*For those who went Natural w/o doing the BC*

It took me about a year. But it wasn't too hard for me. I got my hair cut (even though I told the stylist to trim) to a little bit below my ears, and that was the last time I got a relaxer. I decided to grow my hair out and I kept it in braids from the end of may until the end of october, so that was about five months. Then when I took those out I had a lot of growth but my ends looked horrible and that had to get cut off. My hair has been growing, but it has been getting trimmed a lot by shs. But I would just straighten my natural hair with a pressing comb for it to match my relaxed ends. But I did all of this before I knew anything about hair sites. If I had known back then what I know now my hair probably would be longer than it is now. But I'm not complaining...
 
um....i dont know....one day i decided to stop perming, and the next day was conditioner washing and marveling at my "good hair" :lol:

lets see...i was in college at the time, and i didnt want to relax anymore....it had been several months....i STAYED in extensions cuz i just never had the time nor the inclination to do my hair everyday....i honestly dont even know when i ceased to have relaxed ends....i think thats because my hair never really took to relaxing...it never TRULY got straight. i dont recall cutting it either....

wow, im SO not helpful!!! but i can tell you that my last relaxer was some time in 2001 and i was completely natural by the summer of 2002....
 
Sorry it was so long ago that I can't remember the exact timeline. I was natural for most of my life but decided to get a relaxer in 1999?, anyway I grew it out with braids cutting about 2" of hair every 3 months - If memory serves correct it was about 9 months to a yr to get it completely natural. But if I had been on this board back then, I'm sure it would have been much faster and healthier.
 
I did the big chop, but the answer to your question would depend on a few factors, like how long your hair is to begin with, your hair growth rate and how often/how much you trim your hair along the way. I know of someone who took over two years to transition this way. Then there are people who do it in a year or less.
 
Cichelle said:
I did the big chop, but the answer to your question would depend on a few factors, like how long your hair is to begin with, your hair growth rate and how often/how much you trim your hair along the way. I know of someone who took over two years to transition this way. Then there are people who do it in a year or less.
Click to expand...

co-signing with Cichelle.
 
I had my hair cut into a bob in 2002 and after that I stopped relaxing. I would get a trim every month to get rid of relaxed ends. So, it took about a year.
 
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I envy you girls that have been able to do this. I would love to have my natural curls, and I've tried so hard to stretch indefinitely, but I always breakdown and relax.

I think that when I get really serious about going natural, I'll have to do the BC. Having said that, I'm going to enjoy my length for a couple more years, then I'll probably go for it.

Please keep sending the tips! Maybe there's hope for me :(
 
My last relaxer was December 4, 2003. I began my transition mentally & physically January 2004. I did about 3 mini chops- 6 inches before April 2005- when I finnally cut of the last lil bit of relaxed hair. So, I transitioned for about 15 months.:)
 
In my ideal world, I would love to trim off the relaxed ends slowly and just grow out to natural, but I'm afraid my hair health would suffer and I just don't have the patience. So I'm going to cut about inch a month (maybe two on Sunday) and if I can transition for a year, cut the remaining relaxed hair off.
 
I am 11 mths in and I still have not cut any of my relaxed ends off, I only have about 2 ins to be cut, I plan on cutting in Aug. I have been wearing sew-ins for the most part.
 
My last perm was in Nov 2002. I transitioned for 2 years. It was easy for me, I never had a problem. The reason I didn't BC is because in the beginning I didn't actually know I was transitioning, I just didn't have time to go to the shop after my son was born. Then I just decided that I wanted to see what a head full of natural head looked like, but not at the cost of not being able to put my hair back into a ponytail, so I transitioned until I felt I had the length to be able to put my hair back with no fuss. I was never not pass shoulder length hair.
 
it took a little over 2 years. i trimmed little by little over time till i had a full head of virgin hair and kept it in low maintenance styles that didnt require lots of manipulation and combing. I think thats part of the reason i was able to last so long.
 
It took about a year but it wasn't a planned or conscious thing at all. I did it back in the early 90's. I just stopped getting relaxers and would wash and blowdry and hot curl my hair (I know bad!) :ohwell: . I think it also helped that I liked conditioners and leave ins a lot. Still do. That probably kept me from damaging my hair too much.

My hair was shoulder length at the time and it's fine and thick. My texture is 4a.

I wasn't really planning on transitioning I just was stretching my relaxers and kind of forgot about getting a touch up. I probably did the blowdry thing for 2 years and then I just started wearing it in a bun and then noticed I was natural. It was a very gradual thing that I didn't take much note of. I knew next to nothing about hair health but I was taking serious vitamins and drinking tons of water for my food allergy that cropped up around the same time which probably contributed to fast growth.

I was also trim happy so next thing I knew I was relaxer free.
 
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About 2.5 years total. My last chemical was in August 2002 and I cut off the remaining bit of texturized hair in January. I didn't have any issue because I was in braids most of the time.
 
It took me a year, i did it using braid extensions. Everytime i took my extension out i would cut 1 -2" of relaxed hair off, i couldn't help myself, everytime i washed my hair and saw the difference between my thick natural hair and my thin perm ends i would just grab a scissor.
 
I love this thread. I plan to transition without the BC. I understand that I will probably be transitioning over a year before I have shoulder length natural hair. I would like for my natural hair to be on my shoulders unstretched if I ever do break down and BC. Ultimate goal is classic length natural hair. I would love to be all natural by January 2007 or very close to it.
 
Jewell said:
I love this thread. I plan to transition without the BC. I understand that I will probably be transitioning over a year before I have shoulder length natural hair. I would like for my natural hair to be on my shoulders unstretched if I ever do break down and BC. Ultimate goal is classic length natural hair. I would love to be all natural by January 2007 or very close to it.
Click to expand...
thats a new term for me....what exactly is classic length?
 
yeah, I wanna know what "classic" length is also. I'm gonna guess and say shoulder length unstretched?
 
It took me me about 19 month before I wore me hair without extentions or weave.I had a short relaxed style and cut it off a few inches at a time.
 
Well, I was transitioning for about 2 yrs with a variety of methods: roller setting, co-wash, phony pony, flat iron (my hair takes heat well), air dry until it got too big and looked too yucky so do anything else but be put into a longer ponytail.

Then my Mom accidentally cut more than my relaxed hair off last mothers day (aaaahhh!), so it ended up as an ear-to-chin-length bob last May. It was cute and then I was completely natural so I started working it!

Now less than a year later it is at armpit length in the back, so I guess I would have been at bsl by now. If I kept the relaxed hair, I would be at waist length or close (straggly ends tho). I am very happy with it now and keep improving my technique. I am happy to have the control and see good results. Thanks ladies, ya'll have been a blessing!

So I say, enjoy the styles, work your look and have fun whatever stage you're at!
 
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It took me about two years to totally transition, from root to tip. I could tell because i colored my hair and thats when i decided to stop relaxing. At that point my hair was a little past collar bone length
 
Well.... Im still transitioning But I know I have a ways to go. By my calculations another year and a half. I already did a mini big chop. I went from darn near bra strap to neck length. I dont plan on cutting any more hair until I get another year and a half under my belt. But it all depends on where you want you hair to be when you BC. I want my hair to be atleast shoulder length unstretched so about 16 inches which by my groth rate (6 inches a year) would take 2 years and a half.
 
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