New *2009* Transitioners Support Thread!

[PittiPat]

Oh gosh! I was sooooooo tempted to texlax this weekend, but my hubby made me promise to at least wait until my birthday (bless his heart) before I think about throwing in the towel. It's either texlax or big chop .... something's gotta happen. On Saturday, I'll be 49 weeks post... I can't believe it ... except on wash days :-(

 

[mightycute912]

I got 5 months in. I am glad to have made it this far. I was stretching 3 months between relaxers and I am optimistic about the possibilities. I have fallen off yet. YAY!

 

[Mad Scientist]

I'm 6 months into my transition. I tried to transition before in high school but my mother said absolutely not to me having short hair (at the time, I was planning on just cutting it off and wearing it short forever). But now I'm in college and I plan to do the big chop in May right before i get out for summer so my hair has time to breathe over the break!

Let's see...my transition hasn't been too hard so far. I have like 3.5 inches of NG right now, but it's not that hard to manage. I'm getting my regimen down now. So yay for that!

Good luck, ladies!

 

[MizzBrown]

What do yall do when your NG is starting to coil?

Mine is coiling and it makes it REALLY hard to detangle. Small, little coils. Smaller than a straw.

Its hard to get the comb through that. Even while wet with leave-in and/or conditioner.

Rollersetting time keeps getting longer and longer because i have to carefully detangle those little coils at the root.

How do yall deal with that?

 

[skyborn09]

Just wanted to show some love to all you transitioning ladies. Keep up the good work and thanks for all the encouragement on this thread! <3

 

[Black Hoya Chick]

So ladies...I decided I sincerely want to BC on my B-Day (Aug. 29). I am about 99% sure. I have recently realized life is too short and I do not want to waste the next 2-3 years transitioning. I will be a little past 17 months into transition then. I am hoping for some major growth before then so I can be past shoulder length (grazing APL) natural. We shall see. Pray for me ya'll. Till then, I shall continue my daily cowashing and my lovely *CurlyGirl* method.

 

[Vonnieluvs08]

Thank you so much for this thread. I'm almost a year since my last relaxer and I can't wait til Sept when I'm going to do my BC. I haven't gotten as much growth (I'm between EL and NL) as I would like. I haven't had the time to treat my hair with the TLC it needs but I decided that 2009 I was going to be Fine and Natural. My Mom turned me on to LHCF and I've been hooked since seeing all the beautiful ladies with beautiful hair and it gave me the strength I need to go completely natural. I didn't even know there was a whole culture to hair care but I'm glad I found it. I've used all the advice here to get started and it did cost a lil bit (an Interns salary is next to nothing) but I know it will pay off. Any advice, guidance, love and support is welcomed. If any Newbie is looking for a Hair Buddy let me know; We can do this together. HHG

 

[claudia05]

What do yall do when your NG is starting to coil?

Mine is coiling and it makes it REALLY hard to detangle. Small, little coils. Smaller than a straw.

Its hard to get the comb through that. Even while wet with leave-in and/or conditioner.

Rollersetting time keeps getting longer and longer because i have to carefully detangle those little coils at the root.

How do yall deal with that?

Ah yes...those coils are the devil. I'm 7months post. Tried to fight them and lost a lot of hair.
I started to
-Untangle thoroughly with fingers before washing
-Washed in tied off sections
-Use water pressure to help when detangling with lots of conditioner
- I don't rollerset. After putting leave-in and oil on damp hair I tie my hair in sections with stretchy head bands or hair ties pulling the newgrowth taunt so it drys stretched out.

 

[Lyoness]

I'm still hanging in there experimenting with different products and hunting down youtube videos!

 

[RavenMaven]

I have been transitioning since december twentieth. I am really bad at counting in general, so if someone can count for me how many days or weeks or whatever it has been since my last relaxer which was on 12/20/2008?

 

[countrychickd]

Hey ladies. I'm new to lhcf, well not really, been lurking for years now...lol. I just joined, and I've recently decided to transition. My last relaxer was Dec. 18, 2008, so that makes me 7 weeks post relaxer. I'm used to stretching my relaxers for at least 14 weeks, so my new growth is really manageable right now. I'm really excited and anxious about transitioning. I had been talking about transitioning for years now, and I just decided (like an epiphany) that I was gonna go ahead and do it now before my relaxed hair grows any longer. I definitely have a lot to learn, and I'm so glad to have finally joined.

 

[Whimsy]

Hey ladies. I'm new to lhcf, well not really, been lurking for years now...lol. I just joined, and I've recently decided to transition. My last relaxer was Dec. 18, 2008, so that makes me 7 weeks post relaxer. I'm used to stretching my relaxers for at least 14 weeks, so my new growth is really manageable right now. I'm really excited and anxious about transitioning. I had been talking about transitioning for years now, and I just decided (like an epiphany) that I was gonna go ahead and do it now before my relaxed hair grows any longer. I definitely have a lot to learn, and I'm so glad to have finally joined.

Welcome to the club!!

 

[Eisani]

I'm genuinely loving my twist n curls! I did one on Saturday and it STILL looks good! The further into this transition I get, the more shrinkage I have! I don't mind, but I think it's interesting. My twist n curl is This as heck and neck length For some reason, I love the deception I can't wait til April to straighten so I can see what's really going on...

 

[brebre928]

I must say I am very excited about transitioning. I wish I found this site years ago when I first tried to transition...my question is how many inches are you wating to get before you BC????

