haha, that picture!
as for the whole natural hair day, while I totally support it; can anyone else say "publicity stunt?" obvious...

Interesting that Solange Knowles just cut off all her hair to go natural and she got a lot of flack for it... Maybe it's going to be a trend!

Tyra is a public figure and obviously a celebrity in her own right so of course changing her hair is going to be publicised. That's just part of her world and the way she makes her living, so that shouldn't be a surprise!

A lot of celebrities make changes to themselves inthe attempt to be or stay relevant, and I am sure Tyra is no exception. However, I think it's great that she's trying to inspire folks to try the "natural" look... My interest is piqued!

i love tyra & this idea. nautural hair is sometimes looked down upon alot in the black community glad someone famous is supporting natural hair.

This sends a positive message to all girls that you are beautiful just the way you are

I will be very surprised if her hair is actually natural, she'll probably just show her relaxed hair without weave or wig. Still a cool idea and I'll be watching. I wish more celebs would lay off the wigs and weaves at least once in a while. (nothing wrong with weaves or relaxers, like everything else, in moderation

i will totally be tuning in, i really like Tyra and i get so annoyed at people who diss her

oh and the natural hair thing i s a great idea

Princesschris, I completely agree! I'd like her to sport some FIERCE (heh) curls, instead of the oh-so-common straight hair.

I love it! I think natural hair looks amazing!

Did you see Halle Berry's natural 'do when she was pregnant? She looked hot-hot-hot, with the big glasses and all too. Kinda Pam Grier, yummy. Yo Go Ty!

I think this is great to get people to accept their natural beauty.

Please don't slam me for what I'm about to ask - it's out of innocence and no ill intent: How can you tell it's a weave, relaxed, or wig? I grew up in a very non-diverse community, I have no clue what natural "black" hair looks like?

Yogaforlife,
Well she could be relaxed, or just pressed. Pressed hair has more bounce and volume, if the weave is good, you really can't tell the difference between relaxed and weave.

Many relaxers have harmful chemicals in them (think drano) so I really hope that if she has straight hair it is pressed. Condi Rice had pressed hair btw, and I believe Michelle Obama does as well.

Yogaforlife - There is a lot of variety to what is considered Natural Black hair. A good example is to Google "African American Hair" and clicked images. There are lots of pics showing everything from the "afro" style, relaxed, pressed, etc. I think the difference is that natural hair is your own, but a weave adds other hair into the natural hair to make it longer. You can also google weave, and you really can't see a huge difference.

If it is truly natural it will not touched by chemicals making it is super curly; We're talking very tight curls and thick too. My friend always says he has "good hair" and it's not super thick and has a loose wave that curls at the end, very beautiful when grown out. Relaxers or other products/processes are used to pull out or relax the curl to make it easier to style and sometimes makes it healthier too. Since the natural hair can get very dry and brittle it is difficult to grow out, so weaves are used to lengthen and create a specific style.
Hope that helps.

Relaxers make African American hair easier to manage but in the long run is not healthy for it. All of the chemicals damage hair. It makes it look healthy because of the shine it adds.

I think it's great what Tyra is trying to do. I have been wearing my hair natural for about 2 or 3 years now, and I love it. It feels nice to finally let go of the pressure from society and just let myself be me. It's so much easier than spending tons of money on getting it relaxed or pressed by a professional. So many women of color do it to fit in and be beautiful by the world's standards. We need to rewrite the standards; curly, natural hair is beautiful too!

Yogaforlife,
Natural hair varies person to person. There is definitely the obvious afro and Black women who sport tight curl, etc.

For instance I'm "Latina" (my parents are from a spanish speaking island in the caribbean and our ancestors/relatives are Black and White so my heritage is mixed) and I relax my hair.

I've debated over the years whether to go natural or not. My natural hair (virgin hair so to speak) could be wavy and smooth and mixed or coarse. Or wavy to straight or curly to wavy. I won't know until I get an inch of growth and cut it and treat it for a year or two.

So you see many Black women and Hispanic women go natural. And natural hair is just as diverse as any hair type.

Basically it's the opposite of chemically treated hair. Relaxers "straigthen" hair by breaking the oonds that make it curly, ultimately altering it's state.

To get to the hair you were born with you have to "chop" off the chemically treated hair. And many women (Black, Hispanic and even some White women) are just as surprised with the result because maybe they always relaxed their hair and never got a chance to see it as virgen hair.

I know my mother relaxed my hair when I was young. Nappy or coarse hair is considered "bad hair"

If you have white girl hair that is "good hair."

Latino culture hasn't even caught on to natural hair like some African Americans (so for other African Americans,if you think it's tough to sport your hair natural, in braids or a fro in the US, try it in DR, Puerto Rico or Cuba!)

I could go on but I've got to go.

miamiherald.com/multimedia/news/afrolatin/part2/index.html

just put a www in front to check out the link.

Torance- That's awesome that you are rocking the natural look. I'm in the process of going natural, and it's always nice to hear of someone else who has made the change and loves it. I'm getting pressure from people to keep relaxing my hair, but I think it will be worth it one my hair grows out.

As for Tyra's plan, I LOVE it. We need more support of natural African-American hair styles in the media, whether pressed or in naturally beautiful curls.

Thanks everyone for clarifying. I always wondered but was afraid to ask because I would never want to offend anyone and wasn't sure if people would find it offensive somehow.

I hope all young girls watch this show.

this is when you know tyra wants ratings.

Mediaaddict - Thanks! It totally is worth it. While my hair was growing out, I would encourage it to go to over to my natural side (tight curls) by using curl activating products, and styling it while damp. It also helps you get an idea how you would like your hair once it all grows out and is all virgin hair. I hope it all works out for you!

Didn't we already see her do this sh*t? With the cornrows and gelled down baby hairs...