Transitioning without BC'ing Support Thread

[mz.rae]

It's looking like the back part of my head is all natural. Last night when I was m&sing I was trying to find some stringy ends but couldn't find any except for a few.

 

[LdyKamz]

@KammyGirl! U were supposed to be my transitioning buddy and you done run off and bc'd! Get it girl!

I know! I'm so sorry but I couldn't take it anymore. It was awful. I was standing there sweating in the bathroom trying to wrestle my hair into some sort of manageable style and it was not happening for me. Those scissors were calling my name!

 

[havilland]

I'm hiding under my wigs. Happy as can be. I'm gonna hide out and probably cut the last of my ends in a few months.

Just ordered a few more wigs. I hope I get some good retention between hiding my hair and using njoy's growth oil.

Maybe--- "cross my fingers"-- I can be back at BSL and fully natural by year's end.

 

[classoohfive]

I'm around. I never post but I've been reading! It's been 80 weeks since my last touch up.

What's everyone using as a moisturizer? I'm hoping to find something that's curly girl friendly, if possible, but I'll take any and all suggestions.

so_stush 80 weeks? I'll be 60 weeks post tomorrow and I'm running out of ideas. It seems like the only options that come to mind are BC now (I'm not ready), texlax (I don't want to, I'm just a little mad because I'd be MBL if I never started transitioning and dealing with the breakage... I understood my hair so things were easier), or shave it bald and never leave the house.

How are you wearing your hair? I was doing twists, I'm bored of them already.

Sorry, no solid rec`s on the moisturizer, I'm still experimentingand I don't do the curly girl method. My natural hair is low po and it seems to be doing okay with S-Curl or Hawaiian Silky 14-in-1. My texlaxed hair hates it because I have to use a lot before my natural hair accepts it, so my texlaxed ends get product build-up way before my NG is ready for a wash. erplexed

 

[so_stush]

so_stush 80 weeks? I'll be 60 weeks post tomorrow and I'm running out of ideas. It seems like the only options that come to mind are BC now (I'm not ready), texlax (I don't want to, I'm just a little mad because I'd be MBL if I never started transitioning and dealing with the breakage... I understood my hair so things were easier), or shave it bald and never leave the house.

How are you wearing your hair? I was doing twists, I'm bored of them already.

Sorry, no solid rec`s on the moisturizer, I'm still experimentingand I don't do the curly girl method. My natural hair is low po and it seems to be doing okay with S-Curl or Hawaiian Silky 14-in-1. My texlaxed hair hates it because I have to use a lot before my natural hair accepts it, so my texlaxed ends get product build-up way before my NG is ready for a wash. erplexed

To be honest, I've cheated. I made it almost a year in ponytails, buns, and braid outs. I've mostly been in weaves since.

When I'm not wearing a weave, I wear buns or a version of a twist and curl. My ends are way too strigy for braid outs and its too humid to try and straighten. I'm trying not to straighten anyway because I don't want to damage my natural hair before I get started! I do different kinds of buns. Some high. Some low. I'll do different parts or twists or braids leading into the bun. I'm not gonna lie. It's boring as hell - but will be worth it when I bc next summer! I already have a ton of hair but shrinkage is a *mother*.

Don't texlax . My coils are so healthy and pretty. I could kick myself for giving in every time I attempted to transition. You're already over a year in. If I wasn't wearing a weave, I'd get some long braids/twists a la beyonce.

I've been trying the Shea moisture curl enhancing smoothing and I love it so far!

Can't wait to see how my coils behave once all of the relaxed hair is GONE!

 

[classoohfive]

My shrinkage is crazy so I'm trying to keep as much hair as possible and transition for at least 3 years total. Glad to see someone around my point in transitioning. I'll be looking forward to your BC, maybe by then I won't be scared and I'll join you.

