by Tammy of CurlyChics
When the love of your natural hair crosses the line to Obsessionville, it may be time to reevaluate some things and reprioritize. The domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. is the definition of obsession. Here are 7 signs that you are dangerously close:
1. You treat your hair like another human being
You often refer to your coils as “her”, as if you are speaking about one of your friends and have even given them a name.
“Mahogany and I are spending some quality time together this weekend”.
2. No conversation goes by without mention of your hair
Your friends are apprehensive about even mentioning the word “hair” for fear that you will start on a natural hair tirade. You repeatedly chant India Arie’s “I Am Not My Hair” however; your afro almost always ends up being the topic of discussion. You turn something totally unrelated into a dialogue about natural hair.
Your friend: “It’s raining outside”
You: “I’m glad I’m natural, I don’t have to worry about rain”
3. You spend hour after hour perusing the Natural Hair blogs and Twitter
Your entire day is centered around the latest and greatest products or hairstyles for natural hair. You find it difficult to focus at work until you’ve had your cup of joe and done your daily natural hair blog browsing and you can’t wait to get home to your laptop in the evenings to continue.
4. You are always giving unsolicited hair advice
You are in line at Macy’s and overhear two ladies behind you talking about how damaged their hair is. You immediately turn around and start testifying about how healthy your hair is because you are natural. You then proceed to tell them that their hair will never be healthy until they make the decision to let go of the creamy crack.
5. You are like Chicago in the movie, “Poetic Justice”, walking around with your hair tool of choice so that at any given moment, you can whip it out and coif your mane.
6. You change your hairstyle several times throughout the day to showcase how versatile natural hair is. At least that’s the reasoning you give but the real reaosn is you just can’t keep your hands out of your hair nor your face out of the mirror.
7. You must publicly display your love for your natural hair by purchasing every natural hair t-shirt on the market.
Nothing wrong with a dose of pride about your decision to live life as a naturalista, but too much of anything is never good. BTW, after writing this, I realize I described myself in this post. ☺
HAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!!!! I try but the sistas just pull me in by asking hair questions but I've learned to talk and re-direct after a few minutes and then give them CurlyNikki.com site.
Guilty! lol I need rehab.
Lol This is so funny because I am guilty of these! I big chopped last week and cannot stop focusing on this natural hait process. I check this website daily, constantly keep my fingers playing with my coils, and stop people who have natural hair to ask them about their process and products. This is really bad. I don't know what to do lol.
By the looks of things, I'm completely non obsessed…that's a good thing for me lol. If someone brings up the rain and hair, I'll comment but normally, it's not really worth for me to mention it.
I am definitely numbers 2,3, and 4. My Goddaughter asked me why do I read the same things about natural hair that I've read before over and over again!She told me if it were a rehabilitaion center for hair addition I would definitely need to go!LOL My conversation always includes my natural hair, I love to give natural hair advice and burn up the natural hair blogs! I confess I'm addicted and shall redeemed and prioritize my daily agenda. Thanks and God Bless
This article helped me to understand the meaning of obsession. I am not obsessed with my hair, however, I have come to realize what the true meaning of obsession is. I do say that because it's raining that I am glad that I am natural. But I personally don't see that as being a bit obsessed because think about it. We have less work when it comes to our hair and rain. Talk with y'all later. It's been fun!
I'm guilty of number 2 with making the "i'm glad I'm natural" comment when it rains.
ummm… yea i'm not gonna front, a few of these are def me! What can I say? i've been natural about 9 mos and I'm still so excited about it… still trying to find my perfect routine and wondering why the hell it took me so long to go natural in the first place… I don't mention my hair to people unless they ask but I def focus on my hair a lot… *kanye shrug* maybe in a few years i'll be better lol
Yea I'm guilty of all these. Especially #6 I took mini twists down that took me two days to complete after a day
OK…Ima need yall to quit puttin me on blast. I was perfectly fine living in the land of denial!….I am gonna need me a few tshirts for real though….to help the economy..im just sayin.
HA! I probably have been guilty of all of these at one time, with the exception of giving it a name! I will try to be more aware of it since reading this article because being obessed over hair does make u seem a little coocoo : )
Guilty as charged of number 3.
So funny how Curly Nikki put up an article about natural hair obsession and I pretty much get an email CN them in my mailbox nearly daily. If it weren't for some of us having some kind of obsession with natural hair, a lot of these product lines would suffer and so would this website.
Had to say it.
