Im Going natural.........& What I hate about being natural

[Qualitee]

Not yet butI want to in a couple of years. I want to wait until Im WL Then every 3 months cut off 2-3 inches of my relaxed hair until my natural hair reaches BSB Cant BC my head it ttttooooo big Anywho, What I hate about being natural......THE SHRINKAGE. Yeah I like it but yet I dont. I see ppl with natural straighten hair almost MBL and when its in its natural state its barely APL. So annoying. I can have 3 inches of NG and my BSB hair will shrink to apl....If Im lucky.I guess thats why Im going to transition for so long I dont like short hair... Am I the only one who feels this way? Sorry if I offended anyone BTW. No Pun intended

 

[kittykhat]

I never really understood why people say that they'll wait till they are like BSL (or APL or WL) before they transition or BC. I'm not trying to be mean but I just don't understand. Lol. I understand if it was like 2 or 3 months away but 2+ years? I don't understand.erplexed

 

[Eritreladiee]

shrinkage doesn't really bother me... but i just want my hair to be longer already! it just takes longer to see growth which can be annoying

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I see where you're coming from...I'm gonna have to wait till I'm WL for my shrunken twists to reach APL. Just this summer when I did twists it looked like one of those inverted angular bobs I worked it......but it was like wow lol

You do have to somewhat embrace shrinkage when you're natural though...you can't completely hate it....afterall thats the whole nature of your hair to begin with lol but I think your perspective will change the further you get in your journey

Now I see it as yet another thing I have up my sleeve in terms of looks I can achieve.

 

[song_of_serenity]

I have heaps of shrinkage, but I've learned to love it. In exchange for the downward length, I get bigness

 

[Qualitee]

G

I never really understood why people say that they'll wait till they are like BSL (or APL or WL) before they transition or BC. I'm not trying to be mean but I just don't understand. Lol. I understand if it was like 2 or 3 months away but 2+ years? I don't understand.erplexed

Idk about everyone esle but I want my relaxed hair to be wl as a personal goal. I just want to see me reach wl with relaxed hair. I don't want to BC. I don't want really short hair. It doesn't fit me.Also I'm not ready to be natural. Its a big step to me.

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

I know shrinkage is going to be a beast for me. At 24 weeks post I'm pretty excited to be doing the big chop this week. I've seen kinky coily curls..... Now I get to see what they look like without the stringy relaxed ends. I'm kinda excited now.

 

[a_shoe_6307]

I love my shrinkage. It keeps people guessing. When I was MBL my hair would shrink up to SL. I went to a salon for a layered cut once and the stylist told me my hair wasn't long enough for the long layered style I showed her. To see her face when she straighten all that hair out was priceless. Besides it kind of a PS for me because my hair natural isn't long until it reaches a certain length and won't touch my clothes a lot and break so I get to wear my hair out more often.

 

[ThePerfectScore]

You can do it!!!!!!!!!!! I have faith..... I like long transitions b/c when u're bc it feels complete. If i was waiting for a twa to grow out, I'd stll feel frustrated, instead of liberated.

 

[Nonie]

Sorry, I can't share your pain. I LOVE shrinkage. I love the illusion it gives. I love the extra styling options it offers. And I particularly like that the one time I have products in my hair it's off my clothes and my face and way up there so I can enjoy it without breaking out or looking like a grease monster.

I never really understood why people say that they'll wait till they are like BSL (or APL or WL) before they transition or BC. I'm not trying to be mean but I just don't understand. Lol. I understand if it was like 2 or 3 months away but 2+ years? I don't understand.erplexed

I understand it. If I had long relaxed hair, I'd be curious to see how long it can grow or as a PP said, I'd have a goal and would want to reach it. My reason for starting transitioning then would either be because I'm curious to see my natural hair and how long it can grow, or just because I'm ready for a change. I understand not BCing because I love long hair and I transitioned in braids trimming a little at a time till all of it was gone. A BC would be too much of a shock for my system. And yes, I have a big head (I don't think I need to tell any of you that coz my fivehead is quite the preveiw. )

 

[honeybuni84]

i think i would embrace shrinkage a little more if it wouldnt shrink down to the NITTY GRITTY..

im apl, but my hair draws up to a twa... im like wtf wtf wtf....

I love being natural.. my scalp health is wonderous and the growth i have seen is nothing short of a miracle... But maybe if my hair could just draw up with some hang lol.. i know i can't have it all

 

[kittykhat]

G

Idk about everyone esle but I want my relaxed hair to be wl as a personal goal. I just want to see me reach wl with relaxed hair. I don't want to BC. I don't want really short hair. It doesn't fit me.Also I'm not ready to be natural. Its a big step to me.

