New *2010* Transitioners Support Thread!

[Neek-a-Nator]

Hello Ladies,

I keep asking this question but then I forget to come back to the thread to see the answers. During your transitioning process, do you get more shed hairs than compared to when you were relaxed? IDK if its because i really dont comb my hair any but once a week on a wash day, or is it because I have not had a perm in almost 11 months, but my hair sheds soo bad when I wash it. I have like a golf ball amount of hair when I am finished. Its mostly shed hair because I am OCD and I check for the white bulb (although this past week I had a lot of broken hairs which I was not too happy about).

But anywho, has the shedding increased?

Hi Taleah, I can'y really give a good assessment as only comb my hair out every 2.5 months cause I've been wearing weaves. So when I get that big baseball amount of shedded hair it doesn't scare me. Sine I don't comb that often it's pretty much expected.

 

[MummysGirl]

It's good to know there's someone else like me out there that's female, lol!!! I sweat like the guys at my gym sweat! By the time I'm done, I look like I poured a gallon of water all over my body

1. I rock my twistout on Day 1, that night I moisturise and retwist.
Next morning, I workout with the twists in, rinse or lightly cowash my hair (sometimes I don't rinse or cowash, I just moisturise with my homemade moisturising spritz and seal with my shea mix) and leave to airdry for a few hours. I use a headband to make my hair look presentable until I take the twists out when my hair's dry.
OR
I take out the twists in the morning, wear a headband that keeps my hair away from my neck (which gets really sweaty too) and work out with my twistout. I lightly moisturise my scalp and hair but I must admit, I have a puffier twistout cos my new growth does its own thing, lol.

2. Most times, cos I'm lazy and I love playing in my hair when I have it out, I wear my twistout for the weekend (retwisting each night),and cowash on Monday morning, then retwist and leave to airdry while using a headband to make my hair look pretty. I take down the twists when my hair's dry... sometimes I don't take them down until the 2nd day....

Congrats, keep up the good work and HHG.

And Mummy, I didn't know you worked out 5 days/week. So do I and I sweat heavily in my scalp, I mean like pouring sweat, that's why I wear weaves but I would love to wear my OWN hair out but I felt that I couldn't because of this. You have no idea how happy you just made me.

Ok so how does your twist out, like the latest hairstyle you did hold up to the heavy sweating. And how often do you think I would have to redo my hair???? I'm so excited

 

[Neek-a-Nator]

OMG, Mummy yes, I sweat like a man, lol. I mean My hair is COMPLETELY drenched, my clothes are soaked, and my hair would be a complete utter mess. So you basically retwist after every workout????? OMG, I'm soooo lazy, plz tell me there has got to be a better way cause I really want to try your twist-out style, it's phenomenal. Also when you retwist, do you flat twist again or just put in single two-strand twists??? TIA

 

[Taleah2009]

Thanks MG and Neek-a-Nator for your responses!

 

[missjanelleb]

I am 9 months in
I've had a sew in for the last 2.5 months
I get it redone every 3 weeks.
I will start trimming the relaxed ends at 12 months

 

[Grand Prix]

so i've been cowashing daily since march and i really think it has contributed to making my transition easy to handle and allowing my hair to grow from past shoulder length to almost mbl. however, when i went home for thanksgiving break i got a really bad cold from walking outside in the cold air. i am going to try a new regimen for the winter months and i hope it doesn't affect my hair growth / retaining ability.

my plan is to do a protein prepoo with mane n tail and coconut oil for about 20 minutes, rinse, and apply my pantene time renewal deep conditioner and castor oil to my hair over night. in the morning i will rinse, wash with hair one, and condition with aussie moist. i will detangle while rinsing the aussie moist out. then i will rollerset my hair using water and aussie moist, make banded pigtails to further stretch my hair for one day, and then bun for a week. i will moisturize and seal my bun daily.

wow, typing it out sounds like a lot, but i did it this week and it didn't take nearly as long as i thought. what do you ladies think?

SL to MBL from just cowashing? Please, do share!

Your new regi does not sound like too much at all, since you're only manipulating once a week. I would suggest you keep an eye on your hair though, since it's up in a bun you might not notice if it's missing the daily cowashes.