Does the Shea moisture help with shrinkage or frizz? I have a patch in the back that's completely natural (I've always battled breakage there) so I'm trying to get to know my natural hair by experimenting in that area. I finally stopped it from being a patch of SSK



I used ponytails, buns, and braidouts to grow my texlaxed hair. When I began to transition those styles only worked for so long. I've been trying buns so I can hide most of my thin looking ends. My natural hair is stubborn and I can't be too rough or I'll experience more breakage between the two textures. Putting my hair up always looks messy.

I've flat ironed twice during my transition. I was afraid to go hot enough so it quickly reverted. I've been considering box braids, I grew my hair out back in high school with those, I just worry about the two textures and how detangling during take down will be.

I was looking through my old photos and I was so mad about my hair. I was on my way to MBL. I'd be there and then some if I had stuck to the script... Then I saw some photos from when I first began to texlax instead of relax. I did it because of the thickness. Eventually I was okay with letting those relaxed ends go... I'm feeling a bit better about the transition now. If my hair was that much thicker from texlaxing, I can't wait to see how awesome it's going to be. I'll eventually be ready to let my texlaxed ends go too.

 

[mz.rae]

I'm hiding under my wigs. Happy as can be. I'm gonna hide out and probably cut the last of my ends in a few months.

Just ordered a few more wigs. I hope I get some good retention between hiding my hair and using njoy's growth oil.

Maybe--- "cross my fingers"-- I can be back at BSL and fully natural by year's end.

Let me know how the njoy growth oil works I was thinking about buying some.

 

[havilland]

Let me know how the njoy growth oil works I was thinking about buying some.

I'm not one to use growth aids. Last time I used one (megatek) I had severe tangling and lost hair due to breakage.

Since this is oil based i thought I would try it.

So far I haven't been regimented with it. I am going to use it as a prepoo twice a week and see how that goes. I will let you know.

 

[so_stush]

My shrinkage is crazy so I'm trying to keep as much hair as possible and transition for at least 3 years total. Glad to see someone around my point in transitioning. I'll be looking forward to your BC, maybe by then I won't be scared and I'll join you.

Does the Shea moisture help with shrinkage or frizz? I have a patch in the back that's completely natural (I've always battled breakage there) so I'm trying to get to know my natural hair by experimenting in that area. I finally stopped it from being a patch of SSK



I used ponytails, buns, and braidouts to grow my texlaxed hair. When I began to transition those styles only worked for so long. I've been trying buns so I can hide most of my thin looking ends. My natural hair is stubborn and I can't be too rough or I'll experience more breakage between the two textures. Putting my hair up always looks messy.

I've flat ironed twice during my transition. I was afraid to go hot enough so it quickly reverted. I've been considering box braids, I grew my hair out back in high school with those, I just worry about the two textures and how detangling during take down will be.

I was looking through my old photos and I was so mad about my hair. I was on my way to MBL. I'd be there and then some if I had stuck to the script... Then I saw some photos from when I first began to texlax instead of relax. I did it because of the thickness. Eventually I was okay with letting those relaxed ends go... I'm feeling a bit better about the transition now. If my hair was that much thicker from texlaxing, I can't wait to see how awesome it's going to be. I'll eventually be ready to let my texlaxed ends go too.

I don't know if the smoothie reduces shrinkage. I always dry my hair in some kind of stretched style -mostly braids. I use a leave in, the moisturizer, then oil if I'm going to wear a bun. If I'm wearing a braid out or something I also used a gel. I do believe it helped my curls POP.

I was having trouble getting my hair into a neat braid, but watched some you tube videos and I think I have it down now. I use a spray bottle to dampen my hair, run moisturizer over it, then gather it into a ponytail with my hands. The trick for me is to mist, moisturizer and smooth section by section. Then I use a damp brush to smooth the outside and run some gel over the outside.

I try not to worry about the length. I've had hair from shoulder length to waist length. It always grows back! And my natural hair is infinitely healthier than my relaxed hair will ever be!

We'll have to keep sharing tips!

