Going natural ?

[blessed]

I recently have been seriously thinking about going natural. One reason is beacuse i have a hard time with my hair. And second i am really interested in seeing my hair in its natural form. But i have a big problem my hair is a little past my shoulders and i need to know do i need to cut my relaxed hair to start natural or can i start right now the way it is.

 

[lovelymissyoli]

Congrats on your decision. I’m not 100% natural yet, but at the moment I’m transitioning. You have to choose for yourself what you want to do but, you can either do the big chop (which involves cutting off all your relaxed ends and sporting your natural hair --- whether it be a TWA or longer natural hair), or you can transition, which allows you to grow your natural hair out until you see fit to get rid of your relaxed ends. Whatever you decide, good luck and happy hair growing .

 

[VelvetRain]

I am in this dilemna now. I really don't want to chop off all my hair now to a twa but would rather transition for as long as I can and then cut it. I don't think I would look good with a twa any. The more hair I have to play around with the better I will feel.

 

[patient1]

The beautiful thing is that you can choose. If you want to cut you can or you can transition slowly. You can transition and change your mind. With a big chop it's done and there's no waffling (although you can always relax later).

I think it would be great if everyone could experience the liberation of short natural hair at least once, but I believe more than that. . .everyone should honor their own hair choices.

One thing I love about this board is that all the different hair choices are respected and texturized/relaxed/natural etc all communicate together.

 

[ren214]

Blessed;

I've been natural for about 3yrs now and love it. I transitioned by braids, weaves and wigs for about 1yrs. I gradually cut my hair off every 2-3months. my hair now is the same lenght or more than it has been all my life.

 

[*Happily Me*]

I agree with the others. Choosing to chop or transition is a personal choice. I chose to transition and I cut my hair every month. I'm very interested to see how a head full of natural hair will look on me too

 

[blessed]

Thank all you ladies for your wonderful advise. I feel that transitioning slowly will be better for me. If you can please let me know what I'm in for as far as hair breakage is concerned and what you did to avoid damaging your hair while maintaining both textures .

 

[*Happily Me*]

I've been quite fortunate in that I have very little breakage . I do fight chronically dry hair though

 

[blessed]

I've been quite fortunate in that I have very little breakage . I do fight chronically dry hair though

Thats great that you really haven't experienced much breakage. Now that your hair is natural do you find you self going to the Dominicans alot when you want your hair straight. And do you find that your hair is growing faster now that its natural

 

[BLESSED1]

Thank all you ladies for your wonderful advise. I feel that transitioning slowly will be better for me. If you can please let me know what I'm in for as far as hair breakage is concerned and what you did to avoid damaging your hair while maintaining both textures .

I like your screen name

A lot of us who transitioned/are currently transitioning posted helpful advice here , HTH and good luck on your journey to natural

 

[Peachtree]

Congrats on deciding to go natural.

No u do not have to cut off all of ur hair (unless u want to)... point being, it's ur choice.

My relaxed hair was beyond bs (no quite waist length) when I transitioned. The journey took 18 mths. I maintained about 80% of my relaxed hair by wearing buns, ponys, combing only when loaded with conditioner, finding very low manipulation styles & keeping that same style for 1 wk at a time.

Transitioning was fun! I learned alot about my hair (& my patience, lol)!!!

 

[DDTexlaxed]

I couldn't take transitioning. My hair was short already so I just chopped. Do what is right for you. The ladies on this site give great advice as far as going natural goes. There are plenty of naturals on the site, so you can post any questions you have. Happy growing!

 

[*Happily Me*]

Thats great that you really haven't experienced much breakage. Now that your hair is natural do you find you self going to the Dominicans alot when you want your hair straight. And do you find that your hair is growing faster now that its natural

I'm not 100% natural yet.. I've gone to the dominicans' once since deciding to transition. I did not like the experience so I doubt I'll go back. For my straight styles I use a blow dryer with a comb attachment. It's fairly easy 'cause my ends were relaxed so i did not have to fight with my hair too much although, i am trying to refrain from heat for awhile. My hair grows very slowly.

For questions and support, browse over to the Transitioners support thread as Blessed1 suggested. There are quite a few transitioners there documenting and sharing their experiences.

 

[firecracker]

Take your time. I know its a big decision. It took me a year to finally go natural. I did the bc March 2005. I tried transitioning for two months with two strand twist but I got antsy. I was raised on a press n curl from 6-14 and a perm from 14 til 41. So this is a whole new world for me. I am loving it!! It feels wonderful to have natural hair that I can wash n go, play with the lil cousins waterfighting and just getting acquainted with my glory. Whatever you decide just do it for you!