I understand about your personal goal though.

 

[Vonnieluvs08]

I love my shrinkage at times. I like that my hair doesn't touch my shoulders when shrinkage is in effect. I don't particularlly care for the lack of length shrinkage causes. Shrinkage does keep them guessing though.

My coworkers thought I cut my hair when I twisted it wet a few weeks ago and it formed a bob. It was cool to see what I would look like with a hair cut like that. Then this week I did dry twists and they (my coworkers) were amazed at how my hair had grown.

Good luck OP with your goal.

 

[EMJazzy]

I have a love/hate relationship with shrinkage.

 

[discodumpling]

I love my shrinkage...it's my hairs awesome way of protecting itself...don't really care about SHOWING length either...I KNOW how long my hair is.

 

[LoveCraze]

For more curl elongation, you all should try this method sometime to see how you like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVME7xVHL2Q

 

[Junebug D]

If that's what you wanna do... I'm getting locs eventually, I already know. I just want to see how long my hair will get before I bring out the scissors.

I'm just glad I've been natural for so long already, so I have no curiosity whatsoever. I would hate to have BSL MBL relaxed hair and then end up with a strong desire to go natural. Snip snip... Especially if you have no idea what to expect and you just see other folks having a blast. So I'm glad I already know.

 

[BostonMaria]

Qualitee, just take into consideration that your hair might be harder to manage if its long and you have thick roots due to transitioning.

I was planning on transitioning for a certain amount of time, but ended up BCing way before. Don't be surprised if you start to change your mind as you transition.

I wouldn't analyze it too much Qualitee or you'll scare yourself out of transitioning. You can definitely do a long term transition. As far as shrinkage, that comes with curly hair. Whether you're a 3a or 4b you're going to have shrinkage. There's something so cool about being able to go from shoulder length curly to MBL with a pass of a flatiron. I love the versatility and confused looks on people's faces when I do straighten my hair LOL Curly I'm finally grazing APL but the crown area needs to catch up with the nape area. Straightened I'm full MBL and very close to WSL. My ultimate goal is to be BSL curly but that might take a while. In the meantime I'm enjoying my hair at every goal.

Good luck!!!!

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

The length issue isn't that much of a big deal for me anymore. I am now APL stretched, but my twists/twistouts shrink up to right above my shoulders. My wash n gos to below my ears. I mostly wear stretched styles so I get a little more length. But my hair just wouldn't look the same without shrinkage.

The only extremely bad part about shrinkage is the knots that it encourages.

 

[BlkOnyx488]

I have came to a peaceful state of mind about my shrinkage (mostly because I have to)

I have decided I don't care how long my hair looks
as long as I know it's long
and that's my peace

 

[Jewell]

I was in your same shoes, Qualitee about 5 yrs ago. MBL relaxed hair, wanted to transition, tried a few times, but would break down and relax. I didn't want to BC. Finally, in late 07, I chopped all my MBL hair to a 3-4 inch long relaxed fauxhawk, then I let it all grow out for 13 mos...I chopped again in mid 2008, which was a BC to go natural. I had a TWA, but didn't care cuz I was rocking braids, headwraps, etc. It grew back out to APL stretched in about 5 mos, then I texlaxed for convenience in Nov. 08, and maintained the texlaxer every 3-4 mos until July 09 (had a newborn at home, which was reason for 1st texlax app on virgin (natural) hair).

Now I'm transitioning again, but this time without a BC. I have BSL hair unstretched, MBL stretched. I don't mind the shrinkage, I've gotten used to it. I want to see how long my hair will grow--PERIOD, whether fully natural or not. If I can reach my goals with half natural, and half processed hair, then so be it. I've adopted the personal mantra that I will never drastically cut my hair again. I just prefer long hair, for looks, spiritual, and convenience reasons. My hair has a soft curl pattern, so it stretches easily. Shrinkage is just a natural part of having any hair texture aside from 1 or 2 types.

In order to be fully natural one day, I'm just trimming a small amount at a time...kind of going the route of YT's TheMakeupVirgin, who grew her relaxer out over like 8 yrs, and still has a few relaxed ends (she's now WL or longer). Love her hair, bTW

 

[bludaydreamr]

Transitioning is not just hair; IMO there is a mental adjustment too. Like others have said, shrinage is a part of our unique texture. It is something that you will get use to, and eventually you will embrace it. HHJ!

I love the fact that my twist fall right past my ears and neck, or I can have a puff that is about 4 inches one day a massive cloud of hair the next, and over the weekend I can straighten hair my hair is past APL. It shockes people I work with everytime!