 

[55brneye]

horray..I am finally about to get some help with this transition in which I wasn’t sure if this is what I was doing. I have always stretched my relaxers because I didn’t need them that often. So far I have really just been reading alot of threads to learn what abbreviated words mean. I'm glad to see this post I’m about 6 months in transition - tons of new growth. I am still trying to learn my hair and read up on products as well as gaining the thickness back. To me my hair appears to be fragile really hard to detangle so I’ve been separating it in 3’s when washing. Far as styling – I’ve been wearing a bun for ever or twist out but my ends are so dry. How do you get a trim when your hair is 1 big bush?!!

post pics as soon as i get a working camera. also how do u save or go back to the thread

 

[55brneye]

I would love to find a stylist in NJ that cares, but if i have to travel to the city that can be done as well..

 

[Eisani]

I must say I am very excited about transitioning. I wish I found this site years ago when I first tried to transition...my question is how many inches are you wating to get before you BC????

I don't measure my hair so I pay no attention to inches. I personally want my hair to be at LEAST APL before I cut. At that point it really wouldn't be a BC, more like a SC. I guess it's just going to depend on how I feel about it.

 

[ajoyfuljoy]

**another one bites the dust**

I'm sure my stuff is backed up many pages ago, I just wanted to say I relaxed maybe two weeks ago. I couldn't hang yall. I was losing so much hair every week when I combed that it was scary. And it was taking me like four hours just to properly wash, detangle and rebraid my hair. That was a nightmare for me and I honestly don't have that much free time.

When my hair is relaxed I lose a very minimal amount of hair for the whole week. I was easily losing maybe 10 times as much hair when I was trying to transition.

My relaxed hair is very thick and shrinks like 30-40% when I airdry it so you can imagine what my natural hair is like. And no I don't texlax, this is hair that I consider to be pretty straight.

Good luck to all of you ladies. I wish you all a happy transition in 2009.

Hey yall I'm back Last relaxer was on Dec. 26, 2008. I cracked. I wanna try again. I do believe I can do it.

I've wanted to be natural since I was a early teenager. I'll never get this out of my system unless I give it one good try. This is my year.

I just cut off 3-4 inches so I'm not married to my long hair anymore. I think I will just trim every 3 months and do twist outs, rollersetting/flat ironing and half wigs to switch it up.

So I just bought some relaxer last night but I will be taking it back this weekend. I just have to try again.

 

[Eisani]

Hey yall I'm back Last relaxer was on Dec. 26, 2008. I cracked. I wanna try again. I do believe I can do it.

I've wanted to be natural since I was a early teenager. I'll never get this out of my system unless I give it one good try. This is my year.

I just cut off 3-4 inches so I'm not married to my long hair anymore. I think I will just trim every 3 months and do twist outs, rollersetting/flat ironing and half wigs to switch it up.

So I just bought some relaxer last night but I will be taking it back this weekend. I just have to try again.

Stick around this time!! Welcome back

 

[YummyC]

Okay everyone. I am so frustrated right now. My last relaxer was on June 30th. My hair is growing but I cant help the way the relaxed hair feels and looks really thin. Its not breaking off alot, but it there are some hairs on my shoulder sometimes. I dont even use a comb anymore, i use my fingers. Is anyone else at my stage? I don't want to realx. I don't want to do a big chop either. I just want my relaxed hair to look a little better. And my new growth is so puffy.
I bought a wig this weekend. And It looks really cute. I almost wanted to realx "sigh"
How do you ladies stay encouraged?

 

[MizzBrown]

I've never worn a wig.

I love Ateyaa's wigs and if i could rock one then i know it would be so much easier.

I'm scared someone will be trying to eyeball my hair all day.

 

[countrychickd]

Welcome to the club!!

Thanks so much! I'm very excited.

 

[countrychickd]

I must say I am very excited about transitioning. I wish I found this site years ago when I first tried to transition...my question is how many inches are you wating to get before you BC????

It's actually quite funny that you ask. I haven't the slightest clue how fast my hair grows or how many inches I hope to gain before BCing. I've come to realize that no matter what, 1 year transitioning is about all I can guarantee myself at this point. So I'll probably do the BC then. I have a huge head, so short short hair will not work on me, so we'll see how much ng I have in December.

 

[trey21]

Hi ladies. I just joined this week and I plan on doing this thing for the long haul. My last relaxer was 25 Nov 08 and right now I am at SL. Is there anybody here he got the last relaxer at about the same time I did? I would love to have someone to track this with and plus I'll need all the support I can get.

 

[afrikeys]

I'm really exited to hear about all the new 2009 transitioners.I feel good because I'm not alone on this ..my last relaxer was a terrible experience...after being natural for 2 years , I made the big mistake of relaxing...but this time I learned a lesson and will not be relaxing ever again...
My last relaxer was july...I did not even notice it has been SO long.. I guess I'm dealing with it ok...I just addicted to the heat... I'm not sure I can do my transitioning w/o heat, but I feel like I'm cheating....i'm trying to keep it healthy but then I'm using heat...I'm confused....
any suggestions?

 

[Allandra]

Today makes week 67 for me.

 

[Eisani]

Today makes week 67 for me.

Congrats, Allandra! I take it it's been pretty smooth sailing?

 

[brandy]

Hi ladies. I just joined this week and I plan on doing this thing for the long haul. My last relaxer was 25 Nov 08 and right now I am at SL. Is there anybody here he got the last relaxer at about the same time I did? I would love to have someone to track this with and plus I'll need all the support I can get.

My last relaxer was on the 19 Nov 08 and right now I am APL now. We could track are progress if you like.

 

[Allandra]

Congrats, Allandra! I take it it's been pretty smooth sailing?

It's going well for me.

 

[trinidarkie1]

I've lost my excitement about my transition, but I am sticking to it, at this point, no good will come of me doing a touch up. My hairdressing appointment has been pushed back to the last possible time, and I am considering having my hairdresser doing the big chop, if I am brave enough. My relaxed ends are breaking way too much.