the Trials of Transition

[Luxurious12]

I am pretty new to LHCF and I am hoping that someone out there can give me some advice. I decided to go Natural towards the end of October. My hair is a little past my ears now. Yes I was quite a coward and did not cut all my hair off. I know that probably would have made it easier for myself, but I just couldn't do it. Does any one have advice for someone like me who has majoriy relaxed hair and growing out their natural hair? Any suggestions on how to make this transition as easy as possible? I sure hope so.

 

[Mystic]

Lots of people do weekly wash and rollerset. Some others use braid outs and others wear wigs, braiding with or without extensions. Do a search for transitioning to natural - you will get tons of information and lots of tips. Good luck.

I am pretty new to LHCF and I am hoping that someone out there can give me some advice. I decided to go Natural towards the end of October. My hair is a little past my ears now. Yes I was quite a coward and did not cut all my hair off. I know that probably would have made it easier for myself, but I just couldn't do it. Does any one have advice for someone like me who has majoriy relaxed hair and growing out their natural hair? Any suggestions on how to make this transition as easy as possible? I sure hope so.

 

[DarkAngell]

I'm 11 months post and i dont know if you've taken a look at the transitioner support thread but alot of the info in there has gotten me through my transition so far. For me i dont really do much for styling...once i started to have afew inches i started wearing my hair back and putting a curly phony pony on. This is my signature everyday style and flat iron maybe once every month or so...just cause lol

I ONLY conditioner wash. I use shamppo once a month to clarify. This has SAVED me!!! The shampooing all the time was drying my hair and causing sooo much tangling when washing. The condition washes have made it soo much easier and the comb just glides right through.

BTW..my hair was "majorly relaxed" as well lol. I'v been relaxing bone straight since i was like 8 or something like that...(16 yrs)

 

[santwon]

I don't think that you should call yourself a coward for not cutting it all off. I mean think about it, if you're going to transition for 2 years, then I'd tend to think that you're more bold than someone who cuts it off the DAY they decide (or maybe it's a different kind of boldness) -- because think about it, you have to be ready to fight the big fight between the two textures and have your hair look like the ULTIMATE hot mess with 3 inches (or more) natural hair underneath who KNOWS how many inches of relaxed hair. I hope that made sense because it was SURELY the longest run-on in my history as a writer. I think all of these women are strong.

My advice to you: be careful at the line where the natural and the relaxed hair meet. It is your weakest point. Good luck.

 

[Luxurious12]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I am embracing my decision not to do the BC.

Thanks for pointing to the Transitioner thread too. That has helped me with a few questions.

 

[inthepink]

When I transitioned, I mostly did braid outs every 3 days. I'd then wearr my hair in a ponytail or pin it up.

 

[jtotheb]

My staple transition styles were pin ups and phony ponies.

For pin ups, I'd let my hair air dry then take bobby pins and section it, twist it, pin it (get creative!). I got lots of complements and it's easy to do. A phony pony is pretty self explanatory. I had a small one and pinned it put into a messy bun. It saved my LIFE towards the end of my transition (and it didn't look so phony pinned up).

you'll be surprised, as your hair grows you'll figure out creative ways to deal with it and when it gets unmanageable you'll be ready to cut (at least that's what happened to me).

Good Luck!

 

[SEMO]

I agree that you're not a coward for not cutting your hair off as soon as you decided to go natural. I transitioned for a long time (and that was my second try; the first time I went back to relaxing).

During my transition I didn't stress myself about finding a whole new routine. Most of what I was doing still worked for me. So even if a product, shampoo, etc. said it was for relaxed hair, unless it stopped working for me I kept using it.

As far as styles, doing straw curls (using perm rods) really camouflaged the two textures and helped me to see what I would look like with simulated natural hair (little curls all over), and was actually really close to what my natural hair looks like now.