 

[cch24]

SL to MBL from just cowashing? Please, do share!

Your new regi does not sound like too much at all, since you're only manipulating once a week. I would suggest you keep an eye on your hair though, since it's up in a bun you might not notice if it's missing the daily cowashes.

thanks for the suggestion! i will definitely keep an eye on my hair and if i have to i will start cowashing at night, but leaving the house with wet hair is not working now that the weather has changed.

my old regimen:
morning-
cowash (aussie moist / mane n tail)
apply he ltr leave in
seal ends with castor oil
damp bun

night-
take bun out
moisturize with aussie moist conditioner
seal with coconut and castor oil
put in two braids
baggy overnight

i deep conditioned twice a week for an hour, no heat. i used direct heat 4 times this year. i really contribute my hair growth to cowashing, bunning, not using heat a lot, and of course, transitioning.

 

[Ltown]

It's good to know there's someone else like me out there that's female, lol!!! I sweat like the guys at my gym sweat! By the time I'm done, I look like I poured a gallon of water all over my body

1. I rock my twistout on Day 1, that night I moisturise and retwist.
Next morning, I workout with the twists in, rinse or lightly cowash my hair (sometimes I don't rinse or cowash, I just moisturise with my homemade moisturising spritz and seal with my shea mix) and leave to airdry for a few hours. I use a headband to make my hair look presentable until I take the twists out when my hair's dry.
OR
I take out the twists in the morning, wear a headband that keeps my hair away from my neck (which gets really sweaty too) and work out with my twistout. I lightly moisturise my scalp and hair but I must admit, I have a puffier twistout cos my new growth does its own thing, lol.

2. Most times, cos I'm lazy and I love playing in my hair when I have it out, I wear my twistout for the weekend (retwisting each night),and cowash on Monday morning, then retwist and leave to airdry while using a headband to make my hair look pretty. I take down the twists when my hair's dry... sometimes I don't take them down until the 2nd day....

MG, your twistout/braidouts are so nice and you have thick hair. My hair suck at both even at 13months. I only have 2" of relax hair left and that not the problem. Oh well I'll just drool over everyone else's!

 

[MummysGirl]

I do flat twists when I retwist...
Honestly, sometimes I am mad at myself that I sweat sooo much I read posts about ladies here wrapping their hair and tying a scarf or putting up in a high ponytail and having perfect hair after a workout and I If I try wrapping my hair, I'll end up with my hair plastered to my scalp and definitely VERY tangled.

To maintain a pretty twistout, best thing to do is to avoid sweating (in our case).

Another thing you could do, if you use a headband to hold back your twistout while working out, is to do a puff. Your ends will still be curly pray.

TBH, I rarely wear any style for more than 3 days, my hair starts to feel weird and I have to cowash/wash it.

OMG, Mummy yes, I sweat like a man, lol. I mean My hair is COMPLETELY drenched, my clothes are soaked, and my hair would be a complete utter mess. So you basically retwist after every workout????? OMG, I'm soooo lazy, plz tell me there has got to be a better way cause I really want to try your twist-out style, it's phenomenal. Also when you retwist, do you flat twist again or just put in single two-strand twists??? TIA

 

[andromeda]

Congrats on your milestones, kisse, sequoia, steph, seraphinelle and neek!

So today I'm officially ONE YEAR POST!!

I'm so excited, I put a little notification on my cell phone (months ago) to remind me and it totally brightened my day. So this means I'm 2/3 of my 18 month transitioning goal complete.

In celebration I bought myself some new hair products that I'm going to try out tonight! I got the much-raved about EV Coconut Oil, and some J/A/S/O/N moisturizing condish, since I'd like to transition to more natural products in '10.

Just checking in to say hi to everyone, hope the transition is going well.
I'm 83wks post!
Transition album : http://www.longhaircareforum.com/album.php?albumid=1343

Girl you sure was making some faces.LOL You have a nice thick head of hair on ya.

ETA: Oh AND Yay, just made 9 mths!!
I made this video showing my hair texture from the beginning of my transition to now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNX7pBmwwVs

HHG Ladies!

6 months... yipee...
1/4 way in..

 

[andromeda]

I'm 8 months post.

