Update on Transitioners and Natural Hair

[Country gal]

Hey ladies. I just wanted to get an update on how everyone has been adjusting to their natural hair. I know there were several of us who were transitioning (NaptChallenged, MissJ, Pooh bear, Blessed, Sweetnic, etc.) Has natural hair turned out to be everything you hoped for? What has been your accomplishments and challenges?

I love my natural hair. I think it really is becoming on me. I love how soft my hair feels. I love that I no longer fear what my natural hair is like because I am already there. I love doing daily conditioner washes and just running out of the house.

My original challenges were me getting my mind from relaxed to natural. I feel so much more at peace and comfortable with my decision.

 

[PittGirl06]

I LOVE it. I am currently in braids though and I miss playing in my hair! it is sooooo soft and cottony! It has been growing like wild flower. My hair has NEVER been in this good a shape and its ALL mine, sans chemiques! I love it and I am sooo glad I decided to go natural. I am even thinking about Sisterlocks or something....though I don't think I am ready for that right now, I have thought about it. I can't wait till my hair is at a desirable length for me....then at that time I will say goodbye to extensions and wear my hair out all the time. I of course wan tot learn how to do various different styles with my hair on my own so I won't have to be dependent on a stylist......

But yeah, my 13 month transition was a good one, I was very very pleased with the amount of growht I had back then and the progress I have been making since then. This is the best thing I could have done for my hair.

 

[MissJ]

I like my natural hair. It's more manageable after a wash now that it's shorter, and I've found some awesome products. Tomorrow will make 10 months of a transition. I plan on doing roller sets until I can get some braids. Then I'll leave those in for about 2 months. I have a tentative plan to do the big chop in the spring. I'll post some pics in the next couple of weeks.

 

[SilkyandSmooth]

I'm loving it. I still have a few strands of relaxed hair left but I'm natural for the most part (I chopped off most of the relaxed ends a couple of weeks ago). My natural hair is so much easier to care for. All I do is CW, air dry, moisturize and braid up at night & ponytail or bun it in the morning. No more touch ups, blow dryers, hooded dryers and flat irons on a regular basis. It's such a relief. I don't regret my decision to go natural at all. In fact, I'm 99.9% sure that I will never relax again. My mind will not allow me to. Every time I look at my hair in the mirror, I think "how could I ever get rid of this?" It's a wonderful feeling.

 

[Cichelle]

I'm doing well. I love my natural hair. I love washing it every day and not worrying about getting caught in the rain. I love having healthy hair. I was worried when I did the big chop because I really do not like short hair on me. And I think my only complaint about my hair to this day is I just wish it were longer. But after 5 months, I finally feel like it has really grown and I am slowly making progress towards my goal.

I have to say, going natural is one of the best things I've done for myself.

 

[Country gal]

I'm doing well. I love my natural hair. I love washing it every day and not worrying about getting caught in the rain. I love having healthy hair. I was worried when I did the big chop because I really do not like short hair on me. And I think my only complaint about my hair to this day is I just wish it were longer. But after 5 months, I finally feel like it has really grown and I am slowly making progress towards my goal.

I have to say, going natural is one of the best things I've done for myself.

I definitely feel this way. I just want it to be longer. I do love it. I love that I can press it too if I desire straight hair again.

 

[MeccaMedinah]

I like my hair. Sometimes I wonder if I should have chopped sooner than 14/15 months or maybe I should have transitioned longer
At this point, I'm just waiting for some more length. I want to be able to wear a decent ponytail & a bun.
Sometimes I feel as if I am still transitioning, since my techniques are pretty much the same. And that is boring & monotonous.

 

[Country gal]

I like my hair. Sometimes I wonder if I should have chopped sooner than 14/15 months or maybe I should have transitioned longer
At this point, I'm just waiting for some more length. I want to be able to wear a decent ponytail & a bun.
Sometimes I feel as if I am still transitioning, since my techniques are pretty much the same. And that is boring & monotonous.

I went through that recently. I was becoming really bored with my basic styles. I think it was during that time of the month. I do want to go to a stylist more often next year.

 

[MzTami]

I'm glad everyone is doing well with their transition. I am almost 5 months and I am in a dilema of should I get braids or not. I hate braids but I need to do something with this hair. It seems everytime I get braids, my hair will grow, but it also breaks off and it becomes uneven.

My hair looks very DRY and nappy, but it is not. I wish I could find something that will take the dull dry look away, Any suggestions? Also, I have been wearing it down everyday and I am starting to see my natural hair through my thin relaxed hair. I have tried braid-outs, flexi-rods, and phony pony but didn't work for me.

I am keeping the faith and praying for more health,length,and taking it one day at a time. I just want to say that I am so happy that I found LHCF because I would still be overprocessing my hair and flat ironing it daily. I have learned so much from all of the ladies.

 

[BLESSED1]

Hey ladies. I just wanted to get an update on how everyone has been adjusting to their natural hair. I know there were several of us who were transitioning (NaptChallenged, MissJ, Pooh bear, Blessed, Sweetnic, etc.) Has natural hair turned out to be everything you hoped for? What has been your accomplishments and challenges?

