HOW NIGERIANS REACT TO NATURAL HAIR!

Ok, so yesterday I was feeling funky with myself and I had enough time on my hands to do something I considered was nice to my hair. My natural hair. I styled it. All I did sha was put it in a side 'fro, I thought it was cute. 

Immediately I stepped outside my house guess the first comment I got about my hair; "ah...when are you going to make this your hair"? I felt like slapping the person-this hair that I spent about a good 25 minutes styling that someone just dismissed like that? #NaturalHairProblems  And by the way, I didn't ask for their opinion oh-I was just going about my business. Onisokuso

This just reminded me of all the reactions I've gotten with this my hair:


1. Is your hair strong? 
People always want to know if my hair is strong like the iron sponge used to wash burnt pots. I don't blame them-the curl pattern of my hair is very tight. I believe I'm a 4C? I don't know. Please enlighten me. I can see why someone would assume my hair is strong just by looking at it.

2. How Do You Comb Your Hair?
They often ask this question with a look of pity in their eyes like "eyaaaa, how do you cope with this suffering", so I try to explain that I only comb when it's wet or when I apply a conditioner. Never ever when dry. Unless I want to meet my maker. They ask if I get headaches often too. Sigh.

3. Can I Touch It?
This request always comes after they have asked if the hair is strong and I always feel like a monkey in a zoo when they proceed to touch it and most of the time their reaction is "ah, it's not strong oh... I thought it would be strong." Then they proceed to look at me as if I just performed magic. 

4. Are you Deeper Life?
For those of you who don't know, Deeper Life is a Church and their members don't relax or fix weaves, don't wear jewellery or makeup. They live a very simple modest life. But I am not Deeper Life. I wear jewellery and put on makeup. They probably just conclude that I'm a rebel Deeper in their minds. 

5. So when will you relax your hair?
When I started off natural it wasn't with an end date in sight sha...I was just on a "lets see how it goes" parole. Now, I feel I may not relax my hair in a long while because I feel with natural hair I have the best of both worlds-I can always straighten it and can always leave it kinky. This is what I have to explain to people overtime they ask me this question. I'm always scared that while asleep someone would apply relaxer on my hair. That's my natural hair nightmare I get often. 

Even though some of the reactions can be annoying- a lot are actually positive and I believe I have succeeded in encouraging some people to go back to natural. For that alone, I tap myself on my back.

50 comments

  1. LOL, you haven't gotten the 'is this all your hair' comment se? That's the one I get most of the time and I usually just roll my eyes and say yes. Next to that is the 'how do manage with the hair' comment. #lifeofanatural

    www.barbara1923.com

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  2. Or when u go to some salon n ur asked to relax ur hair....I'd b lyk "no thanx😒😒"

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  3. OMG!!! i always say the next time someone calls my hair virgin hair i will scream!!!!

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  4. My hair is natural too, and I get the when will you relax your hair...
    www.flavour360blog.com

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    Replies
    1. Is your hair strong..hehehe. I put up a post on my blog recently on my hair struggle too.
      Just when I'm congratulating myself on staying away from relaxer AKA the softener but destroyer of healthy hair, the pain (that comes with combing )melts my resolve and against the better advice of my heart, my 'judas Iscariot' legs carry me off to the salon , relaxer in hand. How I go do?

      Kindly click on my name to visit my blog. Thank you

      Delete
    2. And my Judas Iscariot legs carried me to the salon after carrying my dreadlocks for 4months and unretouched hair for 7months with the hope to transition to natural hair. Chineke!, when will i man up to this natural hair thingy

      http://www.homeworthinteriors.com

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  5. am abt to start dis journey, vent relaxed my hair in3 months nd ve decided to do d BC immediately I take out dis braids

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  6. hahahhahhahahha... lwkmd




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  7. I always get different comments most especially "how do u pack ur hair" & "well natural hair fit u" appreciation comment and abusive. #struggleofnaturalista.

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  8. Lol. I feel you jare. I've worn a weave once in my life and have no desire to do so again. Personal preference - once in a while it is still suggested. I basically ignore negative comments - they often stem from ignorance. If I can educate you, cool. If you want to stay ignorant, I won't bother. Fortunately I often get compliments or genuine questions.

    What makes me sad is when people are like "I can never go natural...". It's like yes you can!!! You are free not to but do not demonise natural hair.

    And yes, you are 4c. So am I. I sometimes comb my hair dry but I use a wide tooth comb and it's usually been pre-stretched by cornrowing it.

