Transitioning without BC'ing Support Thread

[divachyk]

Ladies, I'm not transitioning right now but am looking to learn how to stretch. How do you keep breakage to a minimum? eta: I'm not interested in hiding in wigs or weaves. I want to learn how to stretch my own hair. I am thinking of transitioning to texlaxing at some point....just not sure when.

 

[trclemons]

Ladies, I'm not transitioning right now but am looking to learn how to stretch. How do you keep breakage to a minimum? eta: I'm not interested in hiding in wigs or weaves. I want to learn how to stretch my own hair. I am thinking of transitioning to texlaxing at some point....just not sure when.

divachyk. For me, the key has been keeping my new growth moisturized and strengthening my hair with ayurvedic oils & powders. I also:

1. protective style daily with updos.

2. pre-poo ~1 hour twice a week (20-30 of those minutes are under a heat cap). For my pre-poos: One of them is with conditioner & oil and then I cowash. The other one is with an ayurvedic powder, conditioner, oil & honey mix and then a sulfate-free shampoo.

3. moisturize & seal nightly followed by ~2 hours of GHE. If needed, I will M&S in the morning as well.

4. finger detangle only and never on dry hair

5. sleep in satin cap & on satin pillow cases

I hope this helps. Happy stretching!!!

 

[divachyk]

trclemons, thank you for that detailed overview. Every stretch I secretly attempt to stretch indefinitely but always cave around week 10 because breakage just gets a bit too much for my liking. I seem to have the most issue on wash day with wet or damp hair. My relaxed ends are very clingy and clumpy and seem to be where I get the most breakage when trying to finger detangle or comb. I protective style always so I'm good there. What ayurvedic powders are you using?

 

[Britt]

I got the DE treatment done last Sat. This wknd I washed my hair, it was much easier to wash and I didn't hv to wash in sections. The only thing that kinda bothered me is that I can kinda feel like the coating on my hair. I could def tell there's something on it when I was washing it. However my blow dry process was quite easy and quick. I flat ironed my hair and it took me over an hour to do - gotta work on that, with practice I'll become quicker.

I wish I didn't start to eagerly cut random sections of my hair out. I cut a portion of the back and a piece on the side . Anyway looks like I'll be using heat in some capacity for the remainder of this transition. It feels so good to easily run a comb through my hair and not dealing with two textures. As I was flat ironing my hair I saw a decent amt of breakage, I'm sure it's prob from all the times I was washing and airdrying.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[trclemons]

trclemons, thank you for that detailed overview. Every stretch I secretly attempt to stretch indefinitely but always cave around week 10 because breakage just gets a bit too much for my liking. I seem to have the most issue on wash day with wet or damp hair. My relaxed ends are very clingy and clumpy and seem to be where I get the most breakage when trying to finger detangle or comb. I protective style always so I'm good there. What ayurvedic powders are you using?

divachyk. Have you tried oiling your ends prior to detangling?

So far, I've used amla, fenugreek, bhringraj, tulsi, kapur & brahmi. My next purchase will be hibiscus, rose petal & kalpi tone.

 

[divachyk]

trclemons I've never oiled them only. I always add my leave ins then detangled. Are you suggesting using oil only, no moisturizer?

 

[trclemons]

trclemons I've never oiled them only. I always add my leave ins then detangled. Are you suggesting using oil only, no moisturizer?

divachyk. No, those ends need moisture too. But I was going to suggest adding a little extra oil or a thicker type oil (ex. castor oil) to those ends prior to detangling, so the extra slip will keep them from clinging to each other.

 

[divachyk]

trclemons, my hair actually combs and separates a bit better before adding product. Seems like product, no matter how much or less used, makes it clumpy.

 

[havilland]

@divachyk. For me, the key has been keeping my new growth moisturized and strengthening my hair with ayurvedic oils & powders. I also:

1. protective style daily with updos.

2. pre-poo ~1 hour twice a week (20-30 of those minutes are under a heat cap). For my pre-poos: One of them is with conditioner & oil and then I cowash. The other one is with an ayurvedic powder, conditioner, oil & honey mix and then a sulfate-free shampoo.

