Did you BC early?

[Mrs.Green]

I planned to transition for 18 months but chopped at a week short of 17 months. SO glad I chopped. Its easier dealing with one texture, and I was so excited to see my curls

 

[ojemba]

YUP!!' I taught I would transition for a year I chopped at 29 weeks and I'm so happy to not have the relaxed hair to deal with,

Almost one full week being 100% natural!

 

[AJellyCake]

Thanks, everyone for the responses so far! I'm glad to see so many of you chopped early and adapted well (no conniption fits so far .)

I still don't think I will chop for another two months or so (too much going on for me to figure out a new reggie and some other concerns). I definitely can't see myself going the original 24 months though (I'd rather start 2013 with a new and original me).

I ended up shaving my head.

MissAlinaRose Wow! I'm so impressed! I definitely couldn't shave my head this time around, and now that I've already put a year into this natural hair I definitely can't shave it now! But that's so cool that you shaved it! I think the growing from shaved must be fun .

I asked myself why I was working so hard to preserve hair that I was going to eventually chop off anyway..so I got to chopping. :

Charla This is also crossing my mind; spending allll this time, money, and conditioner on ends that I don't care too much about anyways.

I didn't want to deal with a TWA, and I wasn't sure I was going to wear my hair in it's natural state.

Healthy hair is better than broken strands hanging and rubbing against my shoulders!

@blcbuty@ This is me too. I didn't want a TWA because I don't know at all how I would look with hair at that length! And at least when I have bad hair days now I can just bun it and KIM.

I wanted to get my hair to the same length as my relaxed hair (Full SL) and I assumed that would take a year. I ended up finding a picture of a member here and I just started cutting and after three cuts I was natural. I wasn't consistent with pictures but I think this picture was in September which was 3 months after my BC. I really jumped the gun

DayDreamist LOVE your hair --both after the BC and in the siggy. I can't wait until I have full, lush curls like that!

Nope. I transitioned for the full year that I initially planned too, cuz I'm a BAWSE

Well go on then! I made it to a year too, but now I have to figure out if I'm boss enough to make it to the end of the year.

That's what I call a real big chop.

diadall Very true. I suppose I'll call mine a "mini chop" or something once I eventually cut it, unless I shave it off for some reason.

I think it would have been better to go a little longer so my ends were protected and I had more to work with but I lived.

manter26 Good point! I'm really concerned about protecting the hair, and if I can't bun it....?!

It was probably shorter than I was most comfortable, but I rocked it like it was hot

I thought about doing the BC early but I just could not picture myself with short hair.

geejay naturalmanenyc Another concern of mine: how comfortable I would be with short hair, especially since I wouldn't straighten it for moooooonths if I chopped soon. I will probably lurk in all of the styling threads.

I don't regret it at all b/c dealing with one (or two) textures is WAY easier than having to deal with relaxed ends that were breaking and popping off anyway.

NikkiQ This is definitely why I am considering chopping early! I want my hair to be curly (or at least look decent) without so much work!

 

[CurlsBazillion]

I planned to go 18 months like one of my BFFs, but my hair looked ridiculous after 4 months. I was wearing hats, scarves, and wigs whenever I left the house. I decided that I'd rather wear my short natural hair than continue to deal with the extreme difference in the 2 textures. I love the freedom & look of my BC.

Yeah, my hair was looking a mess, half thick (well my version of thick) hair half limp thin straight hair, not a good look no matter how I looked at it.

 

[LadyChe]

I intended to go 24 months but only made it to 20. I'm not sure the extra months would have made a difference.

 

[manter26]

manter26 Good point! I'm really concerned about protecting the hair, and if I can't bun it....?!

To me, I didn't care what happened with my relaxed ends. If I held on to them they could knot up and split all they wanted. I could trim them and keep it moving. When I BC'd my natural ends were exposed and I weeped inside every time I had to trim. I'm not as attached now. But it took a while to realize I wasn't going to have hair down my back overnight so there was no need to stress over cutting off damage.

I kinda feel that way about heat damage too. But it looks so ugly so I don't hold onto it...even though in a way, it protects the non-damaged hair that I do want.

 

[RayRayFurious]

Hells yes! Those textures were not working for me...One part would be dry, the other moisturized. And with my lack of styling skills, there was not much I could do besides pulling it back and doing phony ponies.

I didn't have a true transition date in mind, but I was hoping to make it to the point where it just looked like my shoulder-length hair had a healthy trim. Oh well, I'm happy I'm pretty much back where I started two years later.

 

[greenbees]

Back in 2006, I only transitioned for three months. I originally planned on wearing two stand twists extensions for a year but my hair so was damaged and gawd-awful that I went to a salon and told her to just shave it all off

Sent from my LG-P509 using LHCF

 

[naturalmanenyc]

naturalnewb is your hair damaged? If so, then I would go ahead and BC.

 

[AJellyCake]

When I BC'd my natural ends were exposed and I weeped inside every time I had to trim. .

manter26 I love my curls! I baby them so much (or try to anyways ) I think I would be a little traumatized when I have to start cutting them. But I'm sure I'll get over it soon because, like you, I don't like damaged-looking hair.

Yeah, my hair was looking a mess, half thick (well my version of thick) hair half limp thin straight hair, not a good look no matter how I looked at it.

DayDreamist This is how I feel too. The relaxed ends look weird and thin compared to the curly parts. When my hair is wet they look so stringy! So I hide them with twistouts (or buns recently because I've been lazy).

naturalnewb is your hair damaged? If so, then I would go ahead and BC.

naturalmanenyc Yes, I have some breakage (only in the relaxed parts so far. I think I've seen only 1 hair strand that broke off in the natural part). The breakage is frustrating, but I don't think it's really impeded my overall length at all. It's just the tangling at the demarcation line that makes me want to grab those scissors.

 

[gvin89]

I wanted to transition without a BC....then I realized that was gonna be 3-4 years so I decided to transition 2 or 2.5 years so I could have a good amount of hair on my head. The relaxed hair looked so limp compared to the NG so I went to try a natural stylist last May with the intention of just getting a protective style, but she dumped a lot of info on me and I just said wth, cut it off! I ended my transition at 14 months...best decision! So I'm approaching my first true nappaversary next month and I love my hair.

 

[AJellyCake]

I'd been planning on transitioning two years, but I chopped my hair just over a week ago at 16 months. It went from MBL to grazing APL in the nape. Although it's been difficult at times to figure out what to do with my hair, there is so much amazing information here.

Chopping early was one of the best hair decisions I've made (second to going natural )!!

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I've done it before. I just never could get past 6 months post before a BC!

 

[MyInvisibleChyrsalis]

I BC'd at 6 months post relaxer. Couldn't deal with the two textures.

 

[APrayer4Hair]

I chopped unexpectedly after only 2 months...I wasnt really transitioning per se, I was just fed up with the breakage from my hair. So I went from



This





To this overnight!!!

 

[biancaelyse]

I am very impatient and my hair grows pretty fast so a year of transitioning was all that I did. I really hated having 2 different textures, two different levels of thickness in my hair and I was so curious to see what my hair would be like chemical free.

I am in awe of the ladies that go for years transitioning.