New *2010* Transitioners Support Thread!

[Neek-a-Nator]

I'm just joining now. I'm currently about 16 weeks post relaxer. I recently did a "mini" chop (4 or so inches) and plan on doing my big chop in May or June.

WOW, you don't play around, lol. I like the idea of a series of mini chops, that's what I do, I make sure my hair doesn't get longer than shoulder length, so when it grows I cut.

 

[BronzyBella]

I can't take it anymore, I'm going to have to mini chop or at least have a big trim. I had planned a small trim at the end of December for the hide your hair and 6 month Ayurveda reveal but I've been ill for the last few weeks and have really neglected my hair

The result is that I have lots of dry split ends and some are really far up so it looks like I'm going to have to be brave and take a few inches off. I suppose it's not so bad since I'd have to cut those relaxed ends sometime but I was really hoping to make BSL

Rben, that's the EXACT same thing that happened to me. I was APL (relaxed) and thought that if I kept growing my hair and relaxing, I'd be coming up on BSL.

I felt this URGE to mini chop (because of massive splits and uneveness) and did so on January 1st. I feel so much better now. I may braid my hair very soon with extensions to keep my hands out of it but I hope to start treating my hair as if it were natural (more cowashing, practicing twists, cornrows, etc). For me, it was the perfect way to kick of the new year.

Mini chop pics: http://lilmissobsessive1.blogspot.com

 

[BronzyBella]

WOW, you don't play around, lol. I like the idea of a series of mini chops, that's what I do, I make sure my hair doesn't get longer than shoulder length, so when it grows I cut.

When I did my mini chop I also felt as though it was a gesture of my commitment to transitioning.

Future wise, I may have been tempted to stay with relaxing if/once I reached a certain length.

 

[Neek-a-Nator]

You're right, it kind of is a mental commitment to transitioning, I never tought of it that way. I also find for myself it makes for easier management with the mini-chops.

 

[Skiggle]

Skiggle, your avi looks SOOOOOO much like my gang-gang (great grandma) it looks JUST like her!!

WE might be related because my granny looks just like her too!

 

[naturallgurl]

I am 4 months into my transition, and I want healthy natural hair! My long term goal is to achieve nice shoulder length hair, but right now I just want to focus on getting my hair healthy again!

 

[Platinum]

I am 4 months into my transition, and I want healthy natural hair! My long term goal is to achieve nice shoulder length hair, but right now I just want to focus on getting my hair healthy again!

 

[MummysGirl]

new ladies

I'm about to do my braids (no extensions)... I'll leave them in for 3 weeks.

 

[tmhuggiebear]

Hi everyone,

Just checking in. I am a little more than 8 months post and so far it hasn't been to dificult. Last week was my first time co-washing ever. Detangles have been great. I'm just trying to find a good cheapie conditioner to use. I've been co-washing twice a week and do a dc once a week. I airdry in buns with a good leave in.

However, i have been really tempted to BC. I keep seeing all those pictures of people with their Kinky Curly products and I wanna try it so bad. But I gotta stay strong till May 2010! As long I don't see another a picture of anyone's hair with kinky curly I should be fine.

 

[MummysGirl]

Well done on getting to 8 months

To keep temptation at bay, set a short term goal and stick to it... e.g. 10 - 12 months (Only 2-4 months away). Also keep yourself motivated by looking more at fotkis and youtube videos of ladies who BC'd at the same point as you'd like to - this works for me.

Good luck, you can do it

Hi everyone,

Just checking in. I am a little more than 8 months post and so far it hasn't been to dificult. Last week was my first time co-washing ever. Detangles have been great. I'm just trying to find a good cheapie conditioner to use. I've been co-washing twice a week and do a dc once a week. I airdry in buns with a good leave in.

However, i have been really tempted to BC. I keep seeing all those pictures of people with their Kinky Curly products and I wanna try it so bad. But I gotta stay strong till May 2010! As long I don't see another a picture of anyone's hair with kinky curly I should be fine.

 

[MummysGirl]

Hair's back in pixie braids:


I'll leave them in for 3 weeks.