3. moisturize & seal nightly followed by ~2 hours of GHE. If needed, I will M&S in the morning as well.

4. finger detangle only and never on dry hair

5. sleep in satin cap & on satin pillow cases

I hope this helps. Happy stretching!!!

great list!


i would add,

apply conditioner to your ends FIRST, then to the rest of the hair. this helps prevent tangling because the ends are weighed down by the product and have a harder time catching the natural roots. (if that makes sense)

also, once you reach a certain length, deep conditioning twice a week really makes a difference

 

[divachyk]

great list!

i would add,

apply conditioner to your ends FIRST, then to the rest of the hair. this helps prevent tangling because the ends are weighed down by the product and have a harder time catching the natural roots. (if that makes sense)

also, once you reach a certain length, deep conditioning twice a week really makes a difference

havilland, thanks. Use conditioner first as a leave in? Just making sure I understand. Would you consider my length a 2x per week length?

 

[havilland]

@havilland, thanks. Use conditioner first as a leave in? Just making sure I understand. Would you consider my length a 2x per week length?

Hey Lady Welcome to the stretch/denial/transitioning PARTY. I think I completed 2 or 3 10 month plus stretched before I decided to transition....

What I meant was ---- Whenever you are going to apply your deep conditioner to your hair, apply it to the ends first, then the roots. This weights them down and makes it harder for them to tangle up. The ends are weak as compared to the roots and once the hair gets wet, it is usually a recipe for tangle fest. The more new growth you have, the worse the tangling.

As for your length and my recommendation, I just went by the condition of my hair. As it became harder to deal with, I decided to deep condition twice a week and that was a life saver for me. Also doing hard protein every 6 weeks as a rule. For reference sake, I would say these steps did not become necessary for me until about a year into my transition. I probably should have started sooner though.


ALSO! Apply your conditioner to the roots like a relaxer! Drown your hair in conditioner......you may want to invest in some high quality oils and silk aminos to add to your conditioners to stretch them a little. My biggest expense during the transition and long stretches was conditioner.

 

[havilland]

divachyk how do you like the split ender?

 

[divachyk]

divachyk how do you like the split ender?

havilland, great info. Thank you. Truth be told, I secretly try to stretch indefinitely each time but end up caving because the breakage sucks around week 10.

I love the split ender! A great, effective method for dusting.

 

[divachyk]

trclemons havilland, you wash loose with hair in one direction, loose in sections, twists, braids, other?

 

[havilland]

@trclemons @havilland, you wash loose with hair in one direction, loose in sections, twists, braids, other?

my hair is thin so I used to wash in four twists when i was transitioning. i HIGHLY recommend sectioning the hair to wash and detangling prior to wetting the hair.

now that i am done with my transition, i can wash my hair loose, BUT i do not scrub and jostle my hair.....i apply the cleanser to the roots, massage it gently into the scalp, let it sit for a minute to allow it time to work and then smooth it through my hair and rinse.

 

[trclemons]

trclemons havilland, you wash loose with hair in one direction, loose in sections, twists, braids, other?

divachyk. My hair is thin too, but I wash in 2 sections with the cleanser on my scalp only. When 75% of the cleanser is rinsed out, I gently stroke my hair in a downward motion to detangle as the water finishes rinsing out the remaining cleanser.

In fact, whenever I apply products, I gently stroke downward to stretch and detangle my hair during the application process.

 

[ScorpioLove]

i want to give transitioning an honest try this time around. I tried like twice before and i always relax for convenience/ frustration. my hair is fine and i could really use the thickness as a natural.

 

[so_stush]

Transitioning is plenty difficult. My crown is so matted and tangled. It's ridiculous!

 

[hypek]

I feel Im in denial about transitioning. Im now ~16 wks post and on my 3rd round of self-installed Marley twists. My NG is glorious and I love this style on me. I know once I get a touchup, it will be weeks before I can go back to twists.

