Black Women Share Natural Hair Horror Stories

"Y'all not gonna see my mullet."

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Woman with friend getting hair done at salon
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EXTERNAL CREDITS
Ashley Reed

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Kolby Jameison

[RiFit]

I remember at the beginning of the natural hair movement when there wasn't a variety of hair products out yet, we were using all natural stuff like produce. So, I made a mask one day with eggs and banana. I washed it in a hot shower and I ended up with scrambled eggs and cooked banana in my hair.

[bnjjj]

Going natural was the most liberating thing I've ever done. To be able to FINALLY break free from years of self-hatred and low self-esteem, and to just be confident in everything I do was so amazing! I learned to start loving myself and standing up for myself after years of being bullied in middle school, high school and college. It just felt so nice to own my personality, learn more about myself and not be afraid to truly express myself. I stopped going to hair salons after I realized how bloody expensive it was to get a hairdo I never truly fell in love with. Now I style my hair myself and it's a lot more fun than sitting in a chair for 6 hours and hating every single minute of it.

[ashleymorton]

My natural hair story is me trying to avoid those people in the mall at the kiosks that sell flat irons. I had been natural for about 5 years and hadn’t put any heat on my hair in like 2 years. I was walking through the mall trying my hardest to avoid the girl at the kiosk but being the pushover that I was I decided to be nice and humor her and listen to her little sales pitch. I was about to leave but she somehow convinced me to let her straighten a little section to show me how well the flat iron worked. She was a black girl herself so I figured it would be ok but boy was I wrong.

At the end of the week it’s wash day and the section of hair that she straightened did not revert back. I even tried to do a protein treatment hoping to save it but it remained bone straight. She must have had the heat turned up to the highest setting. 🤦🏾‍♀️

I ended up just cutting that section of hair off. Luckily my hair was a decent length and the damaged section was kind of towards the back underside of my head so it wasn’t noticeable. I was so mad at myself. My instinct were telling me not to let her touch my hair but I let her do it anyway.

[holycrudscones]

My hair horror story:
When I was 15 I got a weave that was super tight and I had a dull radiating pain in the middle of my head. I asked my mom if could take it out and she said no because she paid money for it. The pain persisted, and then maybe a week in it started to get really itchy and whenever I would scratch the area red flakes would come out. Three weeks later my Mom finally let me take out the weave, and as she was taking it down she screamed. In the middle of my head the weave actually split open my scalp and I had a wound there. I went to a salon the next day and they refused to treat me because of the open wound. To this day, almost 10 years later, that area is still extremely sensitive and the hair there grows in a different texture from the rest of my head.

Maybe a year or two after that incident I attempted to get another weave, and I actually had a panic attack at the salon and had my mom take it down the next morning. The next school day was the first time I ever wore my natural hair to school though and I got a lot of compliments 👍. I have never gotten a weave after that and never will.

[jvwriter]

Also consent, please don’t run up to strangers and just touch them without their permission. Especially hair, a lot of people don’t realize it but hair is so personal.

[adi-qfwb]

Watching buzzfeed and not knowing anyone is a strange feeling. I only vaguely know destiny and she's not even first gen buzzfeed cast

[nyanteea]

Buzzfeed you know you can do black content outside of black history month right ??? lol

[pinkspaghetti]

I have nothing but respect to everyone with afro-textured hair. Its insane how people react to it as if its something crazy when its just what comes out your head, the same as anyone else's. Natural hair is so gorgeous, it can be made into such beautiful and complex styles, or left curly and free, its awesome.

I am a non-black mixed person, but when i was a literal child of 14, strangers would grab my hair because it was all the way to my butt, curly/wavy.
They would pull it from behind me and ask if it was real. I had people constantly touching me without me knowing bc when your hair is that long you dont feel much unless they pull. It was a nightmare. No one ever respected my boundaries or ever apologized when i told them not to do it. From a YOUNG AGE.
I cant imagine the struggle for a black person who has "unbelievable" hair to people.

When people do that, its like youre a doll or a toy. Youre not a person.

Never touch anyones anything without permission, and if you dont effing know them, dont ask Its CREEPY. Some people might not mind it but Id rather no one ask and make lots of people uncomfortable instead of just hoping the person youre asking isnt bothered.

[ashleymorton]

One of my friends started calling me “Mic” as in microphone when I first went natural. I had a twa. He said I looked like a microphone because I was long, skinny, and black. 😑

Some also thought it was funny to put pencils and paper in my hair or gently tug on it to see wether or not I would be able to feel it.

[tsahai]

I really want to know how the first woman's hair looked

[ennvee]

1. Can we get a "women share their positive natural hair journey story" video?🙂
2. Can we get a video with different hair patterns? 4b 4c...not just 3b 3c 4a :)
Thanks buzzfeed!
Edit1: the amount of ppl who dont know type 4 hair...WHEWW😂

[arminarollett]

I have so much curly hair but when its straightend its all the way down to the back of my knees

[vaibhaveejadhav]

Omg I can't stop looking at this girl in black tee and denim. Her highlighter game is so on point!!!

[tionak]

“Before it became legal to have natural hair” the audacity of this sentence is throwing me for a loop smh 🤦🏾‍♀️

[matyasnora]

Watching this made me sad and happy at the same time. You go ladies. I have to admit, for the longest time I was completely unaware of the stigma that comes with natural hair in the black community (mainly because the part of the UK I used to live in, thankfully, people never made a thing out of it, and I personally always appreciated individuality on every level). I'm sorry that to this day there are women being stigmatised for their natural hair and some even might lose job opportunities, which is absolutely bonkers. People shouldn't feel entitled to do such things. But then again, it is a sad world we live in.

[KristenAlexia]

I remember getting my first texturizer when I was 12. It was burning like crazy and I was sooo very shy, I kept quiet but after a while I couldn’t hold it in.. so I quietly said “excuse me, it’s burning”. And of course, she says “yes, few more minutes” 😒 fast forward, my hair ended up super straight and beautiful but y’all MY SCALP WAS COMPLETELY SCABBED!!!! It was very traumatic. My mom never took me back there, thankfully. I ended up going natural 4 years later and I absolutely love it. Our hair is very versatile. It’s so fun to learn about your curl pattern and to try new products

[luckiejinx]

Between my hair and my birth name I'm never sure if the reason I didn't get a job is because I wasn't properly qualified or if my name/appearance got me dismissed 🤷🏾‍♂️🙄

[salimahinspires]

I was at a club and I went to the restroom (we have alll had a club restroom encounter) this women decided to come pet me like a poodle 🐩. Why does this always happen to me 🙄

[mpeace]

This is why my hair is a) only in braids and b) my mom does my hair

[champslim]

The same woman has been braiding my hair for 20 years. I trust no one else. I went natural 4 years ago and I loved it. It has been a journey lol. I fell asleep with wet hair and trying to comb it the next day left me in tears. It took me 4 hours and my mom had to help me