 

[njerannce]

Hi ive been off this site for several months. I came across a site full of images of ladies with beautiful natural hair a while back and it got me thinking about transitioning. My mum has lovely long-ish natural hair and has done all her life (bar one time she relaxed and chopped it all off within the week...she hated it). I had lovely long natural and mostly wore my hair in braids from a young age until 20 years old. I texturised my hair and it went well for a while. Then it started to break. I later found out that a texturiser was no good for my hair. Since august 09 ive had my hair weaved on and off. I last texturised in october and every since then ive been wanting to be natural again. Bu ti dont want to loose my exisiting hair.

So i guess what im trying to say is i want to join this group....please. I dont know how or what im going to do to keep on this mission. Maybe just stay in weaves and when i take it out try natural hairstyles. Ive had this weave in since early december so i cant provide a pic of my hair. But il give you a link to the site that inspired me......

http://lecoil.tumblr.com/

 

[hairsothick]

Hairsothick, I took pics of Tammy, couldn't figure out how to post them so I made an album, just go to my profile and check it out. HTH

I love it! I'm going to look for her soon.

 

[Shay72]

I had a moment last night. I had some hair in between the scissor blades ready to cut but somehow I knew I wouldn't be able to stop. I've been doing this since I bought scissors from Sally's.

 

[MummysGirl]

Stay away from them!!

I had a moment last night. I had some hair in between the scissor blades ready to cut but somehow I knew I wouldn't be able to stop. I've been doing this since I bought scissors from Sally's.

 

[Grand Prix]

Hair's back in pixie braids:


I'll leave them in for 3 weeks.

So pretty and neat!

 

[KathyMay]

Happy New Year, ladies I am trying to get my head together, I have been receiving disapproving stares from folks in my family except my DH, he is so supportive of me transitioning. I am 2 months shy of being relaxer free for a year. Trying to deciding what to do to my hair next, since I am using heat only once a month.

 

[Alta Angel]

Hi ladies,

I have been transitioning for seven months and have been trying to fine tune my regimen. I have really been enjoying the journey and I love when my daughters say that my hair looks like theirs. I currently have 3.5 inches of new growth in the front and 4 in the back. Can't wait until its all natural! I have no plans to BC until I reach 9 inches or 18 months post relaxer.

Happy hair growing!

 

[LoveCraze]

Hair's back in pixie braids:


I'll leave them in for 3 weeks.

Those look great MG. How long does it usually take for you to put these in? Do you do them in stages like with the front first and then the back? Do you seperate your hair in sections and then put them in? I really need to do something less mani with my hair. I feel as though I'm in a hair funk for some reason and it seems to have started when I began to dry DC my hair. I don't think it agrees with my hair very much even though I like how it cuts down on my hair time. Anyone else have issues with dry DCing? Maybe it's just me IDK>

 

[Ltown]

Those look great MG. How long does it usually take for you to put these in? Do you do them in stages like with the front first and then the back? Do you seperate your hair in sections and then put them in? I really need to do something less mani with my hair. I feel as though I'm in a hair funk for some reason and it seems to have started when I began to dry DC my hair. I don't think it agrees with my hair very much even though I like how it cuts down on my hair time. Anyone else have issues with dry DCing? Maybe it's just me IDK>

StephElise, you do such as great job in hairstyles I can't believe you are in a funk! I DC on dry hair no problem but I usually use NTM.

 

[LoveCraze]

StephElise, you do such as great job in hairstyles I can't believe you are in a funk! I DC on dry hair no problem but I usually use NTM.

When you DC, do you wash your hair afterwards and still get good results or do you simply cowash only? I wash my hair after I dry dc and I'm wondering if this may be the issue.

 

[MummysGirl]

Hair funk? You? We have to sort this out asap!

I DC on dry hair but I usually cowash after... On the days I shampoo wash, I prepoo with oils, shampoo wash and then DC... I don't dry DC, then shampoo. HTH.

Thanks Steph. I do the back first... this is a picture of me 3/4s of the way done:


I washed and DC'd in 6 braids and airdried in 5 ponytails (The braid at the back as one ponytail). I took down each ponytail and completely braided that section.