 

[havilland]

I don't care what the naysayers have to say about weaves and wigs...etc. I am happy to be totally protecting my hair 100% right now under my wig with my cornrows giving myself and my hair a break.

105 weeks post relaxer checking in hoping for maximum growth!

Yay!

 

[janaq2003]

What can I put on my new growth to soften and make it manageable? My coils are super tight in the crown

 

[havilland]

What can I put on my new growth to soften and make it manageable? My coils are super tight in the crown

The only thing that works for me is deep conditioning, oil rinsing and daily moisturizing and sealing.

Do all these consistently. And stretch your new growth as much as possible.

 

[Tracy]

I hate that my decision to transition always coincides with something random. Last time, I was growing out of a short cut, and I couldn't get my hair back into a bun (which I knew would be my saving grace) so I relaxed at 6 months or so.

This time, I'm almost a year post - but I'm dealing with some pretty severe post partum shedding that I can't do anything about because I'm nursing. I *think* it's post partum shedding, but I'm not sure because everyone I know IRL who transitioned without a chop says your hair begins to "cut" itself. I know it's not my handling either, because I'm doing all the things that work for me (natural or otherwise - muy hair generally requires similar things) and nothing that doesn't.

I hope whatever this is stops soon. I hate that I can't identify what it is for sure! Maddening.

 

[naija24]

how many of you transitioned by accident?

 

[Rae81]

how many of you transitioned by accident?

Me... my sister did my touch ups and she was In college at the time so I would get them done in the summer and again when she came home at thanksgiving or Christmas. Well one year she came home for thanksgiving and didn't have time to do it and when she came home at Christmas she didn't have time to do it. So I told her I would either do it myself or wait till she came home again. She told me that I might as well go natural because it had already been six months and if I waited till she came home for the summer it would be almost a year that I would have waited. I decided she was right and made up my mind to go natural

sent from my galaxy

 

[so_stush]

What can I put on my new growth to soften and make it manageable? My coils are super tight in the crown

At this point I have good luck misting my hair with water, using a moisturizer and then an oil.

 

[classoohfive]

I don't know if the smoothie reduces shrinkage. I always dry my hair in some kind of stretched style -mostly braids. I use a leave in, the moisturizer, then oil if I'm going to wear a bun. If I'm wearing a braid out or something I also used a gel. I do believe it helped my curls POP.

I was having trouble getting my hair into a neat braid, but watched some you tube videos and I think I have it down now. I use a spray bottle to dampen my hair, run moisturizer over it, then gather it into a ponytail with my hands. The trick for me is to mist, moisturizer and smooth section by section. Then I use a damp brush to smooth the outside and run some gel over the outside.

I try not to worry about the length. I've had hair from shoulder length to waist length. It always grows back! And my natural hair is infinitely healthier than my relaxed hair will ever be!

We'll have to keep sharing tips!

I think my biggest issue is that my natural hair is low porosity. With LO PO it takes forever to get wet, doesn't always accept any DC or leave-on, and then it takes forever to dry. It usually looks awful the first day or two (still wet) after washing and then okay the next few days. Oil just sits on top. I was told to use grapeseed oil, I just haven't found a good quality brand to try.

Thanks for sharing your experience so far! I'm going to try a leave-in, the smoothie moisturizer, and an oil on the natural patch in the back and see what happens. Maybe I'll warm the oil a bit to see if my hair accepts it... I hope that by the time I BC experimenting with that area will give me a head start on how my natural hair behaves.

I know my hair can grow, I'm just frustrated with the two hair types yet too scared to BC right now. I don't think short hair, natural or texlaxed, goes with the shape of my face. Things were just easier then and I had to get bored with my hair and want a challenge. Oh well, I've come this far. Two more years to go.

 

[Amarilles]

how many of you transitioned by accident?

My first 7 months were by accident I guess. I had recently relocated and could not find a stylist. I read a little about how to care for the hair (while I looked) but I then decided to give it up and just keep on not perming. And you better believe I found a stylist like a week afterward but whatev, I was like NO bish where were you a week or 7 months ago?! I'm so glad things turned out this way!

