I'm not having my hair straight anymore. Now I embraced the braids and natural hair. With that I realized that it gets more attention from men/women than before.
I did't have any political/social reason to change it I just did because I wanted.
Any thoughts? What do you personally prefer? Is there any of you who has your hair done some blackpower or straight? I wouldn't say that this is a Black Only thread, because people can be mixed and all that conversation again about race make me feel like a big yawn. Curly hair, large amounts of volume are invited to post something about too.

Quote: (12-28-2011 03:17 PM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  

I'm not having my hair straight anymore. Now I embraced the braids and natural hair. With that I realized that it gets more attention from men/women than before.
I did't have any political/social reason to change it I just did because I wanted.
Any thoughts? What do you personally prefer? Is there any of you who has your hair done some blackpower or straight? I wouldn't say that this is a Black Only thread, because people can be mixed and all that conversation again about race make me feel like a big yawn. Curly hair, large amounts of volume are invited to post something about too.

naturals!
- twa's (teeny ween afro's) - not a big fan
- regular fro's - I like
- locks - not as much. (reminds me too much of my mother)
- braids - naw.

On the artificial side
- perms - I can do.
- extensions and weaves - no can do
- wigs - are you kidding me? Met some very nice looking women in the past that fooled me with some wigs. I'd rather a good looking chick pull an Amber Rose before she rocks a wig

But brothers who like natural hair are probably on the left side of the spectrum to begin with.

I've found that white guys are fascinated with natural hair, much more so than us. And if you're open to that, that's a whole bunch more attraction.

I don't now how international guys feel about naturals.

I find I like natural styles if they look good on a woman. I hate the fake hair trend - weaves, extensions, etc. I actually don't mind SHORT hair on a woman if she has the face/head for it. Short 'fro styles can look great on a woman too. I also understand that natural styles can be much easier to take care off, as I appreciate the hours of effort and products bought it takes to keep yourself looking sexy...HA HA! I say go with the braids and the natural look!

Mrs. chocolate, I can say I hate fake stuff on girls. Fake hair, fake eyelashes, fake boobs or whatever. Just work with whatever you have. A chic doesn't need to have long hair. It's all about her overall sense of style and femininity that matters most. I think you'd look great with a natural style. And your hair will be much healthier without the chemical processing.

For the ones who still think that natural takes less time to be done than unnatural I can say that is a big lie.
Natural hair demands patience. Tons of it.
This is the second (and maybe the last time) that I will post a pic of me here. But since speakeasy had shown me several times my english is not the greatest ever, I will show you how it looks:

Before:

   

After

   

Quote: (12-29-2011 11:53 AM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  

For the ones who still think that natural takes less time to be done than unnatural I can say that is a big lie.
Natural hair demands patience. Tons of it.
This is the second (and maybe the last time) that I will post a pic of me here. But since speakeasy had shown me several times my english is not the greatest ever, I will show you how it looks:

Before:



After

Yeah, people who think going natural is a time saver usually don't have a lot of experience with black/african women's hair.

IMO, The braids suit you much better. You're cute either way though.

On black women I tend to prefer braids or cornrows. From the pics, you look better with the shorter, cornrow (not sure what it's called) style. Some women would look better with longer braids. Generally speaking I think women, no matter what race, look better with something close to their natural skin tone and hair texture.
Dark skin you were born with or a slight tan from being in sun? Nice. Fake dark orange tan from a bottle like Snooki? Repulsive. Healthy hair with maybe a few subtle highlights is good. Bleach blonde hair is bad. I can't stand it. Naturally porcelain skin is beautiful. Skin whitening creams are sad. Bouncy, God given curls are cute. Frizzy perms are not. Straight Asian hair is sexy too but not hair that looks like it's been ironed within an inch of its life.
Basically the more chemicals involved the less attractive to me. (deodorant would be the exception to this rule.)

I dislike nearly every style of natural hair on black women. That is actually a dealbreaker for me-I simply don't like afros or braids, and I pretty much require straight hair (wavy/curly can be fine too, as long as it flows) to gain attraction. If I were dating a girl who went from a hairstyle similar to that of the first picture to one similar to the second, it would be a dealbreaker (and it has been in the past). Call me whatever you want (race traitor, oreo, shallow, whatever-I've heard it all), but as a black male, that's just how I feel.

