Transitioners support thread

[Leentora]

Originally Posted by Keihs

I have a stupid question. How long does it take to transition? And how do you know that all of your rebonded hair has been cut off? It's just that a year ago my not curly hair was rebonded (I know, shameful) because my mom got sick of my hair being not completely straight but not curly (just a VERY slight bend) either. Just a poofy mess. So I was wondering how'd I know if it's my natural hair and that all the rebonded strands are cut off.

Did you transition? How long for? The relaxed ends vs your natural texture will more or less be straight and limp vs your NG. Did you use heat during your transition? if you did use a lot of heat that could be another reason for the lac of coil/curl definition.

You may have loose curl texture unlike a tightly curl texture, that maybe why you are not seeing a certain curl pattern. Nonetheless there should be a line of demarcation where the relaxed ends and the NG meets and that is where you cut.

[Keihs]

Originally Posted by Leentora

Did you transition? How long for? The relaxed ends vs your natural texture will more or less be straight and limp vs your NG. Did you use heat during your transition? if you did use a lot of heat that could be another reason for the lac of coil/curl definition.

You may have loose curl texture unlike a tightly curl texture, that maybe why you are not seeing a certain curl pattern. Nonetheless there should be a line of demarcation where the relaxed ends and the NG meets and that is where you cut.

By transitioning, you mean not doing a big chop right? I just let my hair grow and did occasional trims to cut parts of it off, but I'm not sure if they're all gone. It's kind of hard for me to tell cuz I rebonded my hair when it wasn't even curly, just a slight bend that was neither straight or curly. It wasn't until a couple months after I rebonded my hair, that I thought that, maybe my hair was curly, but I just haven't tried to bring it out. So I have been trying the CG method lately, and I do have some waves and sometimes even curls! Though, it does take a bit of work (and luck!). I've always had this thing where my hair would be curly when wet then straightens as it dries, like it was never there. So, I was worried that maybe my rebonded hair was pulling my waves down. I just want to get rid of it and cut it off, but I'm also trying to grow my hair, so I don't want to exactly cut off my actual hair thats not rebonded. I did notice that my ends have this weird flippy bend thingy, so maybe that's it. However, sometimes I notice that my ends curl more than the rest of my hair. So now I'm not sure. Any ideas? Thanks.

[anonymous_114091]

5 months into my transition. Time seems to be going by so slowly. I want to BC like nothing else, but I'm still holding off on it. It would be nice if I could contentedly wait until I'm a year post. We'll see, I guess.

[mynaturalhigh]

Transitioning is a good step if you are afrad to do the big chop in the beginning, I know I was. I transitioned for 1 year till I cut the perm ends off. Im currently 2 years and 4 month since I started transitioning, or you can say 1 year 4 months completely natural. Natural hair is so wonderful, It is a challenge in the beginning but through it all its the best thing Ive ever did. Remember use Organic productrs while your transitioning so you hair and adjust to it. Good luck all my natural sistas, and may you hair be hair, strong, and beautiful..

Instagram: mynaturalhigh

[missjae]

I was just informed by my hairdresser that its been nearly three months since my last relaxer. This isn't a mistake, I've been hemming and hawing and complaining about my hair for years with this relaxing habit I have.

Ive even changed hairdressers a few times and finally realized, its the chemicals not the hairdresser that is ruining my hair. Sooo this time I have decided for the first time to go natural with natural products. I wish I'd thought of it sooner.

Now that I am near menopause, I am fighting grey hair and dry hair worse than eva. But I will prevail....Amen

I can't wait to see what my natural hair looks like....I have no idea but think it could be 4a.

[darlene8]

Hair background -:straightened my hair for a year and a half. On 3rd BKT. Never had a perm. Naturally had 3b hair.

I did something really stupid a couple of months ago I decided to transition but the two textures of my hair drove me crazy so I gave in and got another BKT (I had previously had 2). I've finally decided (for real this time) to transition back to my natural hair but I have a question:

Do i shampoo my hair or start cowashing right away? If I were to wet my hair it would be wavy with a half inch of curly hair at my scalp.

[Ana_Carolina]

Hello everyone,

I found this forum today, I'm so glad I did, because I'm close to a year into my transition and having second thoughts. I tried transitioning before many times, but every time I reach around one year into it, I lose patience and relax again.

I'm Latina and have very coarse, frizzy, wavy hair. I started relaxing at 13. Like many others here, I'm not sure what my natural hair is now. I had nice curly hair as a child, but the texture changed later on.

I have about 3 to 3.5 inches of natural growth. I have long hair and always had long hair, so I don't know how I would adapt to a short hairstyle.

I work in an office where I need to dress business casual, and my hair is starting to look messier than I would want to. I want to quit the straightening iron, but don't know what else to do. I've been wearing headbands, but now they don't disguise the growth as well anymore.

Many of the transitioning hairstyles that work on African American hair will not work on me. Ponytails look too causal unless I flat iron the hair, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

Soooo, can anyone help me? What should I do? Should I cut it short? Should I keep it long and wait it out? What should I do in the meantime?

THANKS and good luck to everyone transitioning!

[burne138313]

Thank you for providing this thread. This is my second time transitioning from relaxed to natural. My first transition started April 2011 I BC six months later. I rocked natural hair up until December 2012. I had very little support besides forums and YouTube. I had my second and last perm March 6, 2013. So I am newly transitioning. Once I BC I will not go back to relaxers.

Sent from my LG-LG730 using CurlTalk App

[Kaykay1988]

I am just starting my transition from relaxed to natural hair. I am about 4 months into the process and I think I have a pretty good hair regimen. I wash and deep condition my hair once a week, moisturize daily, wrap my hair every night and I use a hair mask treatment once a month. However my hair is breaking off! It's in my comb, my brush, the sink. Is there anything I can do to stop the damage? Should I add a protein treatment into my regimen?