"Nappier Than Expected" Syndrome

This interesting article was taken from curlynikki.com!

Nappier Than Expected
by LV Burns of Natural-Ness

Okay...it's confession time. Here goes...

When I first BCed, my hair was nappier than I expected. Go ahead - get your grunts, moans, head shaking out of the way, but please keep reading. Yes, it was nappier than I expected. You see, before I BCed, I visited a lot of hair albums. Looking at some of the curlier, shinier hair textures pushed me toward cutting the relaxer out of my hair, because I thought "maybe my hair will look like that". I even looked back at my childhood - before the relaxer - photos and studied my natural texture. These made me think to myself, well my hair won't be that nappy.


Why am I sharing this? Because I think a lot of new naturals experience this. See, the new growth that you see when your hair is relaxed has been altered by chemicals. It does not necessarily represent what your hair will look like after you chop. Also that hair is being weighed down by the heavy relaxed ends, so it often appears wavier than your natural texture may be.
I am not saying all of this to scare anyone. I am saying this because I think some people revert back to relaxers after BC'ing because their hair is nappier than they expected. I am going to call this the "nappier than expected" syndrome.

In some cases, "nappier than expected" syndrome, causes product junky-ism. You go out and search for products that will make your hair curlier and shinier. These products do not work, so you go and buy more. In reality, your hair is most likely not meant to be curlier and shinier. After the products do not work, some of us start thinking, "maybe I cannot do this natural thing." I want to stop you right there. I am begging you to hang in there. If you do, you're in for a treat.

How can I say that? Well "nappier than expected" syndrome is not a bad thing once you get passed the initial shock. In my experience, it's been a great thing. When I finally stopped trying to turn my hair into something it's not, I began to let go of the notions that my hair should be less nappy and began to love my hair because it was nappy. Huh? Stay with me.

There is nothing quite as versatile as nappy hair. One day it can be in twists, the next day it's in a gorgeous twistout. Two days later, I can wash it and wear a wash-n-go. That night I can stretch it and wear a big afro the next day. If I get tired of that, I brush it back into a puff. I could go on and on.

The moral of the story...story? Yes, story - pay attention! The moral of the story is although you just BC'ed and you may be feeling as if your hair is not what you thought it would be...don't give up! Love it through the dry, rough scab hair stage and the "I want coils, but they aren't there stage" and even the "This product isn't working!" stage. Be patient and you will find that you cannot beat the coil-ly or coil -less tresses that you were blessed with!!! 


 We ladies want to know if this has this ever happened to you before?