Sara,

I hadn't seen the article so I looked it up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/fashion/hair-care-for-african-americans.html?_r=2&smid=tw-nytimesstyle&seid=auto

Except for a few years after I started working, I've always worn my hair 'natural.' My niece, who has very tightly curled hair, stopped relaxing hers last year. The one thing she pointed out is that she never understood how to take care of her hair and relaxed it as soon as she could.

We - women, mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins - should have taken more time to understand that we have different kinds of hair and used that knowledge to get manufacturers to develop products that addressed our needs. Instead, they focused on products that made our hair straight.

So it's good to know that more women are embracing their natural styles. I'm sure those manufacturers are taking  notice and will figure out a way to bottle whatever it is they come up with.

Marcia

I haven't read the article, but I've had my own recent experience with going  au natural and it's bittersweet.

My hair is quite thick and I've been relaxing it since I was in the 6th grade only because I like to feel the comb go through all my hair and reach my scalp. I don't do naps well and being tenderheaded has nothing to do with it! LOL

I wrote about hair in my Sistah in Scotland blog in two different posts (Post 1 and Post 2), and in the end, I have to say that I've gone back to keeping my hair pressed and/or relaxed. I can't do natural.