What you should know when transitioning

I was there, I was at that point where I couldn’t decide if I wanted to continue to transition or relapse with the creamy crack. BE STRONG!! India Arie said it best “I am not my hair”. What she means by that is your hair does not define you, although your hair tells a lot about your fashion sense, people should love you for you and not your hair. If you don’t know what transitioning is, it is when you no longer get relaxers and wear your hair in it;s natural state. My opinion about being natural is when you are lye free. Some naturals dye their hair but they are still natural, because it is not relaxed, which is the most important part about being natural. Transitioning comes with patience, don’t rush the process or you will become frustrated with the process. When transitioning you are dealing with two total different textures, one is bushy and wavy while the other is more flat and straight. The straight part of your hair is also known as dead hair because it just drags along and eventually becomes irrelevant, NO SHADE 🙂 you may decide to chop it off, but if you don’t here are some things you can do. Protective style, protective style, protective style, I can’t stress enough how powerful protective styling can be and in this case it is highly recommended. Styles such as block braids, cornrows, marley twists, sew-ins, etc. can all help in the process of growth. Whenever you decide to straighten your hair, I recommend a blow-out by a professional because you can stretch the roots. Let’s be honest when we want our hair straight we want layed to the gods, since you are no longer relaxing your hair your roots will thicken and have that bushy, wavy texture I told you about. A blow-out by a professional will get those roots straight. However I do not recommend that you do blow-outs a lot because what can happen is your natural texture will began to stretch it’s self out and your natural texture will stay straight. I speak from experience, if you continue to straighten your hair with a flat-iron, you will have to get close to your scalp and you will have to go over it several times or you will do nothing but make yourself insecure because your roots do not look as good as your relaxed ends. Remember, thick hair is good hair. I always hear “my new growth is so thick and nappy”. Something a lot of people don’t realize is your relaxer is what made your hair thin on the ends. Your thick new growth is how your all your hair should look and feel. Because you have relaxer on your ends, it will not curl up by water it is best that you get a style that can curl your hair for you, such as a roller set. A roller set will definitely get you some curls [here’s an image] If you want to go for the curly afro look, you should try a braid out [here’s an image] which also assures curls. Be sure to keep your hair moisturzed and in a healthy state with hot oil treatments and deep conditioners. If you follow these tips and advice, your hair will grow, the transitioning process will be a breeze, and you will love the journey. Hope this helped 🙂