Can you go natrual with out a BC?

[Kayanna1212]

Ugh im seriously thinking of cutting perms/going natrual
But i dont want a big chop!! and dont wanna cut of my hair what sha'll i do?

 

[MummysGirl]

Yes.... a lot of ladies here have transitioned for over 1,2 years... slowly trimming off the relaxed ends

Search for transitioning threads... there is a long term transitioners thread - http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=345549

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Re: Can you go natural without a BC?

Yes, it is possible but it's hard.

Most, if not all, of my breakage was at the line of demarcation. Once the curls overtook the relaxed hair, it became increasing difficult to manage the two textures as my relaxed hair prefers different products from the curly hair.

I am 16 months into transition (last relaxer was 12/30/2007) and I just did another mini chop to get rid of some relaxed ends. My hair is super curly so the straight ends make any curly style took horrible. Braid outs were cute in the beginning but didn't look so great on super curly hair. I did try rods on the ends but it did not work that well.

I ended up straightening to make the textures blend better.....and then using wigs. I just started having Brazilian Keratin Treatments done this month to help with the transition. I wish I had taken the plunge with the BKT when I first decided to transition. I think that I would have hit my goal of full BSL a long time ago, albeit with some relaxed ends.

texture shots - cursl with relaxed ends

defined with Denman brush

April 23 after BKT applied but BEFORE the trim

after the trim

My goal is to keep my hair off my clothes as much as possible through the end of this year to hopefully get back to at least APL.

 

[bedazzled]

I think you definitely can. My friend got a relaxer when she was 12 now she is 20, and even though she never trims, her hair is still the same length it was at 12..maybe a little longer.. I think all the relaxed ends just broke off. Especially since shes a little past SL. Probably the ends broke off from rubbing against the clothes. But she got a gorgeous natural hair texture out of it..so Im sure you could do it but actually take care of your hair & might be able to cut it off at the length you want it. My other female friend did this, but she did it with braids and her hair is now natural and tailbone length.

 

[my1goodnerve]

Newbie responding here, so bear with me as I get up the nerve to quit lurking... Twelve years ago I transitioned without doing a BC. I made the decision to go natural when my youngest was born. I finally had a daughter, and I thought it was important that she not associate beauty with chemicals. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. I just stopped self relaxing and that was it. I guess I cut the relaxer out in stages, but at the time I didn't have a long range plan and very little knowledge about hair care.

I don't remember having a lot of breakage, but I also wan't looking for any. My hair was somewhere between neck and shoulder length at the time, and it pretty much stayed there for years. I washed my hair weekly and used a blow dryer, but I also used a heating cap and deep conditioned regularly. This wasn't because I knew what I was doing, it was just a routine I had adapted over time.

I must say that it wasn't until I began to concentrate on hair health that I began to see growth. I've been natural for twelve years but I'm just now becoming an expert on my own hair. And honestly if I knew then what I know now, I would have done the BC. I also would have been less concerned about my kid equating relaxed hair with beauty and more concerned with helping her develop a healthy image of herself.

So yeah, I think it's possible to transition without doing a BC. Just being on these boards shows that you have much more knowledge and many more resources than I ever did. And doing a BC doesn't mean sporting a really short 'do. You can BC after months of transitioning, giving yourself more natural hair to work with when you finally do cut.

Whew. Hope this helps.

 

[Kayanna1212]

Newbie responding here, so bear with me as I get up the nerve to quit lurking... Twelve years ago I transitioned without doing a BC. I made the decision to go natural when my youngest was born. I finally had a daughter, and I thought it was important that she not associate beauty with chemicals. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. I just stopped self relaxing and that was it. I guess I cut the relaxer out in stages, but at the time I didn't have a long range plan and very little knowledge about hair care.

I don't remember having a lot of breakage, but I also wan't looking for any. My hair was somewhere between neck and shoulder length at the time, and it pretty much stayed there for years. I washed my hair weekly and used a blow dryer, but I also used a heating cap and deep conditioned regularly. This wasn't because I knew what I was doing, it was just a routine I had adapted over time.

I must say that it wasn't until I began to concentrate on hair health that I began to see growth. I've been natural for twelve years but I'm just now becoming an expert on my own hair. And honestly if I knew then what I know now, I would have done the BC. I also would have been less concerned about my kid equating relaxed hair with beauty and more concerned with helping her develop a healthy image of herself.

So yeah, I think it's possible to transition without doing a BC. Just being on these boards shows that you have much more knowledge and many more resources than I ever did. And doing a BC doesn't mean sporting a really short 'do. You can BC after months of transitioning, giving yourself more natural hair to work with when you finally do cut.

Whew. Hope this helps.

Wow girl couldn't help but quote thanks and welcome to the board