blackhairtings

[blackhairtings]

Transition with Minimal Crying

Transitioning is HARD. At least it was for me. For those of you who decide to embark on this journey, have heart and don’t give in to the exasperation you will likely experience every day. Here are some tips to get through it. 

1. YOUR CURL PATTERN ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT MATTER: My sister gave up tranistioning because she disliked her curl pattern saying she did not have “good hair”. I will say this over and over again on this blog, BUT ALL HAIR IS GOOD HAIR. GOOD HAIR IS HEALTHY HAIR. GOOD HAIR IS THE HAIR THAT GROWS NATURALLY FROM YOUR SCALP. DO NOT start this journey wanting to have a particular curl pattern. Until you are ready to accept whatever curls grow out of your scalp, DO NOT TRANSITION. Also, understand right now that your curl pattern does not determine the health of your hair. Honestly, knowing your hair’s porosity is much more important for knowing how to care for your hair!

2. YOU MAY NEED MULTIPLE PRODUCTS: Your relaxed hair and incoming natural hair is different from each other. What one requires, the other may not. For example, my relaxed hair was always absolutely STARVED for protein, that was not the case for my natural hair. My natural hair loved and still loves being wet before I moisterize it, my relaxed hair would become matted once it got wet. Transitioning is tricky becasue you really have to find products and routines that work for both your natural and relaxed hair, if that means having two completely different routines and sets of products for your hair then so be it.  

3. YOU’RE GONNA HAVE BREAKAGE, THAT’S JUST HOW IT IS: The line of demarcation is where your two textures meet, it’s also the most vulnerable part of your hair while transitioning. The line of demarcation area is so fragile becasue your natural and relaxed hair likely are getting tangled together, there’s frizz, dryness, and predictably breakage. Being gentle with that area with your detangling efforts is SO IMPORTANT. Regardless of how gentle you are though, you likely will still eperience an increased amount of shedding and breakage. This can be very disturbing to see, but I promise it won’t last, and you’ll get through it with plenty of hair left on your head!

4. PROTECTIVE STYLES ARE STILL IMPORTANT: Limiting breakage is always one of the most important goals when transitioning. I definitely recommend buns, ponytails, and braids! IMPORTANT NOTE THO: Long-term protective styles like braids, weaves, and wigs can all be great ways to protect your hair, but don’t look at it like giving yourself a break, because you still have to take care of your hair! Otherwise, you could end up doing more harm than good when getting long-term protective styles. 

5. TRANSITION FOR HOWEVER LONG YOU WANT: I personally, wanted to transition for about a year, and I did the big-chop when my year was up. That doesn’t have to be your story though! If you’re looking in the mirror, and you HATE seeing all the damage, CUT IT OFF BABY. Don’t feel as though your hair has to be a certain length when you go natural. Obviously, if you’d feel more comfortable doing what I did, or even waiting longer before a big-chop, then do that! Always make sure you’re going to be comfortable with the outcome! I will say that doing a big-chop sooner rather than later will save you a lot of time and energy since you won’t have to worry about caring for two textures, and your hair will absolutely grow faster than you think once all the damaged, relaxed bits are gone. 

6. DEEP CONDITIONERS ARE NO LONGER OPTIONAL: Seriously, you should be deep conditioning every single week. Your hair will absolutely thank you for it! You’ll also be doing yourself a favor by making your hair more manageable! 

7. TAKE IT SECTION BY SECTION: After you’ve been transitioning for a while, it’ll be a good idea to start sectioning your hair whether you’re just moisterizing or it’s wash day! Putting your hair into sections ensures that you get full coverage and don’t miss any spots. Also, makes detangling MUCH easier!

8. STAY AWAY FROM HEAT: I know that using heat during this time to make your hair easier to work with is tempting, BUT DON’T GIVE IN! Using heat while transitioning can not only further damage your relaxed hair, but also can impact your curl pattern if your incoming curls get damaged!   

[blackhairtings]

For my Relaxed Gals

Even though my hair is no longer relaxed, I definitely learned a lot of helpful tips that I wanna share! 