Just thinking aloud...Perhaps the time for my transition to end has arrived. I decided to transition bc I wanted the versatility of wearing my hair out in curly styles and the satisfaction of seeing my hair reach new lengths and not having to "start over from scratch". At this point, the disparity between the bonelaxed, thin/sparse hair and my extremely coily, full ng has reached a new level of absurdity. I said in the other transitioning thread that it didn't really matter one way or the other, since I've been hiding most of hair under a half wig since the summer. However, now that I think about it, I don't want my ng to be compromised by the relaxed ends clinging onto it.

I haven't made a decision yet. Just something I'm considering.:scratchch: 8 months went by pretty fast, esp once I started wearing half wigs, so maybe sticking it out won't be so bad.

I plan on straightening my hair in the next week or so but I'm not anticipating much of a gain in length bc the straight, puny ends are so hard to retain and I'm way overdue for a professional trim (I actually trimmed my own hair in the late spring/early summer and was very brazen about it). After I finish wearing it straight, I'm going to try wearing a full wig and see how that works out. Then I might cut my hair and leave my hair in the front long enough to blend into the half wig, just in case the full wig doesn't work out. In the meantime, I'm just going to take care of my ends and baby the line of my ng and straight hair... A maginot line in its own right...

Anywho, I hennaed yesterday.

 

[Foxglove]

I'm 8 months post.

Just thinking aloud...Perhaps the time for my transition to end has arrived. I decided to transition bc I wanted the versatility of wearing my hair out in curly styles and the satisfaction of seeing my hair reach new lengths and not having to "start over from scratch". At this point, the disparity between the bonelaxed, thin/sparse hair and my extremely coily, full ng has reached a new level of absurdity. I said in the other transitioning thread that it didn't really matter one way or the other, since I've been hiding most of hair under a half wig since the summer. However, now that I think about it, I don't want my ng to be compromised by the relaxed ends clinging onto it.

I haven't made a decision yet. Just something I'm considering.:scratchch: 8 months went by pretty fast, esp once I started wearing half wigs, so maybe sticking it out won't be so bad.

I plan on straightening my hair in the next week or so but I'm not anticipating much of a gain in length bc the straight, puny ends are so hard to retain and I'm way overdue for a professional trim (I actually trimmed my own hair in the late spring/early summer and was very brazen about it). After I finish wearing it straight, I'm going to try wearing a full wig and see how that works out. Then I might cut my hair and leave my hair in the front long enough to blend into the half wig, just in case the full wig doesn't work out. In the meantime, I'm just going to take care of my ends and baby the line of my ng and straight hair... A maginot line in its own right...

Anywho, I hennaed yesterday.

Congrats on making it so far! Whatever decision you make I'm sure your hair will look great. You'd be starting off with a nice amount of NG if you do decide to BC

 

[Skiggle]

Anywho, I hennaed yesterday.

You can transition even longer.

Your new grow is shiny and pretty!

 

[BlaqBella]

Just checkin in (i now its sad how long its taken me to do this) but i'm learning ya'll....

So i've done 2 trims since September 09'....I'm soooo glad i did i was regretting the 2nd one the other day when i done it but again...My hair is THANKING me for it.

I think i have very little relaxer left...but may have some heat damage still (idk hard to tell) But my hair seems much more healthy.

HHG Ladies!

 

[Ltown]

I do flat twists when I retwist...
Honestly, sometimes I am mad at myself that I sweat sooo much I read posts about ladies here wrapping their hair and tying a scarf or putting up in a high ponytail and having perfect hair after a workout and I If I try wrapping my hair, I'll end up with my hair plastered to my scalp and definitely VERY tangled.

To maintain a pretty twistout, best thing to do is to avoid sweating (in our case).

Another thing you could do, if you use a headband to hold back your twistout while working out, is to do a puff. Your ends will still be curly pray.

TBH, I rarely wear any style for more than 3 days, my hair starts to feel weird and I have to cowash/wash it.

MG, I sweat alot too and work out at least 5 days a week so it a no go styling for me and since I can't rock a pretty twistout I just left with pony for now.

