Let's Talk Transitioning



For those of you new to the blog, I posted updates throughout my transitioning journey and have posted other posts providing various transitioning tips. Please check them out. If you go to the right side (you may have to scroll down a bit) and click on the label "Transitioning", you'll be directed to all my posts dedicated to transitioning so far.

I mentioned some of them in the vid but here are what I feel the main things to always remember when transitioning (and that helped me out):

1) Create a regimen that incorporates moisture, moisture, and more moisture!

Many ladies get into co-washing their hair, some more frequent than others. This provides your hair with a lot of moisture therefore, better manageability and less breaking. Moisturizing (and sealing) your hair daily is now more important than ever b/c where those 2 textures meet is really weak. And if it gets dry, it will so break. Some breakage is inevitable but I'm talking about uber noticeable breakage.

Deep conditioning is ESSENTIAL. I recommend DC'ing once a week. Again, when transitioning, your hair craves and needs that moisture to keep it strong and healthy. As far as using protein DC's, you just have to be in tune with your hair and add those in when you feel it's necessary. Some people use very little protein. Others incorporate more into their regimen. I didn't use very much and I was fine.

2) Shy away from combing your hair when it's dry

The only time a comb was coming anywhere near my hair was when it was sopping wet and SATURATED with a good detangling conditioner. At least dampen your hair with a spritz of choice or spritz some water if you just have to comb your hair when it's not wet. Combing your hair dry is asking for major breakage though. Not everybody's head is the same but I wouldn't even tempt breakage like that.

3) Find hairstyles that are all about low manipulation

Braids, wigs/half-wigs, weaves, buns, rollersets, bantu knot sets are great ways to maintain your sexy while transitioning. If the front of my hair was a lil puffy, I'd rock various styles of headbands to make the front look pretty and lay down some. No one knew by looking at me or my hair that I was transitioning unless I told them.

I learned about transitioning with half-wigs during my transition from fotki member, AppleJax. She had an instant weave (aka half-wig) tutorial up on her fotki. So yeah, hit up Fotki. A lot of the lovely ladies on there show pictures of what styles and techniques they used to transition succesfully. I learned so much from them! And continue to do so now as a natural.

Other ladies blow dry or flat iron their new growth so that it better blends with their relaxed hair. Be careful with this, as abusing heat could damage your natural hair. If you opt to do this, try to use heat sparingly and also make sure you are using some sort of heat protectant. (I don't have any suggestions on good heat protectant products as I rarely use direct heat anymore; even towards the end of my days as a relaxed head, I wasn't using direct heat anymore.)

4) DO YOUR RESEARCH

You may be tired of hearing this but it's sooo true. Your transition more than likely will not be a good one without gathering some information first. You want to get an idea of what road lies ahead of you. You've got all these blogs, YouTube has a plethora of ladies offering their regimens, styling techniques, product reviews, etc. rather it be transitioning or as a natural. Fotki provides great resources and will have you drooling over all the beautiful hair as a result to great hair care. A lot of the ladies have picture tutorials for various natural and transitioning hair care, what products they use and styling techniques.

I did a post back in January called the Curly Girl Directory where I listed tons of places that I felt were great to go to for tips, information, resources, etc on transitioning and natural hair. So the information is out there and waiting for you to uncover it!

Happy Transitioning! For those on the fence about it, go on and go for it. You know you wanna! :0)

Comments

Milan said…
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.