Confessional!!!-- Now I'm going to transition

mahogany_horizons

mahogany_horizons

Active Member
Hi Ladies,

I want to thank everyone on this board for all the help and information I have gotten since I started on my hair care journey. I gotta say my hair is more healthy than it ever has been, but I recently had a huge setback. I was MBL hair, and a bit of my hair was scraping waist line.

After sticking faithfully with silk elements relaxer for so many years, I couldn't get the kit that I needed, and I ended up using some random kit from target, that was supposed to have silk protein. Mistake. My hair hated it.

Had to do a corrective, and a huge trim, and I am back between APL and BSL. I am very sad. I had loved the thickness and the heaviness of my relaxed hair, although I knew I needed more work on my ends.

Long story short, I have decided that I am tired of these relaxed setback issues. I have fine, 4a/3c/3b(in the back) hair all over, and I just don't think that my hair type is agreeing with relaxers. I think I've gotten all the length I can hope to achieve relaxing. When I think about all the setbacks that I've ever had, it's because of an improper chemical service....I'm tired of relying on the chemicals. I don't know if I'm going to be a heat straightened natural, or whether I will wear my hair as it grows out of my scalp.

I just know I get serious curl envy when I see all these beautiful natural heads in the metro dc/va/md area. I just don't want to be dependent on chemicals anymore.

I am 8 weeks post, so I already know I have a long journey ahead of me. 8 weeks is nothing, I regularly stretch to 14 weeks or more.

Prior to LHCF, I used to relax every six weeks. I already know how much stretching has helped me to achieve thick, lush hair.....now I want to see how much thicker and healthier my hair can be as a natural.

I know I have a long road ahead of me...the people around me are not necessarily supportive of *natural* hair...but my hubby is supportive. He thinks I can do it...

I also have a hard time keeping the matting away after 14 weeks.

My goal is to transition for one year, and see how it goes....then maybe I can make it to 18 months. That should give me about 7 inches of natural hair to work with.

Pray for me ladies.
 
Good luck, you can do it! I transitioned for 15 months with a goal of 18 months but I just got too curious and went for it. Check out the long term transitioning thread...I camped out there during my transition.

I also decided to transition after my umpteenth setback from relaxers. Best decision ever, my only regret is not doing it sooner bc I didn't relax for a year back in 2005 but didn't know how to manage my hair and was under the misconception that I had to have "good hair" in order to be natural, so I telaxed which worked well for a while (I got like an inch from bsl, longest ever), until my next setback. Imagine how long my hair would be by now if I had stayed natural. Its thriving now and I love my hair.
 
You will find the transitioners thread super helpful during your transition..It has been a lifesaver for me! Welcome to the party!!!
 
I completely understand Your frustration. Good luck on your journey and be sure to post in the trasitioning threads.

SN: my hair loves matting so I try to avoid it by 1. make sure to put a good amount of oil on your hair before it completely dries after washing and 2. Let your hair dry in plaits or some type of braided style even if you aren't going to do a braid out and 3. don't wash your hair if you don't think you will have the energy to detangle it after
 
If you hair has been relaxed a long time, this can be a difficult decision to make. I wish you well in the upcoming weeks, months, and years.

If I can make it to six months post relaxer, I will seriously consider joining you!
 
Good for you! I'm always so impressed with the long-term transitioners. That takes much more patience than I have. :)

Good luck on your journey!
 
I love you ladies. I hadn't been on the board in a long, long time, when I was happy with the progress of my hair, but as soon as I thought about making this decision, I just couldn't help posting here, because I knew I would find support.

You ladies are amazing, and I am so thankful to be in this community.
 
