my hair, Naturals as well as relaxed women.

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thelady 20 February 2010 at 10:57 pm Permalink

2.5

I used to relax, blow dry, flat iron, curl, crimp, sponge roll and occasionally trim my own bangs. Nothing fancy but certainly passable. I went natural cause I hated the steps of straightening my hair. It just seemed like a ridiculous amount of work for the results I was getting.

Now I twist my hair in an hour and look great for 4-5 days. Before it took me an hour to blow dry and another hour to flat iron to make it presentable. Most of the time I just curled my bangs and rocked a bun.

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Aja Nicole 20 February 2010 at 11:20 pm Permalink

I think I am somewhere between 1 and a 2. But I feel my status is more because of my laziness. I have no paitence or endurance to sit and do my hair for hours on end. Due to my hair’s length and shrinkage for any style to look good it requires me to do smaller twist, braids, curls etc. So whenever I do my hair the first ones are terrible bcuz I dont know what Im doing, the ones in the middle are pretty good, and the ones at the end are sloppy cuz Im sick of being in my hair and trying to finish :-).

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Erica 20 February 2010 at 11:37 pm Permalink

I gave myself a 3.5. I’m in between a 3 and 4 because I cannot do heat styling or roller sets. I have no desire to learn how to weld a blow dryer and flat iron though. So I could be a 4 if straight styles weren’t included.

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shayna 20 February 2010 at 11:56 pm Permalink

I’d say I’m a 5. My mother was a BEAST when it came to doing my hair. She taught me how to cornrow. Since then I’ve always been doing my hair, or others. I had my own lil business in my building when I was 14 and I would braid some of the lil girls hair. I’d love to have my own natural hair salon one day.

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Black Girl With Long Hair 21 February 2010 at 12:55 am Permalink

@Aja… girl I’m so there with you. Sometimes I get fatigued and just walk away from my hair. Well not literally but you know.

My boyfriend’s family knows now to expect me walking around with half done twists or a half done twist out. If I’m tired I just stop!

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Steph 21 February 2010 at 1:13 am Permalink

I’m a 3, except for the cornrowing. I can cornrow everybody elses hair but my own! :P

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jadedpoet 21 February 2010 at 2:01 am Permalink

A proud 2 and working my way up. When permed I Couldn’t even wash or condition my own hair I let the beautician do that hahaha.

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AMarie 21 February 2010 at 3:24 am Permalink

3.5

i refuse to use heat, though. When my hair was permed, I just pulled it in ponytails. Now I do flat twists, cornrows, etc. I’ve gotten much better in the last 3 months. I know how to stretch my hair and do almost-straight hairstyles (buns, etc)

I’m getting there :)

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lexibugg 21 February 2010 at 5:03 am Permalink

i am definitely a 5, but i have always had a thing for all sectors of the beauty industry!!!! i think the issue of naturals not being able to “do hair” may be related to the fact that they are now dealing with hair with which they are not familiar!!!!

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Jc 21 February 2010 at 6:16 am Permalink

On your skill scale, I would be a 5 but really because I want to be arrogant (haha) I’m going to give myself atleast a 20.

I have found that when people find out that you can do hair, they hound you especially if they consider you to be a friend. Sometimes it is not worth it to ‘admit’ that you have skills.

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Alana 21 February 2010 at 6:19 am Permalink

I’m a 3. I think I only got here because I’m fascinated with all the things my hair can do so i like to experiment.
I think a lot of others see it as a chore and that’s why they’re level is low. If more people found kinks and curls fun an interesting there’d be less stigma attached to it

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Nikki 21 February 2010 at 7:23 am Permalink

I’m about a 1 or 2 – truth be told, when it comes to hair, I get frustrated – period. I chose natural hair because of, yes, the health aspects; but I would’ve probably been less inclined to switch from a perm if I knew how to manage straight hair. It just gets me frustrated – the products, wrapping, curling, blowdrying…not to mention the long salon times. If I could do straight hair at home, I’d probably still be rocking it; however, as I’ve had natural hair most of my life, I know that I don’t have to depend on a hairdresser to make me look *decent* and thus I’m not at anyone’s mercy when I have my own hair.

