10 Helpful Transitioning Tips

So...now you  have decided to go Natural, (big congrats to you!)  but you don't want to go in and shave off all of your hair and you're wondering what to do. There's a way out, Transitioning! you will still have your length if you're not comfortable with the drastic change of donning a short haircut.

Having had long hair all my life, I wasn't about to become the opposite of Rapunzel, my ladies who did and have made the decision to big chop, y'all rock! I just couldn't do it. I'll share 10 tips that are guaranteed to help throughout your journey of returning Natural.

1) Sweetheart, throw out that tub of relaxer! you either fling it through the window or dump it in the nearest trash can. (Lool funny enough I still have two tubs in my bathroom cabinet at home and one in school.....I have to give them out but the thing is, Every Black lady in my school is Natural. I'm saying this because you will get tempted, I fell prey to this the first time, and almost did a second time!

2) Retire your flat iron and blow-dryer. As difficult as this may sound, you have to, now I don't mean completely, but if you can help it please do) a number of people can't do without heat. You need to cutdown on the amount of heat applied to you hair. The more you flat iron and blow-dry on ridiculously high heat, the pointless your transition is...what is the point of transitioning out of your relaxed days only to face heat damaged hair? Hmm! food for thought.

I always say 'The fear of heat damage is the beginning of wisdom'

Even then when I was relaxed I didn't flat iron every week, at most 3/4 times a year. That's also how many times a year I relaxed my hair. *Go mummy!* I mean most of us start getting jacked up hair when our mum's aren't there to monitor what our hair is up to! anybody? right! we know ourselves -_-

Excessive heat application is bad for the hair! *Fried hair knocking on the door* don't open that door please.

Tip for my relaxed ladies: Try to stretch your relaxer as much as you can, so it doesn't over process your hair and thinning doesn't occur, and you save money, plus there's enough new growth to relax!

Anyway......

3) You will have to learn to stop dry detangling. Only comb when your hair is damp/wet with some conditioner/ leave-in-conditioner, you should never use a fine tooth comb, you can't afford to do that anymore, a wide tooth comb should become your friend.

4) Deep condition regularly, your hair will need all the moisture it can get.

5) Learn a low manipulation style that will camouflage your new growth/relaxed ends...my faves were bantu knots, two flat twists and a bun, braid outs are good too. (most twist outs on transitioning hair almost always look jacked up, yeah I said it)

6) Head over to Youtube, you'll learn so much there, Google is your friend, utilize it, asking questions on Instagram hair pages won't do much for you, do your research, it helps. Do not digest everything you read/see on the Internet (Youtube especially) I must warn you, some hair sites are uneducated on important aspects of Natural Hair and tend to forget that for the fact that one thing works for this person doesn't mean the next person will be successful with it. It all boils down to what works for you.

7) Subscribe to Natural Hair forums, they usually send helpful info your way, bi-weekly or so. There are lots of good ones out there, I seem to like Naturalhairrules.com a lot.

8) If you choose to transition with protective styles such as braids and weaves (I did with mostly braids) They should not stress your edges. Those edges are too precious. If it feels too tight, honey it is too tight, take it out. Do not let your stylist do tinko tinko with your edges!

Important - If you're still frolicking with a stylist that knows nothing about Natural hair, (I'm wondering why you still are but...) be mindful of what he/she puts in your hair to 'make it manageable' because I promise you that most people do not know that you can't treat Natural hair the way relaxed hair is treated and they may just slip in a perm during your wash and style for selfish reasons.

Reason why I only went to the salon to braid my hair, I washed and detangled my hair myself and did all necessary treatments before.

9) You will experience dryness throughout the journey because you hair is going through series of changes and it will have to adapt to those changes. I was in that boat until I discovered the L.O.C - (Leave-in-conditioner, oil, cream) method for moisture.

10) Lastly, keep your body hydrated and try to eat healthy, your hair won't grow off of junk food. Rather with healthy hair practices it will grow, trim off your ends slowly and be patient.