Part of it may have to do with my background-most of the women in my family have straight hair and have a pretty easy time maintaining that without using weaves or extensions, a fact that probably has a lot to do with our ancestry. I guess that I subconsciously took my attraction cues from them.

The girl I'm currently dating is black and when I met her she had natural curly hair, not all 'fro'd out but definitely poofy and big. She straightened it after I asked her too so I could see how she looked, and that alone made my dick harder. I think SOME girls can rock the natural look, but it depends on a lot of factors so you can't generalize. Straight hair, however, is the benchmark so its more likely to look good on a wider spectrum of girls.

@Athlone

Growing up in Ohio in predominantly black neighborhoods, almost all the girls I interacted with for most of my life had their hair straightened. I've noticed more natural curly hair since I moved to DC, I have a preference from straight hair as well, so you might be onto something with the idea that its about predisposition.

I think straight hair makes a pretty face look better as well, less distracting.

@ Mrs. Chocolate

I'm not sure if it is such a good move to base yourself so much on what guys think of your looks, although it is very understandable what you are doing.

I'll share some of my experience with "looks", as historically I've been somewhat obsessed and insecure with the way I am perceived.

I am shaved bald, strong built, with a deep goatee. And I 'know' I'm good looking, face etc. But I know I don't have a 'mainstream' look, which on the past and still on occasion gets me bugged. But as I marched on with my game exploits, pilling numbers of approaches, experiences, girls, notches etc. I started getting feedback that changed the way I perceived myself and others.

I've had girls saying straight up that I am "gorgeous", "good looking", "very cute", "very hot" etc... and I also had girls that simply rejected me on the claims that I simply "wasn't their type", or made fun of something in my looks etc.

Point being: everyone will perceive you differently. The best you can do is have a look that is congruent with your own tastes. That is what communicates the best image. All opinions will differ, but when you have a style that matches your own personality, that strength of character reflected on your image, in my opinion and experience, is what is more attractive.

Before I left Brazil to Hawaii (will be returning for carnival!) one of the girls I was dating was a young cute black girl with an afro hair. She had this loose, almost hippie vibe, very graceful, and her style matched it perfectly. It was congruent with who she was, and I was very attracted to her, and even though she was cute, she was not the cuttest girl around, but she gained points because of her overall vibe and style. We're still in touch... wanna get back to her when I'm home. (Not only her, of course )

And again, contrarily to some of our good fellows here, I prefer you with braids over the straight hair look. I find it more tasteful.

Just my opinion on the matter.

You look better in the second pic.

Grow it out more.

Mrs. Chocolate,

Both pics are nice. I am just not a fan of weaves or wigs, especially if the weave "looks" like a wig. I rather the sistas just cut it short and perm it. As for natural, I am not a locs or "dry afro" fan but I do like that "mop" look on sistas.

Quote: (12-30-2011 08:10 AM)UrbanNerd Wrote:  

Mrs. Chocolate,

Both pics are nice. I am just not a fan of weaves or wigs, especially if the weave "looks" like a wig. I rather the sistas just cut it short and perm it. As for natural, I am not a locs or "dry afro" fan but I do like that "mop" look on sistas.

I didn't get it. Can you explain me?

Second of all, thank you for all replies.
I didn't make this change because of men. I am in a "F5" phase in my life, refreshing everything and I decided to change. However, I realized that there were more men are looking at me and even more black men are looking at me and I decided to ask here in forum if anyone know why.
Unfortunaly I will have to cut it like a TWA because it is to weak and there is still some straight hair mixed with my natural hair.
However I promisse that I will let it grow BIG!

IMHO, picture 1 looks nicer. Don't take this the wrong way, but you have a lot more sex appeal in it. You remind me of a career minded woman with a filthy hidden character!

#1 is a far better look to me. No contest.

I like the natural look on black lizards. So go with the cornrows. If I want straight hair, I will get a non black lizard.