 

[plastic]

rosa - your newgrowth is very pretty

my hair is growing a little bit more, im still going to have to cut it low because of the scab hair. I can feel some pin sized coils growing it ... don't know if that is a good thing. I really dont know what to expect when I bc. Im actually quite scared of my texture now...still fooling myself that I will have curls all over. Maybe bcing so soon will be a nice big reality slap for me

 

[andromeda]

rosa - your newgrowth is very pretty

Thanks!

You can transition even longer.

Your new grow is shiny and pretty!

I'm trying to chant "keep on keeping on" as my transitioning mantra. Thanks for the compliment!

Congrats on making it so far! Whatever decision you make I'm sure your hair will look great. You'd be starting off with a nice amount of NG if you do decide to BC

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

 

[vainღ♥♡jane]

ugh i 'm so frustrated. i washed my hair today, only to realise i ran out of deep conditioner, so i had to sit under the dryer with a cheapie. then it left a buildup on my scalp! when i tried to detangle, i ended up getting so frustrated that i just ripped through a few spots. then i was doing bantu knots and mine are so little and puny compared to other folks knots, and i didn't even do a lot of them. everything is so wrong that i bet these things will have me lookin like medusa. ugh. i should never have relaxed in the first place and i would't be having any of these problems. ♥

 

[-PYT]

Just one of them days, huh? I've had more bad hair days than good as of late...my hair is so thick after washing that I don't know what to do with it. I don't like the burnt hair smell that straightening leaves, so what do you ladies do to eliminate that? Like which heat protectant?

I'll be happy when May arrives...I have no need for shoulder length and beyond natural hair, but I can't wait to see the progress of you ladies going to a year and further!

 

[andromeda]

ugh i 'm so frustrated. i washed my hair today, only to realise i ran out of deep conditioner, so i had to sit under the dryer with a cheapie. then it left a buildup on my scalp! when i tried to detangle, i ended up getting so frustrated that i just ripped through a few spots. then i was doing bantu knots and mine are so little and puny compared to other folks knots, and i didn't even do a lot of them. everything is so wrong that i bet these things will have me lookin like medusa. ugh. i should never have relaxed in the first place and i would't be having any of these problems. ♥

I feel you (though I can't imagine your hair being anything close to puny). Are you doing bantu knots as a style or as a set for a knot-out? A "medusa" knot-out can make for a gorgeous updo.

 

[destine2grow]

I have decided to transition b/c I want to know my hair type and I don't know what my natural hair looks like. For as long as I can remember I have had a relaxer. My last relaxer was Oct.1,09. I will be 10 wks post relaxer on Thursday. I am the baby of the bunch. For all the vets I will be counting on you for guideance.
ETA: I do not plan on BC b/c I am currently growing out a short hair cut. I am going to transition until all my relaxed ends are gone. I will cut an 1"-1.5" every 6 mths.

 

[vainღ♥♡jane]

i'm aiming for a bantu knot out♥

 

[Neek-a-Nator]

I do flat twists when I retwist...
Honestly, sometimes I am mad at myself that I sweat sooo much I read posts about ladies here wrapping their hair and tying a scarf or putting up in a high ponytail and having perfect hair after a workout and I If I try wrapping my hair, I'll end up with my hair plastered to my scalp and definitely VERY tangled.

To maintain a pretty twistout, best thing to do is to avoid sweating (in our case).

Another thing you could do, if you use a headband to hold back your twistout while working out, is to do a puff. Your ends will still be curly pray.

Mummy, you are so right, you described my sweating behind to the tee. All the prayin in the world won't help this sweaty head. When I tell ppl I can't wrap my hair cause it will be soaked as if I put my head under a faucet, they look at me like, but if I were to wrap my hair there would be no salvaging my hairstyle. It's a done deal. But thanks a bunch Mummy I'm going to try your twist-out.

 

[MummysGirl]

We'll take care of you

I have decided to transition b/c I want to know my hair type and I don't know what my natural hair looks like. For as long as I can remember I have had a relaxer. My last relaxer was Oct.1,09. I will be 10 wks post relaxer on Thursday. I am the baby of the bunch. For all the vets I will be counting on you for guideance.
ETA: I do not plan on BC b/c I am currently growing out a short hair cut. I am going to transition until all my relaxed ends are gone. I will cut an 1"-1.5" every 6 mths.