Welp…..I was all gung ho about transitioning, but I just cannot do it anymore. I found some matting in my hair again. I was able to comb it out with a fine tooth comb, and all is well. But if I can't deal with about 2 inches of natural hair on my head, what will the outcome be when I am completely natural. 19 Weeks is almost 5 months, and I never thought I would make it that long. I'm scared of damage. I'm also tired of the hour long detangling sessions. I know I'm a failure, but back to the creamy crack I go. I already can't wait to remember how easy it is to comb my hair when less than 5 weeks post. I feel bad, because I told everyone about my plans, but oh well. You ladies who do it for a year or more, I admire you so much!
 
mahogany_horizons said:
Welp…..I was all gung ho about transitioning, but I just cannot do it anymore. I found some matting in my hair again. I was able to comb it out with a fine tooth comb, and all is well. But if I can't deal with about 2 inches of natural hair on my head, what will the outcome be when I am completely natural. 19 Weeks is almost 5 months, and I never thought I would make it that long. I'm scared of damage. I'm also tired of the hour long detangling sessions. I know I'm a failure, but back to the creamy crack I go. I already can't wait to remember how easy it is to comb my hair when less than 5 weeks post. I feel bad, because I told everyone about my plans, but oh well. You ladies who do it for a year or more, I admire you so much!
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Awwwww!!! You're not a failure at all! :bighug: Transitioning is hard! I failed miserably at my planned 1 year transition because my hair was matting together (I had no idea about what I was doing), so I just BC'd. What I found then, and since I relaxed again, is that my natural hair is way easier to detangle than my relaxed hair :yep:. I understand if you just changed your mind, but if you want to go natural, I think you shouldn't give up just yet :yep:. Good luck!!!
 
mahogany_horizons said:
Welp…..I was all gung ho about transitioning, but I just cannot do it anymore. I found some matting in my hair again. I was able to comb it out with a fine tooth comb, and all is well. But if I can't deal with about 2 inches of natural hair on my head, what will the outcome be when I am completely natural. 19 Weeks is almost 5 months, and I never thought I would make it that long. I'm scared of damage. I'm also tired of the hour long detangling sessions. I know I'm a failure, but back to the creamy crack I go. I already can't wait to remember how easy it is to comb my hair when less than 5 weeks post. I feel bad, because I told everyone about my plans, but oh well. You ladies who do it for a year or more, I admire you so much!
Click to expand...


You are definitely not a failure Hun. I'm in the same boat and girl and I've been experiencing ssk's , shedding galore, some matting and everything else in between and I'm nearly 5 months post. I used to think I was just 4a/b but no ma'am I have some cdefg up in there too! The various textures and the fact that my hair has some fine, medium , and coarse strands in different sections makes it more aggravating. I'm just going to see how long I can go at this point.

Sent from my iPad using LHCF
 
Thank you ladies for your support. My gut feeling when I first woke up from my sleep is not to relax. I'm going to try to keep the transition going for a little while longer.
 
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mahogany_horizons Long term transitioning is not for everyone. You may want to look into a shorter transitioning time frame and see if you wanna chop it all off. 2 textures can be daunting. Good luck.
 
Froreal3, I love your hair in your avatar. I have to keep pressing on. One of my g/f's is trying to talk me into big chopping, but I can't imagine myself without all that hair on top of my head. I've rarely if ever worn short hair. I need to keep pressing on until I have at least 9 inches of virgin hair, I hope, and then cut off the relaxed parts.
 
mahogany_horizons glad to see you're hanging in there! I've been telling myself for prob the last year I'd transition and kept on relaxing. The reason I've been able to stick it out this time is I've been using Chrico (sp?) Prepoo. The main thing that helps me is the aloe Vera juice . It has given me life. I can not tell you how much it has helped. I can have all kinds of tangles and matting and it melts them away and keeps my NG soft. Idk if it'll help but maybe you could try that out if you haven't.
 
mahogany_horizons said:
Froreal3, I love your hair in your avatar. I have to keep pressing on. One of my g/f's is trying to talk me into big chopping, but I can't imagine myself without all that hair on top of my head. I've rarely if ever worn short hair. I need to keep pressing on until I have at least 9 inches of virgin hair, I hope, and then cut off the relaxed parts.
Click to expand...


mahogany_horizons Thanks! I'm actually trying to discourage you from....er I mean, I'm rooting for you to keep on keeping on with coming to the natchal side. :sekret: You've probably gotta park yourself in the long term transitioners thread. :lol:
 
Don't give up lady! Try to keep your new growth stretched by banding your hair. I do it on damp hair and it helps tremendously before styling.

I was doing a 4 month stretch and decided to transition as well. I'm 25.5 weeks post. LOL!

I plan to transition for as long as possible. I'm enjoying both textures for now. I pray they continue to get along with each other.
 
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