RomanticLibra

Helloooo everyoneee!

My name is Ayodele (I-yo-de-lee)..I have been putting relaxer in my hair since I was 7 (well not ME exactly..my mom lol). My hair used to be down my back but it has broken off over the years and im not liking it at all! A year ago I had some braids put in my hair that were for short hair and it took my hair out! My hair didn't take that long to grow back but the front is still really short - it's not even all over.

I am just SICK and TIRED of having straight hair. It is actually boring to me now. I had been thinking about going natural and i've finally decided that I am going to do it! I just turned 20 and for the first time I just want to wear my real natural hair...NO more damaging chemicals. I really don't even want to straighten my hair with heat anymore. I have been watching MANY youtube videos with women who are natural and how they are taking care of their hair. I never knew that there were so many natural products out there that could make out hair look so soft and beautiful!

I really want to embrace my natural beauty. I received my last relaxer a month ago and I never getting another one again! I used to think that women who did not put relaxer in their hair were crazy but now I see that "I" was the crazy one for putting all those damaging chemicals in my hair!

Question(s)

-How do I start transitioning?
-Would products would you recommend that I use?
-What type of hairstyles should I do while transitioning?
-How can I make my hair grow faster while transitioning?


I know I wrote ALOTT lol but i'm just so excited! I look forward to hearing some of the advice that you ladies haveee!! Thanks!

Gretchen

Welcome to our community!

I moved your post over here to Transitioning as I think you'll get more help here.

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Gretchen
NaturallyCurly.com co-founder
3A

You are beautiful!

y0shi

Hello! I'm glad to hear you decided to go natural! Let me tell you, it's not easy, but you have to remeber the light at the end of the road. I've been transitioning for 5 months and I fall in love with my natural hair more and more everyday.

To maximize your hair growth you want to stay away from damaging things such as heat and dyes and stuff. Drinking a lot of water really has helped my growth. That and eating healthy!

Transitioning requires much patience, for me it helped to determine how long I wanted to transition. I decided a year, how long do you want to?

RomanticLibra

Hi! I have been reading a lot of stories about women who had a rough time transitioning. I was afraid at first but I decided that I REALLY want to do this because I want healthy hair.

I decided that I wasn't going to use any heat for a WHILE. I'm locking away all of my flat irons. I might even throw them away..I know thats extreme but that might be the only way to stop me from being tempted to using them lol.

I have been on a diet for a while. I only drink water and i've been eating mostly vegetables. I was thinking about a year as well. I told myself that I did not want to cut my relaxed hair off until the new growth has grown eight inches...but someone told me that the longer you transition, the more difficult it is. My hair might actually start breaking. So I really don't know...I think I will take it one day at a time.

What products have you been using during your transition? Someone told me I should have:

-Shampoo
-Deep Conditioner
-Leave-In Conditioner
-Styling Cream
-Oil

I have heard A LOT of great things about Shea Moisture Products. I said I was going to go ahead and buy almost all of them but I wanted to try some other things first. I want to try Tea Tree Triple Treat shampoo and conditioner with Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner. I am going to wait on the styling cream and oil, I just want to start simple.

Right now I have a little bit of new growth but it is mostly relaxed. Should I go ahead and start using these products? My hair is in bad shape and I am really anxious to start using them. One person told me I should because I need to start treating my hair like it is natural and another person said to wait until I have more new growth (10 weeks). But I don't wanna wait that LONG!

What do you think?

y0shi

Ohh, well I would start taking care of the new growth because thats what is gonna count, you will be cutting the relaxed ends. I recently started using Cantu Shea Butter, and it great on my nautral hair but not my relaxed hair. I don't really know much about oils, I tend to stay away because my hair gets oily really fast. Hopefully someone else can help you there cus I'm pretty new at this tooo!

pinkycurly

om my god am so happy for you.am 8 months into transitioning and its not bad at all its very fun.u can start using new product on your new growth because that going to be the ends of your hair one day so it has to be in a good condition.try any product u want to try dont be sacred and dont think because it did not work for somebody it wont work for u,it doesnt matter.nd make sure u try 1 product at a time..remember u r hoping to go through dis one so av as much fun as you can.

naturalnewb

Hi there Ayodele,

I started my transition to natural hair for similar reasons--except I was 30

As far as difficult long-term transitioning, I don't think this is necessarily true. I transitioned for 1.5 years and I believe things got progressively easier for me.

In the beginning I had two challenges: the first was STYLING. Styling was so friggin' difficult in the beginning because I didn't understand how to make my hair look good without the use of heat. However, there are a number of styles that you can do with your hair like twistouts, braidouts, and bantu knotouts. You can search youtube for ways to accomplish these looks. Just keep in mind that because you're relaxed, you will have to find a way to secure your ends (e.g. using bobby pins or perm rods).

This brings me to the second challenge: PRODUCTS . I had a bit of a challenge finding products that gave me hold and definition--without giving me hard/crispy hair. Then I had difficulty finding products which kept my hair moisturized for more than a day at a time. That process will be trial and error. Keep in mind that the majority of the products you use on your relaxed hair, will not agree with your natural hair--also the products you transition with probably won't be the products you use when you are fully natural. I discovered that tidbit of info earlier this year lol

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Aerogirl530

I recently made a video on youtube talking about what u need to do when u start transitioning, type in aerogirl530 and u shud find it, the title is 6 tips to transitioning and friend me too if u have anymore questions!