Hi!
When I was transitioning to natural (it's be a bit but it was between a 15-18 month transition) I was at the same crossroads you were at. I did some research, and I found oyin handmade. I don't use them much now (only because it got to be a little expensive and I didn't have the money like that when I had long hair- longer hair = too much damn money in products! lol) but their whipped pudding, grand poo bar, greg's juice, whipped shea (the body butter one) and honey hemp conditioner worked WONDERS for me at that time! I bought the sample pack and it really made my natural hair POP and my relaxed hair moisturized enough that I could hide the line of demarcation until i cut....also, it was kind of my first experience with "natural" products but it was such a memorable experience for me- I highly recommend the sample pack that way if it doesn't work you're not out serious cash..
also a few other things I found handy that worked well for me when I transitioned (btw I transitioned from late 2004-late 2006 so they didn't have so many cool things back then! lol):
-african shea butter (the yellow one- the white ones are heavily processed)
-pure cocoa butter (they sell it online- the ones in stores are not pure and also look for a yellowish color- white means over processed)
-virgin coconut oil (foodgrade quality)
-shampoo bars (usually use natural/organic ingredients so they won't have alcohol or anything drying- chagrin valley -online- makes good ones and for $4 at whole foods they sell "J.R. Liggetts" it's a small bar but it offers I think as much use as an 8oz bottle of shampoo!
now, for when I did do my chop (I did it after I had SL natural hair) I used a thick cream conditioning mask (philosophy's shear splendor deep conditioning hair mask- but I don't think they sell it anymore) but I do recommend any thick conditioner BUT cholesterol- it's greasiness makes it hard to know where to cut...look for a conditioner that is more moisturizing THAN oily.... it really makes the difference to tell where to cut!
I don't recommend for transitioning the following oyin products:
-burnt sugar pomade
-head to toe honey wash (you can use it as a shampoo but it sometimes is inconsistent in texture and smell I found)
-any other of the "juices" (I tried these about a year and some change ago and I found them to be too oily and kinda upset the moisture balance of my hair- it made the permed hair dry and frizzy and the natural hair kinda flat)
ETA: steer clear of the products that say "natural and organic" but have alcohol, sulfates, cocamide MEA, dimethicones or anything in it- Kiss my face and Jason products (especially kiss my face) contain "hidden" ingredients that can actually upset the moisture balance between the natural and relaxed hair...and in fact both brands use the term "natural" and/or "organic" to mislead customers and make them think they are buying genuinely good safe products and it's not illegal because the FDA does NOT regulate or guarantee any products to be natural or organic. These companies can in fact use this claim for marketing purposes and to trick consumers.
HTH! let me know if it does!
sorry for all the info! lol