These seemed to take forever I usually do them in 3 hours but these are the smallest I've ever done them... At least 4 hours.

Those look great MG. How long does it usually take for you to put these in? Do you do them in stages like with the front first and then the back? Do you seperate your hair in sections and then put them in? I really need to do something less mani with my hair. I feel as though I'm in a hair funk for some reason and it seems to have started when I began to dry DC my hair. I don't think it agrees with my hair very much even though I like how it cuts down on my hair time. Anyone else have issues with dry DCing? Maybe it's just me IDK>

 

[Shay72]

Stay away from them!!

I hid them yesterday. Good thing is right now I can not even think of where they might be.

Those look great MG. How long does it usually take for you to put these in? Do you do them in stages like with the front first and then the back? Do you seperate your hair in sections and then put them in? I really need to do something less mani with my hair. I feel as though I'm in a hair funk for some reason and it seems to have started when I began to dry DC my hair. I don't think it agrees with my hair very much even though I like how it cuts down on my hair time. Anyone else have issues with dry DCing? Maybe it's just me IDK>

When you DC, do you wash your hair afterwards and still get good results or do you simply cowash only? I wash my hair after I dry dc and I'm wondering if this may be the issue.

I dry dc a lot. I cowash afterwards.

I DC on dry hair but I usually cowash after... On the days I shampoo wash, I prepoo with oils, shampoo wash and then DC... I don't dry DC, then shampoo. HTH.

This is exactly what I do.

 

[vainღ♥♡jane]

i tried those braids and my head looked a hot mess. ♥

 

[destine2grow]

I also dry dc and then just cowash. Ladies I am starting to have a problem with breakage. I am currently wearing my hair in braids underneath a wig until I can afford to get micros. I think I might just let my sis do my micros and by the hair.

 

[LoveCraze]

Ok, so I'll continue to dry dc but only cowash when I do so. I'm not really a "co-washer" but with the dry weather, it seems that this is necessary to retain moisture. And I also think this is the reason for my hair 'funk'. When my hair is dry it just does not act right! And because of the cold snap that we have been having (which is unusual in this area for this long. Normally it's cold for a few days and then the temp jumps back up with a reasonable amount of humidity) my hair has really been drying out. So when I got home yesterday, I searched my inventory for a moisturizer that DOES NOT contain glycerin. I was able to find one and when I used it, my hair felt and looked sooo much better. So this was the main reason for my hair issue. Does anyone else have a good moisturizer that they use that doesn't contain glycerin? I used Parvenu Tea-Tree Growth (something or other) and it's a good moisturzer but it doesn't play well with ecostyler gel. Yes I had little white balls which as you can imagine is not very cute!

 

[rben]

Rben, that's the EXACT same thing that happened to me. I was APL (relaxed) and thought that if I kept growing my hair and relaxing, I'd be coming up on BSL.

I felt this URGE to mini chop (because of massive splits and uneveness) and did so on January 1st. I feel so much better now. I may braid my hair very soon with extensions to keep my hands out of it but I hope to start treating my hair as if it were natural (more cowashing, practicing twists, cornrows, etc). For me, it was the perfect way to kick of the new year.

Mini chop pics: http://lilmissobsessive1.blogspot.com

I'm glad you felt better after cutting. I managed to straighten my hair and cut an inch/inch and a half and I feel much better now too! It is a shame because it seemed I did make BSL only to have to cut but at least most of the split ends have gone ( I still have some dusting to do) and my hair looks much healthier.

I really want to reach BSL so that I can then maintain at that length until all the relaxed hair has gone.

BTW your pics are great and your hair is gorgeous!

 

[Ltown]

When you DC, do you wash your hair afterwards and still get good results or do you simply cowash only? I wash my hair after I dry dc and I'm wondering if this may be the issue.

I prepoo with NTM, then cowash afterward and do another DC too! The days I shampoo I usually prepoo with oils to give it some moisture!

 

[Ltown]

66 weeks post relaxer!

 

[ChristmasCarol]

66 weeks post relaxer!

WOW!