I'm back home now and everyone wondering if I'm relaxing. Um, no dammit.

 

[AudraChanell]

Two of my styles this week. I've been on a roll wearing twist pinned up or to a side for a few days then letting it out for one and re-braiding. I did pincurls on lightly blow dried hair for the first time this week. I'm 7 month in with a very long way to go. Hope everyone is doing okay

 

[so_stush]

I think my biggest issue is that my natural hair is low porosity. With LO PO it takes forever to get wet, doesn't always accept any DC or leave-on, and then it takes forever to dry. It usually looks awful the first day or two (still wet) after washing and then okay the next few days. Oil just sits on top. I was told to use grapeseed oil, I just haven't found a good quality brand to try.

Thanks for sharing your experience so far! I'm going to try a leave-in, the smoothie moisturizer, and an oil on the natural patch in the back and see what happens. Maybe I'll warm the oil a bit to see if my hair accepts it... I hope that by the time I BC experimenting with that area will give me a head start on how my natural hair behaves.

I know my hair can grow, I'm just frustrated with the two hair types yet too scared to BC right now. I don't think short hair, natural or texlaxed, goes with the shape of my face. Things were just easier then and I had to get bored with my hair and want a challenge. Oh well, I've come this far. Two more years to go.

I hadn't considered porosity. This is the system I have always used! I'm going to read up on it a little more.

Judging by your post I'm thinking that low porosity means hair takes awhile to dry? If so, that's definitely my hair. I attempt to dry my hair in braids overnight and it definitely doesn't dry. Then I bun my damp for the day and it still doesn't dry. The 2nd night I braid it again and it's generally dry by the time I get up in the morning.

Now I'm tempted to create a natural patch too! I'm surprised I haven't had enough breakage to have one.

 

[classoohfive]

I hadn't considered porosity. This is the system I have always used! I'm going to read up on it a little more.

Judging by your post I'm thinking that low porosity means hair takes awhile to dry? If so, that's definitely my hair. I attempt to dry my hair in braids overnight and it definitely doesn't dry. Then I bun my damp for the day and it still doesn't dry. The 2nd night I braid it again and it's generally dry by the time I get up in the morning.

Now I'm tempted to create a natural patch too! I'm surprised I haven't had enough breakage to have one.

With low porosity the cuticles are really tight. It takes forever for the hair to get wet and then when it's finally wet it takes forever to dry. It's also difficult for it to accept products. I have to use heat when I DC or leave it on overnight for it to work. I used to add my leave-ins on damp hair and everything was fine. Apparently my relaxer made my hair normal porosity. Now it sits on top and I have to wait a few days before my natural hair starts to feel moisturized. I'm having issues dealing with this because a lack of moisture = shrinkage = single strand knots.


At least your natural patch would be on purpose. I've ALWAYS had issues with that area of my hair so it's no surprise it broke off. When texlaxing I had to really baby the area to get it to grow passed SL with the rest of my hair... I have the most shrinkage there. A few months ago it was a patch of single strand knots I learned that I need to stretch and lightly moisturize it a a few times a day until my hair dries. I only cut out one knot in the area yesterday when I washed.

 

[ezina]

how many of you transitioned by accident?

I've always intended to transition, but only if I'd reached waist length with relaxed hair first. Halfway into my 6-month stretch, I randomly decide to start transition. I'm glad I started then since I was in college and am currently almost done with my transition. It would be a hassle to just start now since I'm beginning to care more about my appearance due to being in the real world again.

 

[havilland]

naija24


I definitely transitioned by "accident". I started out stretching relaxers to 1 or 2x a year.

After a ten month stretch, I just kept going as long as I could.

Here is am 2 years later almost fully natural.

 

[havilland]

I am in the middle of a 4 hour prepoo. Woke up at 3 am unable to sleep. Been up watching news....