Sans #5…Guilty as charged…LOL
Curly Chics says
I am cracking up reading these comments to my article! I am so glad you can all relate and I’m not alone in this! LOL. Thank you for reading and commenting. Please don’t forget to check out/follow my blog.
MUAH
XOXO Tammy
Hello I go by the name Curls and Coils and yes I am obsessed or shall I say addicted to my natural hair. #2, 3 & 7 yep thats me. When sharing natural hair articles and vides on FB I gladly tell people that I am feeding my habit. 2 years ago I was totally clueless in how to care for natural hair and now I want to know it all.
Lol #s 2, 3, 4, 6 Definitely.
Omg! this post is hilarious because I am truly obsessed with my natural tresses. I love it!!! I have a routine in the mornings I go on curlynikki first and that usually leads me to visiting or revisiting my favorite naturals on youtube. I then call my friend MEL and tell her all that I have learned until she get's extremely annoyed by me. Today when I called her to tell her about this post she flat out said I am guilty of #2, #3 and #4…she's right I am obsessed because I am in awe by the growth I am seeing in such a short time. I really feel like my natural hair is my baby and I am responsible for it's help and growth by nurturing it each day. I wouldn't say I am a product junky or natural hair psycho but I love how supportive the natural hair community is of one another and I love to see the progress in other's people hair. It's an amazing lil society and Im so proud to be apart of it 🙂
HAHA i think they wrote number 3 just for me 🙂
Natural-hair-care-info.com
Haha!! #3 is so me! I spend so much time reading all the blogs and sites and my day doesn't feel complete without it. Talk about obsession, lol.
except for the last one, thats all me…
IM OBSESSED 🙂 AND PROUD OF IT !!
I'm guilty of just #1. lol
#9: No more saving money for extravagant vacations, fancy clothes, or sporadic trips to fancy restaurants…all your money goes towards trying and investing in new hair products
I'm only guilty of #3. LOL.
OMG I'm guilty of most of these except 5, 6 and7. It's embarrassing actually. I don't want to be obsessed with my hair. I just can't wait to reach my goals
Awesome!! I am guilty of searching my favorite sites to get my natural hair fix… Just can't get enough of CurlyNikki!!!
<3
I am guilty of perusing natural hair blogs for hours! I love reading discussion posts about natural hair and watching natural hair product reviews on Youtube. I like for other naturals to test out products that I'm tempted to buy, so I can get the pros and cons of the product before I spend my hard-earned money. None of the other signs of being obsessed with natural hair applies to me at this stage of my journey! Thank goodness! 😀
The research and time (and sometimes money) it has taken for me to learn how to properly care for my natural hair I think gradually turned into a borderline obsession. It does become a life unto it's own. And I agree with Anon @ 5:08pm, checking CN more often than I do my bank account online is probably worth a mental note. I never give unsolicited advice, but I definitely love my hair (and myself) more now than before I went natural.
I'm guilty of 4 out of 7….did I pass? 😛
That was freakin' hilarious!!
*8. You go to Curlynikki.com more than you go to church.
*guilty*
I already know i am. Ever since january 2010 i have been obsessed with youtube that i would come home from school and spend hours watching the same videos over and over again. It was like the crazy obsession time. Now i'm not so obsessed anymore bc i know how to manage my time and i have my own hair to look at now(not someone else's). Sometimes it got to the extent where i had this thing called my youtube fast. Where i wouldn't watch youtube or go on a hair related website until the following friday, bc i would never do my homework until midnight. My parents had to actually take away my laptop from me at times. I have gotten so much stronger at not being hair obsessed since i started track and it took up most of my time. I even went 3 weeks without youtube or hair related sites because i wanted time to study for my sat's. Uggghhh…. either way i loooooovvvvveeee my natural hair. I could spend a good 30 minutes in the bathroom just looking and feeling it. I'm 2 years natural in september. Yayyyyy. My first year of transition i wasn't a product junkie. I only used a simple shampoo, conditioner, vegetable glycerin and shea butter. But once i hit the 1.5 year mark and got the big chop, i've become a product junkie. yep, and it all started with shea moisture…. I can't say when i became obsessively in love with my natural hair. I wouldn't have thought in a million years that i could actually consider myself lucky and happy that god gave me this 4b hair texture. It's a miracle how times have changed. i know i'm rambling like crazy but i'm just in love, and i have realized that i have become a more confident person ever since i went natural. I get a ton of attention at school(good or bad idc) and i love being seen as…. unique. Nothing wrong with obsession, just make sure it doesn't control your life. Peace 🙂
17 and happy to be……. me.