What if ??

[aikaa71]

Im transitioning and i keep wondering how my hair will look like natural. The last time i had all natural hair was when i was 11.
Im 4b with some 4a around the edges.Im worried about the shrinkage cos the strands are so tightly packed. I doubt whether i will have any spiral/curls/coils on my head. I keep looking at natural pics for inspiration and most are women who have some curl pattern. I may be thinking that my natural hair will look like Tomiko(model) and then if it does not?? Will i go back to relaxing.
This is the second or third time i have tried to transition and im getting cold feet now. tThe reason for my transition is cos my hair has been shedding since the beginning of this year. Aphogee , keraphix have not helped much.I do not have a medical problem(went for a check up).I had a color done end of last year and switched relaxers brand this year. Im not sure which of these two caused the breakage.

Im not sure whether to continue transitioning or get a retouch and cut . im confused right now

 

[skegeesmb]

Hi, I am going to be truthful with you right now, it seems that you are not too comfortable dealing with your 4b hair again yet. It might not be the easiest when you do cut. I can tell you right now if you don't want to deal with 4b hair you are not going to be happy.

But I also see that you are having some hair breakage problems. Your hair might have made the decision for you. You might have to cut your hair despite that you might not be happy with the results.

How long have you been transitioning? At this point you have 2 options:

If you have 3 to 4 inches of natural hair you might be able to cut it and wear braid extensions until you are a bit more comfortable with your hair.

Or

You can take your chances, keep on getting a retouch and come up with a plan that minimizes the damage and slows down, or halts the damage. This is tricky because if you go this route you might further damage your hair and have to get it cut anyway. But you might in fact come up with something that halts the breakage.

If it were me, I would wait until I had enough newgrowth and I would cut it off. I did that when I was natural two years ago. I didn't have breakage but I was serious and knew if I kept on transistioning at the time I would probably get a retouch. I waited until I had 3 inches of hair and then I cut. This might be too drastic for you, but I know it helped me plunge into taking care of my newly natural hair.

I am now mildly relaxed again, and if I decide to stop relaxing again, I will gradually cut off my hair, but if it were damaged beyond any effective help, I would cut it all off again.

 

[aikaa71]

Skegeesmb,

Thanks for your honest opinion. I needed to hear that. I will keep doing cornrowswith fake pony puff/braid outs until end of year and see how much growth i get . At the moment i have about 1 to 1.5 inches new growth.

 

[skegeesmb]

Glad to hear that aikaa, it sounds like your above plan is a plan that is working for you. So you have a few more months to transition until you have about three inches. Just keep that up and that should keep breakage to a minimum.

And remember if you do cut, you can always wear extensions or cute little falls until your hair grows out enough. If you are uncomfortable with the shrinkage issue you can always get your hair professionally pressed. I know that some people may not agree with the pressing route, but in all honest opinion, it's about you and whether you are comfortable or not. I wouldn't worry about pleasing people if you are miserable.

 

[debyjay]

Hi aikaa, I was shedding like crazy and after trying every expensive treatment, a $3.99 bottle of garlic shampoo helped me in one wash! It's called Nutrine, there is also a conditiner which I used. You should really give it a try.

 

[aikaa71]

Thanks debyjay, i will look for the garlic shampoo and conditioner.