Athlone - You are a traitor for only wanting relaxed hair on black lizards, lol!

You really look a lot better in the second pic... somewhat a surprise for me, given that I don't like short hair in general and braids are automatically a bit short by design, but in this case it really opened up your face and smile. I'm not sure how much this contributed as well, but your face also looks quite a bit thinner in the second pic.

I think it is better for some Latinas to go with a more natural look with their hair, but it's hard to tell with you because you are wearing too much clothing in both pics.

Quote: (05-08-2012 03:40 PM)Moma Wrote:  

Athlone - You are a traitor for only wanting relaxed hair on black lizards, lol!

Seriously, a lot of black women (and men) would attack me for saying that, but I'm really not sorry. I just can't stand shit like this:


























Its a boner killer. These chicks are all celebrating this type of thing (music, nicknames, commemoration videos, conventions, etc), and I'll never get it.
That being said, they're entirely free to do what they want with their heads-what i think about it should by no means determine their actions. They're not obligated to look the way I prefer them to.

However, I'm not obligated to like the way they look, and I'm entirely free to remain turned off by this. There are VERY few exceptions to this rule for me, and its staying that way. There are a handful of men out there who could care less about or even prefer natural hair-guys, these women are all yours. You'll receive no competition from me. Sorry I'm not sorry.

I prefer the natural one . The second one you look to young . You like a girl that I can land in a after hour .

Athlone, those women in the vids you posted all looked cute to me. So what exactly would you do if you lived in Africa and nobody ever invented chemical straighteners? Just jerk off?

Straight hair, no contest.

+100 reps for Natural.

Quote: (05-08-2012 06:34 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

Athlone, those women in the vids you posted all looked cute to me.

Good! They are all yours.

Quote:Quote:

So what exactly would you do if you lived in Africa and nobody ever invented chemical straighteners? Just jerk off?

This scenario doesn't make sense. You're asking what I'd do if the present me were transported to an alternate universe (the only place where there could be no straighteners on Earth) and forced to live in sub-saharan Africa?
I guess I would jerk off more and/or try to find the few women who had flowing braids. That sounds like an unrealistic response, but then again your scenario is just as nonsensical so it fits.

Now, if you're asking something like "What would you do if you grew up in sub-saharan africa around fewer girls who used straighteners?", then I can answer that: it is a trick question.

I wouldn't be who I am today in such a scenario, so "I" (as you know me) wouldn't do anything.

I think you missed this:

Quote: (12-29-2011 08:32 PM)Athlone McGinnis Wrote:  

Part of it may have to do with my background-most of the women in my family have straight hair and have a pretty easy time maintaining that without using weaves or extensions, a fact that probably has a lot to do with our ancestry. I guess that I subconsciously took my attraction cues from them.

It would be possible for me to have a more favorable view of "natural hair", but that would require me to be an entirely different human being. I'd have to have been exposed to it a lot earlier and more often, and it'd have to have been much less common among my close relatives (which would of course require less non-black admixture in my family).

It is easier to tolerate that which you've grown used to from an early age. Had I grown up around nothing but women with natural hair (as is the case for most sub-saharan Africans) and in a family where there was no non-black ancestry and/or less chemical straightening to aid the proliferation of relaxed/flowing hair for me to see (again, likely for the average sub-saharan african), then yeah, those girls would be cute to me to.

I didn't, so they aren't. Sorry, still not sorry.

Quote: (05-08-2012 06:53 PM)velkrum Wrote:  

This is actually ok with me. She represents one of the rare "exceptions" to my aversion to natural hair that I was talking about. There's enough flow there for me to work with, and the style looks quite nice on her.

The rest of these can all get right out:

Quote:Quote:

Personally, I love natural hair on black women. What I don't tend to like is short hair (and any race or kind of woman) with a few exceptions here and there.

Full discolsure---I'm black, American, male, late 20s.


@ Athlone

I disagree that there "few" men who go for women with natural hair. Most of the black men I know either like natural hair or are neutral. And btw, it's been great reading your shit on this forum---I'd wondered where you went after leaving Susan's blog!