Im flirting with the idea of never looking back...

 

[briacait]

This is my first time posting in this thread, but I have been reading along for months.

I'm about 5 months into my transition and I've finally gotten to the point where I feel I'll really see this thing through. My problem is that I'm so bored with my hair. I've been transitioning using braid outs and twist outs and I'm getting tired of these styles. I don't think my twist out technique is very good because my twist out looks very similar to my braid out. I need to find some new protective styles.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[janaq2003]

so_stush :The crown seems to be the worst. Mine is acually a little below my crown in the back of my head. That patch of hair hates everything and the texture is so different that the rest. It is the most difficult to detangle as well.. Im surviving though.. 35 weeks post. Unbelievable!!!!

 

[havilland]

Transitioning is plenty difficult. My crown is so matted and tangled. It's ridiculous!

you have to deep condition ALOT and oil those roots....it's the only way to survive.

 

[so_stush]

so_stush :The crown seems to be the worst. Mine is acually a little below my crown in the back of my head. That patch of hair hates everything and the texture is so different that the rest. It is the most difficult to detangle as well.. Im surviving though.. 35 weeks post. Unbelievable!!!!

I'm at 100 weeks and literally ready to rip my hair out!

 

[so_stush]

you have to deep condition ALOT and oil those roots....it's the only way to survive.

I do! I really think it's a matter of really making an effort to keep that area stretched . I could, hypothetically speaking of course, go ahead and chop that area, but yuck!

 

[divachyk]

so_stush, does natural hair tangle like relaxed hair?

 

[so_stush]

so_stush, does natural hair tangle like relaxed hair?

Mine doesn't. My natural ends tangle much worse than my natural hair. And having the two textures makes it so much worse . I know I'm feeling this way because I am ready to chop. Just a few more months. 6 months at the most.

 

[ScorpioLove]

I don't know if anyone is in a similar position but with my hair my ends were fine to detangle and my roots were very easy to detangle. However the point where they met was always just matted and tangly. This happens to me generally at around. 4/ 5 months post. I'm only at 11 weeks now so I'm fine but how do I combat this when I get there. This is when I always gave up.

 

[Amarilles]

I don't know if anyone is in a similar position but with my hair my ends were fine to detangle and my roots were very easy to detangle. However the point where they met was always just matted and tangly. This happens to me generally at around. 4/ 5 months post. I'm only at 11 weeks now so I'm fine but how do I combat this when I get there. This is when I always gave up.

This happens to me whenever I do two things: whenever I don't give the hair a uniform shape (via braidouts, Curlformers, etc) and when I don't wash in braids.

If the hair has one shape it will be harder for it to tangle at the demarcation line, because the reason why they tangle is because of the differing textures. So even if I'm bunning or hiding the hair, I give it a shape first. And washing in braids also keeps the hair uniform and prevents it from going all over the place. My braids are loosey at the roots so I can get my fingers in, and I make them a little tighter as I go down the length of the hair. It does take a minute to braid the hair but I take double that when detangling if I wash in unbraided sections.

 

[havilland]

I don't know if anyone is in a similar position but with my hair my ends were fine to detangle and my roots were very easy to detangle. However the point where they met was always just matted and tangly. This happens to me generally at around. 4/ 5 months post. I'm only at 11 weeks now so I'm fine but how do I combat this when I get there. This is when I always gave up.

i had this same issue at about 6 months post until 10 months when i figured a few things out:


keep your hair stretched as much as possible

oil the hair WELL before you detangling

detangle with fingers before you use any type of tool (i preferred not to use tools)

use a protein condish at the demarcation line regularly

do not go very long without deep conditioning your hair. this is not the time to braid your hair up and forget it....you are asking for trouble.

tackle your hair in small sections when styling, washing, detangling etc.

wash in braids

use a good leave in and reapply as much during the week as you need to. seal with oil.

 

[beauti]

I've been hiding my hair the past few months under a weave. Taking it down today and will be coloring and deep conditioning. Think I will flat iron and bun rest of week and next week