"Do you twist your hair yourself?"

anonymous_15284

Hi,

I just had a situation happen to me, and I wanted to know if it has happened to any other kinky curly bellas.

So, I am at work, and my supervisor comes over with her friend (I guess the friend was just visiting). The friend says, "I like your hair," and I said thank you. Then I get the same question (this has happened several times). "Do you twist your hair yourself?" Ummmm, no. Actually my hair is just like this. It has taken a very long time (almost 2 years natural so far) to find products that actually define my hair, so to hear if I am taking the time out to twist my entire head into coils slightly bigger than a pen spring, is a little annoying. I keep questioning why I am bothered by this question so much. It almost feels as if my hair has to be a fuzz ball for black people to believe it is natural. It's even worse trying to explain to them that I don't do anything to it but put in a leave-in and a lot of gel (in humid Atlanta). I almost hate telling them I put anything in my hair, because they think the products manipulates my texture. Why is it that non-black women can put leave-in and gel in their hair then that is their texture, but when black women put the same type products in their hair, it changes it? I don't know. I might be paranoid. Has anybody else gone through this? :-?

Big Boss

I've had something similar happen... This hairdresser who has short cut texturized hair will ask me what I put in my hair to get it curly. My hair is 3c/4a and sometimes there's nothing in it and other times it's just conditioner. I get the feeling she asks because she has chemically altered curls that are tinier than mine so she probably thinks that I manipulate my hair a lot to get what I have.

But I'm not offended when others ask me what I did to my hair.

maybejadey

Haha, if I wear a wash and go, I get this ALL the time. I find it more humorous that someone would even *think* that I'd sit there and take the 20-30 hours it would take to put a thousand coilies in my head. I tell them it's natural and (if they're black) that their hair likely does a variation of it too. If they get it, they get it. If they don't no worries. You may not reach the masses, but it's the 1 or 2 that actually "hear" you that make it all okay.

EllyEllyOxenFree

My favorite is when they actually think you curled it - like I took the tiniest little curling iron all over my head...gtfoh.

JessicazFro

maybejadey wrote: »

Haha, if I wear a wash and go, I get this ALL the time. I find it more humorous that someone would even *think* that I'd sit there and take the 20-30 hours it would take to put a thousand coilies in my head. I tell them it's natural and (if they're black) that their hair likely does a variation of it too. If they get it, they get it. If they don't no worries. You may not reach the masses, but it's the 1 or 2 that actually "hear" you that make it all okay.

:laughing3: at the bolded. That's roughly how long it would take me via the tightly curly method. LOL Like i have that kind of free time

forbee

That's a weird question, considering that there are quite a few naturals on my campus, but most of the girls I see actually have defined curls. I'm beginning to think that those with no definition (like myself) are pretty rare. It seems like the people who asked don't know much about natural hair. Don't be offended. Maybe they will think about it a little and realize how foolish their question is.

pjjosephgiss

I don't get that question, since I am generally a fuzz-ball!:laughing9:

bananafrosty

im not sure why you'd be offended but yea i've been asked that.

curlykinkynfrizzy?

ellepixie wrote: »

My favorite is when they actually think you curled it - like I took the tiniest little curling iron all over my head...gtfoh.

LOL..elle you crack me up!

AmberBrown

pjjosephgiss wrote: »

I don't get that question, since I am generally a fuzz-ball!:laughing9:

LAHV it!

Krisdion_da_Amazon

This just happened to me last week. I normally wear my hair in a twist out. Last week I wore a WNG and another natural, who wears her hair in a picked out fro everday, said, "what did you do, twist your hair? How did you get it to curl "like that"?"

auntcurly

Some of you simply don't realize how many people like me have no curl pattern. Don't get offended. It's fascinating to me to see people with curl pattern just as it is a source of constant fascination that I have none. Right now I am simply perplexed with my hair. I literally have a head of steel wool on my head. (my hair is grey to boot.) My hair pretty much rejects everything. And the shrinkage in certain spots actually hurts my scalp. I have yet to see a picture of my hair twin. And I understand why. No one in their right mind with hair like mine would wear it natural. I just got through reading a detangling thread and shook my head. Since my hair doesn't coil, I don't get knots on my ends. Practically any conditioner has enough slip to detangle my hair. There are parts of my hair, mainly in the crown, that I can detangle with a fine-tooth comb. But my hair has virtually no definition and the strands are like pieces of wire.

But instead of getting mad bear in mind where these questions come from. There is a long tradition among 'some' women to lie about what they do to their hair. A lot of women with texturizers are famous for lying about it. Not saying anybody here does that, but some women do. So it's not unusual for people to be skeptical since they have no real way of knowing if you might fit into that category. But really, you should count your blessings that you have hair texture that coils into curls. After all does it really matter what anyone else cares to believe as long as you know the truth? And it is only hair.

ElenaMaylee

I also get the question about my hair too. I usually wear a ponytail and my hair has waves in it when I put it into a ponytail and people always ask how it get it to that and I tell them nothing and I get the most perplexed looks.

adthomas

auntcurly wrote: »

Some of you simply don't realize how many people like me have no curl pattern. Don't get offended. It's fascinating to me to see people with curl pattern just as it is a source of constant fascination that I have none. Right now I am simply perplexed with my hair. I literally have a head of steel wool on my head. (my hair is grey to boot.) My hair pretty much rejects everything. And the shrinkage in certain spots actually hurts my scalp. I have yet to see a picture of my hair twin. And I understand why. No one in their right mind with hair like mine would wear it natural. I just got through reading a detangling thread and shook my head. Since my hair doesn't coil, I don't get knots on my ends. Practically any conditioner has enough slip to detangle my hair. There are parts of my hair, mainly in the crown, that I can detangle with a fine-tooth comb. But my hair has virtually no definition and the strands are like pieces of wire.