I love my natural hair. I think it really is becoming on me. I love how soft my hair feels. I love that I no longer fear what my natural hair is like because I am already there. I love doing daily conditioner washes and just running out of the house.

My original challenges were me getting my mind from relaxed to natural. I feel so much more at peace and comfortable with my decision.

I my napptural hair! It is so freaking versatile it's crazy!! I'm twisting and cornrowing, coming up w/ new styles every week, getting compliments like I'm a celebrity ha! I'm slowly but surely getting over a hair dye horror story, but other than that things are going great. Man, I remember the day I chopped off the last of my scraggly relaxed ends, I felt so light lol. I don't plan on returning to the creamy crack *crack is whack, for me at least* My goal is to get my hair healthier, dye it black and then never dye it again after that, and I'm shooting for BSL straightened. I'm sure I can do it, I was able to do it when I was relaxed so I def. can do it as a natural.

Country Gal you've got some pretty curls, I peeped those DC girls night out pics

 

[Jewell]

I'm doing good. Not that far along, but my hair is growing fast. I do daily CW's and let it air dry. Then I just put my hair into a soft bun with prong pins and Good Day Hair Pins. I switched over from my Nexxus back to the Mane 'N Tail I have and my hair is loving the extra bit of protein.

I don't have a lot of shedding or breakage. I have only been combing when it has my leave in products in it and its wet/damp. I loose about 6 hairs during the damp comb-out after washing. That's great compared to the massive shedding that went on back in early Sept. Its finally under control!

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I'm approaching my first month of transitioning and what I miss the most was my full head of corkscrew curls. At first I wasn't too thrilled with my natural hair, but now I love it! It suits me well. Now to just learn how to maximize my styling skills.

 

[Carlie]

I've never been happier since I've BC'd! Everyday I'm discovering something new about my hair!

 

[Peachtree]

I've been natural over 1 yr now. The absolute best decision I've made regarding my hair.

(( & I owe it all to the ladies of LHCF... I prolly wouldn't transitioned (in April 03) if I hadn't found this board ))

Glad to see other ladies are enjoying their natural journey's as well

 

[Nanyanika]

I think i'm probably the only person here that, doesn't like transitioing or the thought of returning back to natural. I remember how terribly coarse and dry my hair was and how i became frustrated with it, Still in two minds about texturizing.

 

[blackhair]

Doing great. I am happy im going natural.

 

[Sweet_Ambrosia]

So far so good, though at times it can be a bit challenging dealing with the different textures, but I know it will be worth it in the long run. I think I may have a slight case of HIH diease, because the more NG I get the more I tend to play with it (kinda weird I know)

 

[Country gal]

Thanks Blessed


I also like how people are so curious about my hair. My aunt was asking me how do you style it.

 

[Ayeshia]

Ive been natural for exactly 2 years and some days...the only thing I regret is being OVERLY scissor happy but Im trying to calm that now

 

[Cheleigh]

December marks my ninth month transitioning. Things are going well. I still shed quite a bit, but my granny said I shed a bunch when I was young too.

I'm lazy about styling my hair now, so I've just been bunning it. At this point, people who don't know me/haven't seen me in a while think I'm natural because so much of the visible hair is natural, and my bun is curly from rolled braidouts, so it looks natural too at a glance.

I'd hoped to have 6" before I BC in March, but that doesn't look like that will happen. It's okay though, because I'm not going to delay my BC. Now people are more concerned that I'm going to cut off my hair, but they don't realize what a pain it is to have all that extra baggage from the relaxed hair.

 

[jd_bdfly]

I'm glad everyone is doing well with their transition. I am almost 5 months and I am in a dilema of should I get braids or not. I hate braids but I need to do something with this hair. It seems everytime I get braids, my hair will grow, but it also breaks off and it becomes uneven.

My hair looks very DRY and nappy, but it is not. I wish I could find something that will take the dull dry look away, Any suggestions? Also, I have been wearing it down everyday and I am starting to see my natural hair through my thin relaxed hair. I have tried braid-outs, flexi-rods, and phony pony but didn't work for me.

I am keeping the faith and praying for more health,length,and taking it one day at a time. I just want to say that I am so happy that I found LHCF because I would still be overprocessing my hair and flat ironing it daily. I have learned so much from all of the ladies.

I recently happened upon BBD Glass, and I must say it is a great product. Before I found it, I was getting annyoed with dryness, and with it, it's not a problem. I'd recommend giving that a try. I use it on my wet hair after I CO wash. Never used it on dry hair.

As far as life as a natural, I am pleased overall. There are days where I get frustrated at the amount of time and effort styling my hair takes (when I want to do something OTHER than a pony-puff) -- it was definitely easier as a relaxed head -- but when I get it right, the results are fab. I am really enjoying the fact that my natural hair is unbelievably thick, and when I wear it out, it turns a lot of heads.

 

[chocolate01]

I love being natural, one of the best decisions I have made. I transitioned for 11 months and chopped almost 5 months ago and I ahve loved every day of it. Before I chopped I was afraid of having short hair, other than the first few days after my hair, it honestly has no bothered me. I have no plans of relaxing again.