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  9. How do you comb this thing? The most irritating questing ever rme

    What’s In my bag

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  10. LOOOOLLiinggg all the way. Never a dull moment with SISi Yemmie

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  11. This is so true , I went to my aunts place for last week immediately she saw me she kept asking me are you going to follow me to church like that ? , later you will say you are single. all my efforts to explain the versatility of natural hair fell on deaf ears. She later dragged me to the salon to braid my hair. It was free hair oh , so I accepted.
    Naija people don't give natural hair any chance at all.

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  12. Sisi all your questions are still understandable. Someone once asked why my hair looks like pubic hair lol. Some people just don't know how to talk.

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    Replies
    1. I Think this is the worst I've heard. That person wasn't trained to talk well at all

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    2. Hahaha...dah cracked me up sha... sum pple no sabi talk rara..

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    3. Hahahahahah...was that person me? Buhahahaha. Ok, well, I would've said armpit hair, not pubic hair, lol. Don't bite me o! I'm neither relaxed nor fully natural. Im texlaxed :)

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    4. What?! That person needs Jesus asap!

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  13. Hahaha. #Diaryofanaturalista

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  14. #Diaryofanaturalista. Hahaha

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  15. Lol. Just manage d questions like dat cos datz wat dey'll keep askin

    Kindly check this blog:
    Pamscrib.blogspot.com

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  16. OMG...I laughed all through reading the post and I remembered the last comment I got from my hairdresser on my transitioning natural hair. It was actually more like an alarm " Ah aunty, your hair is OVER DUE, you need to relax it now now!". And my usual reply is "No thank you, I'm Transitioning" :)

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  17. LOL!!! I get the Can I Touch It all the time.
    My colleague at work especially is obsessed

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  18. I have been carrying protective styling for the past 18 months and getting ready for my first twist out. Will let you know the reactions I get (if I have the liver to carry it through)......

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  19. When I went natural, my aunty saw the results and asked me why did i ever relax my hair. meanwhile my mom tried to get me to cut my hair everyday lol. Now my hair has been unrelaxed since Aug 2013. It grown so much I cant believe it. I aint going back. I just wet it put in conditioner and go about my business. Now peeps be feeling my fro lol

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  20. how can i go natural please.

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  21. I swear! It's the 4th question that kills me, sisi yemmie. I mean I'm on makeup...with a ruby woo lipstick that clearly makes a statement and large hoop earrings.....and they still ask "are you deeper life?" *sigh* oh well....i'm sticking with my natural hair for a really long time; no shaking


    www.thehomealley.blogspot.com

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  22. ok, that "pubic hair" comment above is the worst so far..LOL!

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  23. Hahaha, very funny sisi. As much as I like and admire people with natural hair, I do not have the couage to do it. Even with relaxer, my hair is impossible. I cringe whenever I comb or weave. I wonder what fate would befall me when I go natural. *sigh

    beingzino.blogspot.com

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  24. I want to port from relaxed hair to natural... how do i go about it?

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  25. hehehehehhehehehehehe......i recently got one comment.....your husband must be a "jew" man to allow you do this to your hair....
    http://omajoe.blogspot.com

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  26. A very lovely picture you have up there.

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  27. Lmaoo i concur big time. Last week someone also asked if i was deeper life 😄 cus i dont wear earings and im not pierced.... when he saw my painted red fingernails nd my black nail polish on my toes he said "dont worry!!' 😂

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  28. Hahahaha! I guess for me, the reverse is the case, I get positive comments o, like going natural soothes you, please how do I go natural. People love my curls and my hair appears so soft. Its funny I decided to go natural because I wanted my hair to be STRONG, my hair is as soft as a new born. People call me rat hair each time I relax, but now people are amazed and love my natural hair #TeamNatural
    www.ethniques.blogspot.com

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  29. I also have natural hair and i get pissed with sum salon peeps. One lady offered to use "small relaxer to just rub ur hair aunty,i go wash am immediately i rub am finish so ur hair go soft small" i gave her a " i no send u message look". One day i overheard dem talking in yoruba" irun auntie yi ma sun yan, o ti le ju, gbogbo comb ti kan danu" this aunty's hair is hard and i am tired , all our combs are broken. Am igbo so dey believe i dont understand yoruba. and i always speak queen's english when am der so i can hear dem gossiping about me and my natural hair in yoruba. Silly people.