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marie 21 February 2010 at 10:07 am Permalink

This is a funny post, and so are the comments. I never realized women had these problems. I’ve been styling my hair since I was like 9. I remember being in the third grade and I roller set my hair for picture day. Hey my mom was a single parent of four, and she worked two jobs. I started seeing how tired she was, and that my hair wasn’t going to get done for the next day. My mom taught how to properly use curling irons, a hot comb, rollers, etc. I practiced and practiced and it didnt look half bad…I have the picture to prove it. LOL. Then I started perming my own hair at like 16, and around the same time my mom taught me to braid. My poor sister I would braid her hair until my fingers felt raw. People were always amazed that me and my sister did our own hair so young. I’ve never had any horror stories either where I burned my hair out or something, and I always had mid back length hair.

I now consider myself a 4ish. I’m lazy at times, and don’t like difficult styles a times. Plus I have a four year old daughter. So now I have two heads to do.

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S23 21 February 2010 at 10:07 am Permalink

I think I’d be a 5. But I have always done my own hair. Since high school.

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Monet 21 February 2010 at 1:32 pm Permalink

3.5, although I think it could be higher if I wasn’t afraid of heat beyond deep conditioning beneath a hooded dryer. It’s weird though, I can really do almost any style on someone else’s head. I’m just hesitant to do it on my own.

However, I’ve been thinking about this since deep treating my mom’s (relaxer, dye and heat ravaged) hair yesterday. I think black women in general aren’t as skilled at doing hair as we tend to believe, both in the areas of care and style.

It may be more noticeable with natural women because, first, a lot of women I know who went natural hadn’t really had much exposure to a natural hair texture because everyone around them has relaxers. Also, they’re not sure what will look good on natural hair. They seem really hesitant to do much to it for fear it will look bad. I think they just have to learn what natural hair can do and then experiment, and that’ll change.
But are relaxed women much better? I don’t think so. From my experience, most don’t have to do much more than comb their hair, maybe run a curling iron through, because they’re always at salons.

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Bajan Princess 82 21 February 2010 at 2:47 pm Permalink

I’ve been natural all my life and I’m only at at “2″ level. What is my excuse??? I think for me its laziness. I would gladly sit for hours and have someone do my hair, but for me to do it (parting through this massive, thick, curlyness) I wimp out.

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Ronda 21 February 2010 at 5:33 pm Permalink

I’m a 4 I guess, I can do anything I can see done, I duplicate hairstyles from youtube alot especially updos. I don’t do extensions all that well and I haven’t learned to do 3 strand twists but other than that I am proficient. Also, I took good care of my hair when it was natural and find natural hair to be more work not less.

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Nasa 21 February 2010 at 6:07 pm Permalink

1 :/

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Dannielle 21 February 2010 at 6:29 pm Permalink

I’m a 1.5… just because I can’t get cornrows done. I can twist, single braid, flat twist on one side really well, but NOT cornrow.

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Kemz 21 February 2010 at 9:57 pm Permalink

I’m a 4 but friends and family will swear that I’m a 5. I don’t love doing other people’s hair as much.

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Roxanne 21 February 2010 at 11:34 pm Permalink

I’m a 4. My mom did my hair growing up and I only went to the salon three times, two of them ended up horrifically. Seeing my mom do my hair and the hair of friends and family, taught me a lot about how to take care of my own hair.

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miranda 22 February 2010 at 1:04 am Permalink

I’m definitely a 0. But really this applies to my beauty regimen as a whole. I don’t wear makeup. A little bronzer and eyeshadow here and there but not much. I’m terrible at plucking my eyebrows so I just work to keep them looking neat. And fashion-wise, I prefer pretty dresses and cute accessories when I’m only rocking t-shirt and jeans.

