Going Natural

[Gina3]

Do you have to cut your hair when you are transitioning. Is there anyone here who has transitioned without cutting the hair? How did you do it?

 

[Nay]

At this site you will find a lot of good information about going natural: http://motowngirl.com/

Of course, it is just that person's experience. I'm sure everyone does things a little differently.

 

[Gina3]

thank you so much

 

[jainygirl]

It seems that alot of people find as they transition that they actually reach a point where they decide to "let go" of the relaxed ends. I'm sure the time differs for everyone but dont feel that you have to go a certain amount of time before you chop, just do it when YOU are ready and comfortble. -- jainygirl

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

Hairlove is transitioning without chopping. I'm transitioning without chopping. I haven't even trimmed my hair in over a year. But I'm going to give myself a good trim in a few weeks.

I'm just going with the flow not really doing anything extraordinary. There was a point where I needed to rinse my hair on an almost daily basis to control it. But I'm past that point now. Now I wash once a week, condition it and air-dry. I tried to blow-dry it but that was a disaster. Everyone says my hair is healthy-looking so I guess that's good. I know it certainly looks better than most heads that I see. But that's because they don't have LHCF.

This week I'm going to try the baka natural laxer on my hair. It's supposed to straighten your hair a little, but I've found that these type of items are generally GREAT deep conditioners. I don't really care about the straightening properties. This is the first weekend that I have absolutely NOTHING to do. What joy!!! So, I'm going to pamper myself and have my hubby take my daughter out to the beach.

 

[patience]

You can transition without chopping, however, you WILL have to cut off the relaxed ends eventually. If not, they're going to break and fall out anyway. Alot of folks just do it little by little. I chopped because I refused to deal with 4 different textures of hair on my head.

 

[TigerLily]

[ QUOTE ]
patience said:
You can transition without chopping, however, you WILL have to cut off the relaxed ends eventually. If not, they're going to break and fall out anyway. Alot of folks just do it little by little. I chopped because I refused to deal with 4 different textures of hair on my head.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto!! You can stretch it out, but eventually you will have to chop, chop, chop!

 

[GodMadeMePretty]

Yes, you will have to cut the relaxed ends off. But I thought that was understood.

 

[patience]

ATTENTION!!!!! ATTENTION!!! ATTENTION!!!!!!!!! ATTENTION!!!

In order to go natural, you WILL have to cut off ALL RELAXED AND/OR TEXTURIZED ENDS!!!! PERIOD!!! You can do it gradually OR you can Big Chop. However, the chemically processed ends WILL have to go...

 

[alibi]

I'm transitioning w/o chopping. It's harder than chopping b/c you have to deal w/ the 2 textures, but I wanted to hold on to my length. You really have to keep your new growth moisturized and try not to comb it too much to avoid breakage though.

 

[Qurlyqt]

You don't have to do a Big Chop... I didn't. However, my patience did finally get the best of me and I did a Little Chop. I grew my hair out for over a year and JUST last week, I got tired! I had intended to continue getting an inch cut every 8 weeks, but those last 3 inches were not worth holding on to. I got the last 3 inches of permed ends cut off last week and I'm LOVING my hair, enjoying a full head of curls without having to sit under the dryer for hours or worrying about smashing it when I sleep. You can transition slowly if you prefer but it requires significant patience. Some people experience breakage with the two textures but I never did.

 

[gabrielle2]

with me..i thought i would transition for close to a yr (with 2 strand twist extentions) that didnt last. i was ready to be in my HAIR! then i learned that my hair had to get accustomed to be out and not braided (twisted) up..and get through that scab hair phase..so snip snip snip it went and i havent looked back.

 

[sweetcocoa]

I did it twice....you just get to a point where you are ready to cut off the relaxed ends. This was an execellent thread on this subject...

Going natural/transitioning

 

[msvaye]

It is all about preference. Some are ok with being automatically natural with short hair others need time. I transitioned with braids and one day I got tired of the two texture thing and big chopped. Just understand that of course with transitioning longer means keeping the hair very moisturized. In my case, my hair was damaged and I just couldn't take the constant relaxed ends being constantly dry and falling out.

 

[pookeylou]

I planned on transitioning a year...only made it 7 months. My hands just somehow picked up the scissors and cut off 4 or 5 inches.

I was ready...so there were no tears. I had the length I needed to feel comfortable and was ready to let go of the permed ends. My transition was not hard to manage at all. It was just time.

 

[rai]

[ QUOTE ]
Gina3 said:
Do you have to cut your hair when you are transitioning. Is there anyone here who has transitioned without cutting the hair? How did you do it?

[/ QUOTE ]

No you don't have to cut your hair off (initially, as the ladies stated eventually you have to cut off all chemically processed ends). I was someone that did a transition without realizing it. First I wore braids for 6 months, then I decided to cut off all my hair until it was like 1-2" and I got a texturizer. Then I decided to go to graduate school so I placed braids in my hair because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of finding a hair dresser. Well, I wore the braids for about 18 months (changing them of course) and then I decided to cut off all the texturized ends. So, I did not decide to go natural in the very beginning, but hey that's wear I ended up.

You can transition wearing extensions, wigs, or braiding and twisting your own hair. Whatever you decide to do make sure you moisturize your hair and treat your new growth with a gentle loving hand.
Also check out www.nappturality.com there's a whole board dedicated to transitioners.
Good luck.

 

[Poohbear]

Hairlove is a good example of someone transitioning without the big chop. Check out her album (u must PM her for her password). But she might come around to post a message in your thread!