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    Replies
    1. Lol @ broken combs.
      I bet that's more due to their rough handling than the hardness of the hair.
      Those hairdressers be tugging on the hair like they buried something deep inside.

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  30. Hahahaha! thought of growing my natural but my gut never reach.

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  31. Been on my transitional journey for about 6 months now and I must say I have gotten a fair share of weird questions. Colleagues @ work, my mum and hair dressers. The only place where I felt welcomed was @ a natural hair salon. I made my hair without crying literally! Other salons just tug, pull and nag @ my hair and am not fully natural o!

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  32. I have soft, low density 4C hair, and for the 2 years I've been natural, I think I can count the number of times I've received positive comments. Some people are ignorant, while some others are just plain mean. I just tell myself, nobody is going to make me relax this hair, it is MY hair, I know the issues I had with it when it was relaxed, and I know the improvements I'm enjoying now; if it is pinching them, then that's their business, not mine.

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  33. I went to a local salon today to henna...just to use heat and make the process faster. the woman kept hissing and sighing "hmm!! Oooo!!" they charged me so much...like it's some type of punishment for being natural.

    my mum is the only one who's really being very supportive...when I first went natural....when I relaxed again cos I didn't know what I was doing...and now that I'm natural again. she said, "your hair will be fuller now".

    my sisters be like, "just go and relax u r hair" with a stop-wasting-ur-time kind of look in their eyes. lol!!!

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  34. My head oh. I have been laughing reading these comments. Some people can be so nasty when it is not their head oh.
    I just think as a natural, you have to make an extra effort to look chic.
    Let no nasty tongue hold you down.

    You are beautiful.

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  35. lol if i go to the salon to get my hir done, then always d same question d come up ''when are you going to relax your hair ? '' my answer is always never in this lifetime. #Naturalhairstruggle

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  36. i get the same questions as you do about my hair as i also have a 4C type hair. One of the benfits for me going natural is that my hair is healthier compared to when i used to relax it and i'm not sure i would be relaxing it anytime soon.

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  37. Lol..I'm not a naturalist a so maybe I don't get it, but it always surprises me how Nigerians/Africans have suddenly started acting like having your normal kinky hair giving to you by God is something novel and strange,for God's sake growing up we weren't allowed to relax our hair until we finished secondary school (my school rules)so relaxing my hair for graduation was a big deal!!!infact the girls with relaxed hair growing up were the ones we used to think were doing something strange(maybe it's cos I grew up in warri o oo).I couldn't wait to relax my hair and be among the people that could easily comb their hair and pack it easily but now I realise that it probably was the way we used to treat the hair then (wash on Friday,go to hair "plaiter" on Saturday by then the hair go don turn to rock)but now there are all sorts of butters and nice things you can use,so to the naturalistas please ignore this people making useless comments on your hair and acting like you are strange when indeed they are admiring your beautiful hair as for me I am just too lazy to take care of my hair even relaxed so I doubt I can manage it natural. Enjoy jare

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  38. Lol..I'm not a naturalist a so maybe I don't get it, but it always surprises me how Nigerians/Africans have suddenly started acting like having your normal kinky hair giving to you by God is something novel and strange,for God's sake growing up we weren't allowed to relax our hair until we finished secondary school (my school rules)so relaxing my hair for graduation was a big deal!!!infact the girls with relaxed hair growing up were the ones we used to think were doing something strange(maybe it's cos I grew up in warri o oo).I couldn't wait to relax my hair and be among the people that could easily comb their hair and pack it easily but now I realise that it probably was the way we used to treat the hair then (wash on Friday,go to hair "plaiter" on Saturday by then the hair go don turn to rock)but now there are all sorts of butters and nice things you can use,so to the naturalistas please ignore this people making useless comments on your hair and acting like you are strange when indeed they are admiring your beautiful hair as for me I am just too lazy to take care of my hair even relaxed so I doubt I can manage it natural. Enjoy jare

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  39. Lol.............I no fit shout ooooo.

    Sisi, that "how do you comb it?" and with look of pity on their face eeh, or "which church you dey go?". And one of my friends ( a guy) makes it a duty to always tell me that i look unkempt anytime i wear my natural hair.......SMH.

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  40. 😂😂😂😂😂 you had me at onisokuso looooool

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Your comments are like delicious grains of jollof rice to me: please feed me! Send me love mail sisi@sisiyemmie.com / Official business@sisiyemmie.com

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