I keep it simple and that’s how I wanted my hair to be. Recently I got my hair locked because even picking my hair out was too much work. It’s not to say that getting dreadlocks means you never do your hair but it’s a simpler process for me and all I have to worry about is whether I’ll wear a headband or a bow in my hair. There’s nothing wrong with not knowing how to do your hair as long as you know how to take care of it to make it healthy. It really comes down to you whether you’re high maintenance or like to keep it simple or if you’re somewhere in between.

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Raquel 22 February 2010 at 2:41 am Permalink

I give myself a five, and i’m proud of that. :)
i think a lot of naturals might go into this thinking that it’s gonna be all “spritz with juices and berries, pick it and go,” and….that just doesn’t always work with our lifestyles/hair textures/types. although that can certainly be a cute look. ;)
just my humble opinion.
i think it’s especially important as a natural to learn how to style, because natural salons be on some other ish with those prices. $65 for some simple twists??!! girl, BYE.

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Efuru 22 February 2010 at 3:45 am Permalink

I’m probably a -1, the only reason I hold a comb is to detangle. When I was relaxed I used to get a lot of flack from Black girls/women about my failures as an African woman that can’t ‘do’ hair and I’m quite surprised that naturals (need to stop stereotyping us) bother about this too. Personally, I find that I tend not to need intricate hairstyles; the way it grows out my head, is a unique style of its own and suits my own lifestyle (Student).

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mrs Fena 22 February 2010 at 6:46 am Permalink

my level is 4. i knew how todo my hair when i was permed and i know how to do my hair now that im natural maybe not be the same techniques i did when permed but i can still style my hair, just dont like doing it as much with 2 lil girls just doing there hair alone is like a 2-3 day project, by the time i get rest i just throw my hair into a bun

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OnceUponaTime 22 February 2010 at 10:02 am Permalink

Great post! I think as naturals we are one or two steps ahead of the crowd as it is, and learning to style our hair is just the next step in the evolution of being natural. There’s nothing wrong with just rocking a puff or a fro, but like with anything, there will be a certain amount of boredom that will eventually set in. What then? You will either be shelling out more money to a stylist who may or may not know what they’re doing, so IMO if you want something done right you gotta do it yourself.

That being said I guess I fall somewhere between a 2 and a 3. My updos aren’t perfect but they’re getting better. My rollersets are iffy, but my flat twists are pretty nice (when I actually take the time to do them). Most of the time lack of time is why I mainly rock buns or pony tails, but that’s okay. I know I can break out a cute style if/when I want to, and keeping my hair bunned only contributes to the health of my ends, which I need to keep in good condition as I wait for my hair to grow out to BSL.

Thanks for this post. :)

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Stacy 22 February 2010 at 12:16 pm Permalink

Im a 3 but still early in the game for me. Im about 8 mths into being natural and Im still afraid to try updo’s cause my hair is just too thick and DOESN NOT like be restrained in any hair accessories AT ALL so the fear fo the headache keeps me from trying.

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Miss Fizzy 22 February 2010 at 12:25 pm Permalink

I think I’m a 4.5… I can do other people’s hair better than mine. Sometime I avoid complex styles cos parting can be a beast!

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Moni 22 February 2010 at 1:14 pm Permalink

I’m a 2-3, but I was a 4-5 when I was relaxed (the only thing I couldn’t do was apply relaxer). When I first went natural I was a 1, so I definitely didn’t go natural because I didn’t know how to do my relaxed hair and thought that natural hair would be easier.

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Athena 22 February 2010 at 1:35 pm Permalink

The only things I know how to do with my hair is twists, twist-outs and afros/puffs and I am perfectly fine with that. It looks good on me and I like how low maintenance it is. For me, that is the whole point of being natural. I don’t want to be fussing over my hair all of the time.

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