1. PROTEIN IS IMPORTANT: If you have been having a difficult time keeping moisture in your hair, or even if you’re having a difficult time moisterizing your hair in general, it’s probably because your hair does not have enough protein in it! An important component to having healthy relaxed hair is finiding the right balance between moisture and protein. High porosity gals especially should be making sure they have enough protein in their hair. When you get your hair relaxed, you are stripping your hair of protein, and that has to be replenished! BE WARNED, putting in too much protein can lead to protein overload which is also damaging to your hair! IF YOU HAVE LOW POROSITY HAIR BE ESPECIALLY MINDFUL OF PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN PROTEIN. 

2. DEEP CONDITIONERS ARE IMPORTANT: I don’t know about y’all, but as a relaxed gal I would really only shampoo and condition my hair and put in some sort of leave-in conditioner and call it good. That is not good. DON’T SKIP OUT ON DEEP CONDITIONERS. I SWEAR that the managebility of your hair will improve if you deep condition every week or even every other week, JUST DO IT. Pro tip: to really make sure your hair is conditioned, do a steam treatment. There are caps you can buy on Amazon. Heat opens up the hair shaft and really allows moisture to penetrate the hair shaft. That’s why when you’re washing your hair you could use warm-hot water, but when rinsing out conditioners use cold water to close hair shafts and lock in moisture!

3. PROTECTIVE STYLES ARE IMPORTANT: Relaxed hair can definitely be healthy, but it’s definitely weaker. With that being said, it’s important to limit manipulation of your hair as much as possible! Buns, braids, and ponytails were my go-to’s! PROTECT YOUR ENDS, don’t let your hair drag on clothes/funiture/bedding. WRAP YOUR HAIR AT NIGHT. It not only protects your hair from breaking, but also reduces the chnaces of you having frizzy hair in the morning. If you really hate wrapping your hair, try a silk pillowcase!  

4. STOP RELAXING YOUR HAIR EVERY SIX WEEKS: This is something I wish someone would have told me YEARS ago. After six weeks you will likely NOT have enough new growth to justify getting a relaxer. Here’s why this is important. Typically, hair dressers will put the relaxer on your scalp without paying attention to how much new growth you have, meaning that relaxer will likely be put onto your new growth in addition to hair that has already been alter previosuly by a relaxer. This is bad because you then risk over-processing your hair. Overprocessed hair is brittle, lifeless, is unable to retain moisture, and inevitably breaks off. STRETCH YOUR RELAXERS FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE BEFORE GETTING THEM. Even if you put relaxer on top relaxer and your hair doesn’t immediately become overprocessed, you are still further damaging your hair which can inhibit growth and fullness!

5. KNOW YOUR PRODUCTS: When my hair was relaxed, I really didn’t know what to look for in hair products. YOU SHOULD KNOW EXACTLY WHAT EACH INGREDIENT IS/DOES. Water should be the first ingredient to any leave-in moisterizer, without water, your hair will not get moisterized. Products that do not contain water are likely meant to be used as a sealant which we’ll talk about  later. I touched on this a little bit earlier, but it definitely won’t hurt for your leave-in to have some sort of protein in it (once again, watch out if your hair is low porosity!). Moisterize and seal your hair with some sort of oil, avocado, grapseed, jojoba, and almond oil are some of my favorite oils for relaxed hair because they aren’t especially heavy, olive oil is a good one too!

6. LIMIT YOUR USE OF HEAT: Relaxed hair definitely is not the strongest hair in the world, so limit your use of heat. Ideally, you’d literally never want to put heat in your hair, but that is not always acheiavable. Try using the cool setting when blow drying your hair, and use lower temperatures if you absolutely must straighten your hair. DON’T FORGET TO USE HEAT PROTECTANT. 

[blackhairtings]

My Journey

My mother started getting my hair relaxed when I was in Kindergarten. From the time I was 5 until I tunred 22, I had never seen my natural hair. Had never known  its beauty and resilience. I had my wake up call when I relaxed my hair after dying it. For those of you that don’t know, this is a BIG no-no if you’re a relaxed gal. Needless to say, my hair started FALLING OUT. I was so embarassed of the damage that I didn’t even want to take pictures of myself. My goal with this blog is to help anyone who decides to go natural. My sister actually made the decision to transition before I did, but she ended up going back to relaxers, primarily because she did not know how to properly care for her hair. I think this is SO unfortunate, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to give up on their hair for similar reasons. Remember, ALL HAIR IS GOOD HAIR, and achieving healthy hair requires patience, research, and dedication.