Transitioning: Am I past the point of no return?

[Postal]

At first i meant to just stretch my relaxers but then I got really intrigued by my natural hair. I haven't seen since I was 11 and I don't have very fond memories of it. Today it seems less kinky than I remembered I've been wearing weaves, wigs, and twists. I went to my hair dresser and she gave me that look. I wanted your opinion. Am I pass the point of no return? My ends look really thin and it looks like any length I might have acquired will be couteracted by the thinness of of my ends. I was hoping it was just an illusion because I remember that when I was relaxed, whenever I got to that point of needing a perm my ends would look thin, then I'd perm and it would be all good.

I'm all over the place. I interested in what my natural hair would look like yet I really don't want to go through that TWA stage (no offense to current and past TWA wearers). AND I'm also interested in wearing my hair straight yet retaining my curl pattern . I want the best of both worlds!

Anway, long story short...Is there no point in perming it now? Because if I do I'll probs cut 3 inches? I wanted long healthy hair but couldn't (and still can't) make a decision as to how I wanted to get there. erplexed

 

[southerncitygirl]

@Postal

I'm not understanding you cause many transition on the forum and on youtube for 2-3 years before they chop. You would have the best of both worlds if you go natural. If you texturize your roots you will still be transtioning cause your ends are relaxed straight therefore there will still be a dermaction line. You don't have to big chop, I didn't.

 

[southerncitygirl]

Postal
I tagged you in several threads:
Transitioning w/out BC-ing
Straight haired naturals
Yt vid with woman 20+ months into her transition

 

[Napp]

Hey your ends are probably not as thin as you think. the roots are just really curly. if you were to straighten your hair im sure your roots and ends would not as much as a disparity as it does when its wet(i could be wrong though)

i am currently transitioning to natural hair again and i keep my hair straight but i do it in a way that my curl pattern remains intact. I like to do rollersets with low heat and flat iron my length every now and then. so far so good.

 

[cupcakes]

What do you mean by "the point of no return"? You can transition longterm, or you can BC. And if you ever change your mind you can always relax your hair again.

 

[Postal]

Thanks guys for the replies!

cupcakes
By "Point of no return" i meant say have I reached a point where the health of my hair will begin to suffer if I don't cut off the relaxed ends or perm it all. Is it too late to go back to shoulder length relaxed hair? If I were to perm it today, will I need to trim like 4 inches off ? I'm under the impression that my hair will break off because of the line of demarcation and all that. My current hair stylist (who is into hair health) agrees. I know people long term transition but I am beginning to feel like it might not be working for me because my ends look so thin.That vid with the girl who transitioned for 20 months, her ends don' t look as thin as mine.
southerncitygirl
I know I can straighten my hair with a flat iron but I'm rather inexperienced with heating tools and I'm afraid that I'll go natural just to end up experiencing heat damage. I know that I'm going to want my hair straight more often than curly but I want to retain the thickness of my natural hair. I feel like constantly flat ironing my hair every week or so will lead to breakage. If I'm straightening every week, it's like I might as well as get my hair relaxed.I'm leaning towards that going natural anyway.Might as well see what happens.

 

[Amcd]

I'm 10 months post relaxer and don't think I'm at the point of no return. I haven't yet decided if I'm going natural or relaxing again. I have close to 5 inches of new growth but I think I could relax it with out having to cut off the relaxed ends.