But instead of getting mad bear in mind where these questions come from. There is a long tradition among 'some' women to lie about what they do to their hair. A lot of women with texturizers are famous for lying about it. Not saying anybody here does that, but some women do. So it's not unusual for people to be skeptical since they have no real way of knowing if you might fit into that category. But really, you should count your blessings that you have hair texture that coils into curls. After all does it really matter what anyone else cares to believe as long as you know the truth? And it is only hair.

WOW. You don't get single strand knots. Please tell me your secret. I had to cut about 8 of those little monsters yesterday. I hate them.

LeeLee182

Wow, i haven't popped in the 4b section in a while and it's so funny that i would come across this thread first.

Just today at work a black woman with natural hair came to checkout at my register and asked me if i twisted my hair to get it to look like this and i kind of laughed and said no and at the same time we both said it was just my natural texture. I wasn't offended at all because i have had women ask me this plenty of times or assume that i do so i know sometimes they really are just curious or don't know that our hair can curl/coil/wave.

curlykinkynfrizzy?

LeeLee182 wrote: »

Wow, i haven't popped in the 4b section in a while and it's so funny that i would come across this thread first.

Just today at work a black woman with natural hair came to checkout at my register and asked me if i twisted my hair to get it to look like this and i kind of laughed and said no and at the same time we both said it was just my natural texture. I wasn't offended at all because i have had women ask me this plenty of times or assume that i do so i know sometimes they really are just curious or don't know that our hair can curl/coil/wave.

This happened to me when I was out eating brunch/lunch with my family. I was wearing a WnG with the top of my hair pulled up. The girl at the omelette station said she liked my hair and then asked if it was my "natural hair". I told her it was. I didn't get offended either. I'm curious about others hair as well so I guess that's why.

And I'm going to be real here: before hair boards I was shocked to see Black people with actual curly hair. LOL I was shocked to see MY own hair was curly! And even now I"m still guilty of making assumptions.

If you saw how my hair looked right now at this exact moment you wouldn't believe it could curl though...LMAO!

papermOon

curlykinkynfrizzy? wrote: »

LeeLee182 wrote: »

Wow, i haven't popped in the 4b section in a while and it's so funny that i would come across this thread first.

Just today at work a black woman with natural hair came to checkout at my register and asked me if i twisted my hair to get it to look like this and i kind of laughed and said no and at the same time we both said it was just my natural texture. I wasn't offended at all because i have had women ask me this plenty of times or assume that i do so i know sometimes they really are just curious or don't know that our hair can curl/coil/wave.

This happened to me when I was out eating brunch/lunch with my family. I was wearing a WnG with the top of my hair pulled up. The girl at the omelette station said she liked my hair and then asked if it was my "natural hair". I told her it was. I didn't get offended either. I'm curious about others hair as well so I guess that's why.

And I'm going to be real here: before hair boards I was shocked to see Black people with actual curly hair. LOL I was shocked to see MY own hair was curly! And even now I"m still guilty of making assumptions.

If you saw how my hair looked right now at this exact moment you wouldn't believe it could curl though...LMAO!

I agree,
I consider it a compliment, and i'am a noob with my hair, when people say my hair looks nice and how i got my ends to curl. my hair is like russian roulette after I wash it so wash n go's aren't for me. Sometimes I have a lot of coils scattered about, with a mix of frizz puff balls here and there...and yeah its winter time so I gotta say bye bye to my glycerin stuff =(. I have to twist my hair in order to keep my moisture in check or else if i try to do a wash and go, when my hair dries its frizzy and brittle, so any coils I had are lost in the long run =(.
I guess its cause my hair strands are too fine or something...*sighs*
Hopefully henna fixes that! Because I want my coils to be all in unison, instead of in my mohawk region!!:geek:

DerbyCityNaturals

well I know women who do curl their hair using the "finger doodle" method or whatever. They run their finger through their hair twirling sections to cause clumps. Seems like a lot of work to me, but what do I care.

afrosuzee

i always get people asking me if i have a straw set when i have a wash and go. when i say no they look at me like i'm lying.

Whodunit

I get asked if I twisted my own hair or what salon I went to alot when I wear twistouts. I consider it a compliment.
Usually the question is coming from another natural (more than often a newbie) that doesn't know how to properly take care of her hair just yet. More times than not we end up discussing products, styling techniques, and regimens...which for us curly girls is always kinda fun!

anonymous_15284

afrosuzee Thank you!

It is not that I am offended that they ask the question. I get irritated when I get the look like, yea right, your hair is not really like that stop lying and tell me what you really did to your hair, look. That is why I get irritated when I hear that question, because I know this look is coming. I don't get this look from fellow naturals though when they ask me this question. We normally have loong conversations about what worked, what didn't work, how expensive some products are...I can talk to naturals all day actually...in fact I was just talking to a nurse who had really cute micro braids about MJ (but then again I'm not being judged either).