My longterm transition to natural hair update! It has been over a year!!!
February 01, 2014
About a year and a half ago I stopped relaxing the bottom half of my hair and the edges because I felt that the texture of my hair on these areas was almost the same as my texlaxed hair. I was transitioning to texlaxed hair at the time. (Incase you do not know what it means to texlax, this is simply underprocessing the hair purposely while applying relaxer this technique is also called texturizing.) After six months of learning to deal with my different textures I realised that i could actually do without the relaxer and realised that I just loved the coils and curls coming out of my scalp, I literaly could not keep my fingers off them and was actually shocked by them because I had never noticed them before. This gave me even more reason to start my transition to natural. The picture below shows my starting and current length at my nape.
This part of my hair is completely natural and this is one and a half years of hair growth. It does not look like much growth in it's curly state, but stretched out it is past shoulder length.
The front of my hair and my crown area are currently one year post relaxer. I have to admit that it is very hard to tell the difference between my texlaxed hair and my natural hair in the front section. The fully relaxed areas are much easier to spot because they are super straight compared to my natural hair which is curly. I also discovered that I have three different textures on my natural hair! My crown has curls that are a lot tighter than those at the front. And the back and edges have very loose curls. Which makes me say that I do not have one specific hairtype.
Bun on a failed bantu knot out!
Wash and go bun!
High bun on straight hair!
I will be sharing a few things that have really helped me over the past year in the next blog. But for now I will just mention one of the most important ones which is protective styling. I like to leave my hair alone but at the same time I always want to have access to it. This is the reason why I don't braid or weave my hair. For me bunning is the best protective style because it is easy to do and requires very little manipulation.
Since I am transitioning to natural, length retention is not really a big priority for me right now. I have been cutting off my relaxed ends every other month because they look thinner than my natural hair.
If you are on a longterm transition too or are thinking of starting one what are some of the challenges you are facing?
Welcome to Grow African Hair Long (GAHL) 
18 comments
I am currently on a long term transition as well. I am 6 months post relaxer. It is amazing how "surprised or shocked" we all get (especially those of us who have been relaxed) by our natural curl and coil pattern :D. It's an amazing feel and look that I just love!! With that said, I protect my hair by doing a lot of sew ins, but I am always very careful with the tension applied because I am growing out my edges. My key finding has been moisture. I always moisturize my hair on a daily basis and this has helped in reducing breakage.
ReplyDeleteMoisture is very important to me too! and especially water has been a life saver for me. For how long are you planning to transition?
Deleteyour hair is amazing. good choice on going natural because your curls are beautiful.
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Thank you very much :)
DeleteI've been transitioning as well,7 months post relaxer to be exact. Good news is that my hair is getting fuller and fuller as the days go by BUT i suck at deep conditioning my hair because for some reason after i DC,my hair's A.L.W.A.Y.S hard....i don't get it:( Kindly advise.
ReplyDeleteMy hair also used to get hard after DCing and this prompted me to examine what I was using. I stopped using the mayonnaise DC by ORS and stuck to their replenishing pak for my protein DC. I also started using apple cider for my final rinse in order to normalize my hair's PH and the cuticles to lay flat. I also started using a leave in conditioner. Nowadays my hair is always soft. So, in short, it might be the products that you are using.
Deletei totaly agree with Anonymous as I too suffered a protein overload some years back which caused hard hair. try to change your conditioner to a moisture conditioner or find a mild protein conditioner if your current one has too much protein for your hair. alternatively you can also try to use your current DC every 4-6 weeks and then only use a moisture conditioner for your weekly washes.
DeleteThanks guys!
DeleteI'm sure i've said this somewhere but i'll say it again, your curl pattern is so beautiful! Congrats on how far you've come :)
ReplyDeleteThank you dear! your hair has come a long way too!
DeleteThanks for sharing your great experience here! Congratulation to update your natural hair through long term transition.Permanent Lip Makeup Melbourne
ReplyDeleteYour hair looks amazing. Am currently transitioning to natural. It has been about 4 months now since I had my last perm. Looking at your pictures gives me more courage. I would like to keep in touch with you as to tips and hair regiment you use. Please leave me an email address or something that I can get in touch with you.
ReplyDeleteHi there thank you! I have shared a lot on the blog but you can always get in touch you need assistance. Here is our email address Growafricanhairlong@googlemail.com
ReplyDeleteHi there thank you! I have shared a lot on the blog but you can always get in touch you need assistance. Here is our email address Growafricanhairlong@googlemail.com
ReplyDeleteWow! Awesome result. Thank you for sharing your hair journey. You definitely are an inspiration. Good job! Have a nice day.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mary, i really appreciate people like you who are always cheering me on. you are awesome! God bless you so much!
DeleteTransitioning for 18 months and keeping in moisture is sooo important and I try to finger detangle and stay away from the combs.
ReplyDeleteYes it is! otherwise one get´s unnecessary breakage.
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