 

[Grand Prix]

Just one of them days, huh? I've had more bad hair days than good as of late...my hair is so thick after washing that I don't know what to do with it. I don't like the burnt hair smell that straightening leaves, so what do you ladies do to eliminate that? Like which heat protectant?

I'll be happy when May arrives...I have no need for shoulder length and beyond natural hair, but I can't wait to see the progress of you ladies going to a year and further!

I used to get the same burnt hair smell until I started to take the whole heat protectant and setting your flatiron to a lower temperature seriously.
I like the Fantasia IC heat protectant serum and use it liberally. What gets my hair straight at a lower temperature is ironing in small sections and using the comb chase method.

Please be careful, the burnt smell means burnt hair!

What styles are you wearing now that you're having such bad hair days?

 

[MummysGirl]

I am 9 months in
I've had a sew in for the last 2.5 months
I get it redone every 3 weeks.
I will start trimming the relaxed ends at 12 months

 

[MummysGirl]

:lovedrool: Beautiful texture!!!!!!

I too think you can transition for longer Your hair (relaxed + new growth) looks longer than mine so if I can, you can I can't believe I'll be one year post next week! Time flew by!

The worst time to look at your hair as a transitioner is when it's wet! I need to do comparison picture soon of my wet hair vs. my dry stretched hair to show the HUGE difference. I ignore how stringy my relaxed ends look in comparison to my thick new growth when wet... you have to, if not it'll irritate and frustrate you.

But - if you ARE ready to BC very soon, then do so... just make sure you are ready, ok?

Your new growth is toooooooo pretty!!!!!

I'm 8 months post.

Just thinking aloud...Perhaps the time for my transition to end has arrived. I decided to transition bc I wanted the versatility of wearing my hair out in curly styles and the satisfaction of seeing my hair reach new lengths and not having to "start over from scratch". At this point, the disparity between the bonelaxed, thin/sparse hair and my extremely coily, full ng has reached a new level of absurdity. I said in the other transitioning thread that it didn't really matter one way or the other, since I've been hiding most of hair under a half wig since the summer. However, now that I think about it, I don't want my ng to be compromised by the relaxed ends clinging onto it.

I haven't made a decision yet. Just something I'm considering.:scratchch: 8 months went by pretty fast, esp once I started wearing half wigs, so maybe sticking it out won't be so bad.

I plan on straightening my hair in the next week or so but I'm not anticipating much of a gain in length bc the straight, puny ends are so hard to retain and I'm way overdue for a professional trim (I actually trimmed my own hair in the late spring/early summer and was very brazen about it). After I finish wearing it straight, I'm going to try wearing a full wig and see how that works out. Then I might cut my hair and leave my hair in the front long enough to blend into the half wig, just in case the full wig doesn't work out. In the meantime, I'm just going to take care of my ends and baby the line of my ng and straight hair... A maginot line in its own right...

Anywho, I hennaed yesterday.

 

[MummysGirl]

I think I have scab hair! There's a rough area between my new growth and my relaxed hair...

There was a period I was scared of my new growth, thankfully that time is long gone.

I think you should hold out just a little longer, it could be a couple of weeks you'll need to be prepared for your BC.

rosa - your newgrowth is very pretty

my hair is growing a little bit more, im still going to have to cut it low because of the scab hair. I can feel some pin sized coils growing it ... don't know if that is a good thing. I really dont know what to expect when I bc. Im actually quite scared of my texture now...still fooling myself that I will have curls all over. Maybe bcing so soon will be a nice big reality slap for me

 

[plastic]

I think I have scab hair! There's a rough area between my new growth and my relaxed hair...

There was a period I was scared of my new growth, thankfully that time is long gone.

I think you should hold out just a little longer, it could be a couple of weeks you'll need to be prepared for your BC.

Scab hair is no joke ... i only have about 2 mm of it though ... as far as I can tell. Lol i need to be prepared for sure... i know when I do it im going to be like .. wtf did i just do

 

[FlawedBeauty]

ugh. i hate these relaxed ends! im at bsl with about an inch of ng. i just hate how the relaxed hair just hangs off the curls when i get out of the shower, its so ugly looking. my boring, straight, stupid relaxed ends!! but im not gonna bc so im just gonna deal with it. that is all, i just wanted to vent a lil. lol