I consider myself a type 3b, but i'm not the best with hair typing. I transitioned back to natural basically with weaves and braids until I had a decent amount of natural hair and did the big chop. The key with a weave is to keep your own hair moisturized to reduce breakage. You cannot ignore your own hair under the weave, or leave it in too long. I keep a weave in the max 2 months...if that long.
Now that I'm completly natural, I condition wash about three times a week and use curl activator gel, leave in conditioner (911), and mango butter on my ends.
hth