Natural or Permed??

[Sweet1977]

Hello Everyone,
Currently, my hair is permed, but I am thinking about trying to go natural. I am not sure where to start or what to really do. I am so eager to get my hair to BSL that it's insane. My problem areas are my nape and edges. I currently get my hair permed every 8 weeks and recently started washing my hair at least every 2 weeks after joining this site. Any assistance you can give would be great.

 

[ThickHair]

Do you want to be natural or are you just thinking? I am an advocate of doing the BC, if you want to get to the promise land faster. You hair is going to reach bra strap regardless unless you have a serious health issue so what's the deal? I don't understand when I hear some people say I will chop when I get to bra strap or x amount of lenght. IMHO you will get there natural or not.

 

[Sweet1977]

ThickHair,
I basically just want my hair to be healthier and longer. I am currently thinking about going Natural, but like my hair permed straight. I am now taking charge and working on getting my hair to the state I want it to be in. Before, I would just let the salon handle it. Thanks for responding.

Do you want to be natural or are you just thinking? I am an advocate of doing the BC, if you want to get to the promise land faster. You hair is going to reach bra strap regardless unless you have a serious health issue so what's the deal? I don't understand when I hear some people say I will chop when I get to bra strap or x amount of lenght. IMHO you will get there natural or not.

 

[*closer*2*my*dreams*]

transitioning to natural is a major step in hair care; it requires you to pay attention to your natural texture while maintaining your relaxed texture; the two will constantly battle and at times, they'll drive you crazy and make you want to give up (like two kids running you ragged) and either relax again or chop it off. ..

Either way, your hair will grow with some TLC! Try stretching your relaxers past 8 weeks (try 11 or 12 weeks) and see how it goes for you. That's how I started my transition (i used to relax every 4 weeks - ) and each week, I kept telling myself i'll stretch for another week...well that turned into 11 months!!

so far, so good....

 

[Sweet1977]

Thanks for responding!! I will take small steps and go from there. I think I will likely stick to getting my hair relaxed, but just do what needs to be done to keep it healthy and reach my goal.

transitioning to natural is a major step in hair care; it requires you to pay attention to your natural texture while maintaining your relaxed texture; the two will constantly battle and at times, they'll drive you crazy and make you want to give up (like two kids running you ragged) and either relax again or chop it off. ..

Either way, your hair will grow with some TLC! Try stretching your relaxers past 8 weeks (try 11 or 12 weeks) and see how it goes for you. That's how I started my transition (i used to relax every 4 weeks - ) and each week, I kept telling myself i'll stretch for another week...well that turned into 11 months!!

so far, so good....

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

Hey there! It's pretty hard to transition, but not an impossible feat if you do your homework. There are a lot of good sites out there and also there are a lot of transitioning style ideas in people's fotkis. Mook'shair is the first one that comes to mind, she is doing a long term transition.

I got frustrated during transitioning, as I did not use a proper technique and products and ended up with a lot of breakage. This lead to me BCing early and then freaking out (lol) and 8 months later I am happier with my hair than I've ever been.

It's a long process and it's work, but it's sooo worth it

 

[SEMO]

It sounds like you are curious about your natural hair, while still enjoying being relaxed. I say you should think about stretching your relaxers and going longer than 8 weeks in between relaxers. That way you can start to see more of your newgrowth and contemplate whether you want to continue relaxing or keep letting your natural hair grow out. The big chop works for many (but I have seen some regret cutting their hair so soon), but I'm more of an advocate for transitioning. I transitioned a long time and am glad I did.

 

[Sweet1977]

When things aren't right, I tend to just want to start over. When my hair looked like it was thinning out as it got longer, I had my stylist cut it too a length where it looked full. I look at the natural styles on here and they are beautiful. The thing is that I am not very patient and remember when I first got a perm, my hair was SO thick and I didn't know how to deal with it. Thanks for responding!

Hey there! It's pretty hard to transition, but not an impossible feat if you do your homework. There are a lot of good sites out there and also there are a lot of transitioning style ideas in people's fotkis. Mook'shair is the first one that comes to mind, she is doing a long term transition.

I got frustrated during transitioning, as I did not use a proper technique and products and ended up with a lot of breakage. This lead to me BCing early and then freaking out (lol) and 8 months later I am happier with my hair than I've ever been.

It's a long process and it's work, but it's sooo worth it

 

[Sweet1977]

Yeah, I am to be honest. I have had a perm for so long; think since middle school and am curious in a way to see if I could now handle my natural hair. Stylists used to HATE doing my hair when I was younger, it was long, think and held heat when they pressed it. Yeah, I currently go 8 weeks in between perms and am almost running into the salon at that time. I don't do much to my hair now either, just put in ponytail if I wash it. If I go to the salon, I come home and wrap it up. Thanks for responding!!

It sounds like you are curious about your natural hair, while still enjoying being relaxed. I say you should think about stretching your relaxers and going longer than 8 weeks in between relaxers. That way you can start to see more of your newgrowth and contemplate whether you want to continue relaxing or keep letting your natural hair grow out. The big chop works for many (but I have seen some regret cutting their hair so soon), but I'm more of an advocate for transitioning. I transitioned a long time and am glad I did.