So I decided to take my braids out and detangle and prepoo.

I still have minimal shedding compared to my previous normal amount since I started doing the Hairveda Methi Satva two step treatment. The decrease in shedding makes me detangling sessions sooooo much easier.

Also my last cut, has helped. I think I have about 2 inches of relaxed hair left. In some places it seems like more....I can't tell anymore. Lol

 

[Rae81]

Im thinking about cutting the remaining relaxed ends off the front when i wash today . I'm ready to do it. My birthday is next month and i wanted to do something different with my hair. Also im going on a cruise in September and i dont want to deal with two textures. This month also marks two years into my transition

 

[Evo-ny]

Hair works in mysterious ways! I'm a little over 5 months since my last relaxer. I used to do my touchups every 4 months or so because at that point I just couldn't manage the new growth. But after physically throwing out my last jar of creamy crack and declaring that I'd never relax again, my new growth has been nothing but obedient! Go figure!

I have very fine strands, but my hair is very dense. I was thinking of trying henna to help strengthen my hair so the relaxed ends don't just give up and snap off. I had a terrible time with LUSH's caca noire, but I'm willing to give it another go with real BAQ henna.

 

[havilland]

I know! I'm so sorry but I couldn't take it anymore. It was awful. I was standing there sweating in the bathroom trying to wrestle my hair into some sort of manageable style and it was not happening for me. Those scissors were calling my name!

I hate that my decision to transition always coincides with something random. Last time, I was growing out of a short cut, and I couldn't get my hair back into a bun (which I knew would be my saving grace) so I relaxed at 6 months or so.

This time, I'm almost a year post - but I'm dealing with some pretty severe post partum shedding that I can't do anything about because I'm nursing. I *think* it's post partum shedding, but I'm not sure because everyone I know IRL who transitioned without a chop says your hair begins to "cut" itself. I know it's not my handling either, because I'm doing all the things that work for me (natural or otherwise - muy hair generally requires similar things) and nothing that doesn't.

I hope whatever this is stops soon. I hate that I can't identify what it is for sure! Maddening.

i started postpartum shedding at 5 months after delivery and shed for a few months. i nursed for 14 months but the shedding didn't last the entire time i was nursing. my hair texture was different though, my curls loosened and my hair is even more fine than it was before.

eventually i got my hair back into good strong condition. but it took patience and care. the shedding won't last forever, so try to hang in there.......there really is no cure for the shedding, so you just have to wait it out.

good luck

 

[Rae81]

I did it!!! Be back later with pics.

Here are my pics:
first pic is the hair i cut off
second pic is my hair after the cut
third pic is it pulled back in a ponytail
fourth pic is the sides
last pic is the back




sent from my galaxy

 

[naija24]

naija24


I definitely transitioned by "accident". I started out stretching relaxers to 1 or 2x a year.

After a ten month stretch, I just kept going as long as I could.

Here is am 2 years later almost fully natural.

yassss. that's exactly how i want it to be. i just think if i stretch that long, and have close to 5 inches of NG, I can decide, okay, go natural or relax. either way, i'd be close to full SL by then, maybe approaching APL!

 

[Deziyah]

What can I put on my new growth to soften and make it manageable? My coils are super tight in the crown

What works for me is Scurl.... I moisturize with it and seal with coconut oil and my new grown is very soft and moisturized.

However, I wanted to tell you guys that although my plan was to transition for 2 years.... That was not my hair's plan... I actually BC'd!!!! 7/8/2013 is the day I went completely natural!!It wasn't planned but my relaxed ends were just as scraggy as can be; twists outs weren't looking right braid outs weren't looking right it was just not working having this 4c new growth and bone straight ends. I made it nearly a year, It had been exactly 11 months and 2 weeks, and I must say that I am super excited to see how my hair transforms. Here are a few pics, one is a twist out I did and the other shows my curls after a WNG using eco styler gel. Good luck ladies with your transitions!!!! I will be lurking !!!