Questions for naturals who were relaxed at some point

[danimani]

Did you natural texture surprise you? I seriously don't remember what my natural texture is, and I'm not far enough in my transition to determine that yet.

I was wondering if you had one thought in mind about your natural texture and come to find out, it was completely different in the end?

And for those who had a longer transition before BC or didn't BC, how many months along in your transition were you really able to get a feel for your hair type and texture?

 

[PaperClip]

Did you natural texture surprise you? I seriously don't remember what my natural texture is, and I'm not far enough in my transition to determine that yet.

I was wondering if you had one thought in mind about your natural texture and come to find out, it was completely different in the end?

And for those who had a longer transition before BC or didn't BC, how many months along in your transition were you really able to get a feel for your hair type and texture?

Yes and no and yes.... I knew my natural hair did not resemble that of my relaxed hair. What I was most unsure about were the options of how to wear this natural hair: blow-outs/press and curls, braids/twists, or naturally curly (whatever this meant). I am learning that all these options are accessible to me.

I am presently in my 10th month of transition. I thought/planned to go at least 18 months.... But that dream faded when, once I decided I was going to transition, cut off quite a few inches, so I'm much closer to my BC than I ever thought I would be and I'm even more excited (anxious) about seeing my natural hair and getting to know it.

I see I'm a textbook 4a.... I see the curls/coils there without much effort.... My most important goal besides hair health is hair length....

HTH.

 

[Cichelle]

I was totally surprised. My plans and my whole mind set were geared for someting different.

I transitioned for 14 months, but I never really trusted what I saw because it just seemed to me when I cut off the relaxed ends, the look of my new growth would change. I think it's hard to know your real texture until all the relaxer is gone.

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

The only thing that has surprised me about my natural hair is that it actually retains its texture all the way to the ends. Before I relaxed my hair, my hair would be wavy at the roots but straight in the center to the ends. I hated this. It was due to daily combing and brushing. Now since I am natural again and only comb my hair when I wash it, my hair is curly/wavy from the roota to the toota!
I transitioned for a year and 4 months so I was sure able to see/feel my hair by then.

 

[BrownSkin2]

I was not surpirised by my natural hair. I got a relaxer in my teen years. I knew as a child my mother had a real problem caring for my hair. I already knew what my hair texture was like. I really had to educate myself on taking care of it.

 

[Cheleigh]

Did you natural texture surprise you? I seriously don't remember what my natural texture is, and I'm not far enough in my transition to determine that yet.

I was wondering if you had one thought in mind about your natural texture and come to find out, it was completely different in the end?

And for those who had a longer transition before BC or didn't BC, how many months along in your transition were you really able to get a feel for your hair type and texture?

I was relaxed since I was twelve and was always pressed before that, so I didn't remember my texture at all, so my texture was a total surprise--I didn't know what to expect (and hadn't really thought about what it might be).

I started really seeing my actual texture about six months into my transition (you can see it in my transitioning album). But I couldn't really see how thick/thin my hair was until after I did the BC.

 

[Poohbear]

Did you natural texture surprise you? I seriously don't remember what my natural texture is, and I'm not far enough in my transition to determine that yet.

I was wondering if you had one thought in mind about your natural texture and come to find out, it was completely different in the end?

And for those who had a longer transition before BC or didn't BC, how many months along in your transition were you really able to get a feel for your hair type and texture?

I was somewhat surpised. At first, I thought it was going to be naturally straight, kinky, with no curl pattern... come to find out, my hair is extremely coily, spirally, springy along with some kinks!

I didn't have a long transition... only 7.25 months.

 

[jngn]

I was suprised by how easy it was to take care of. I was expecting to slave over my hair and have comb-out headaches. I was also surprised to see how thick my hair is. When I had a relaxer, my junk was thin as heck; see-through and everything. Now my hair breaks ponytail holders.

 

[Tene]

I don't remember my hair being like this when I was younger. I was surprised about how the back of my hair looked cause I couldn't tell by looking at the new growth. But the top and front of my hair I knew what it wasn't gonna look like cause i stretched my relaxers every three months. But I didn't know what it looked like until I started stretching.

 

[Browndilocks]

I was surprised because I thought my hair was way nappier than it actually is. It took me about 3 years to really see my texture since I didn't BC.

 

[beyondcute]

Before I start let me say Im NOT natural YET but Ive been transitioing for a year and some change. The back of my head is 85% natural so I can see my texture now. And yes it did/does suprise me. I thought I would have some Angela Davis type action going on but its NOT happening *sigh* When I was in between relaxers I could feel waves and sometimes my newgrowth got long enough to wrap around my fingers but I never put 2 and 2 together...

 

[Crackers Phinn]

Did you natural texture surprise you? I seriously don't remember what my natural texture is, and I'm not far enough in my transition to determine that yet.

My texture was a complete surprise to me.

I was wondering if you had one thought in mind about your natural texture and come to find out, it was completely different in the end?

I used to sit with Dark n Lovely Super on my head for about 40 minutes and my hair still never got bone straight. So when I decided to go natural, I figured my natural hair was going to look like some mutant strain of wirey troll hair.

And for those who had a longer transition before BC or didn't BC, how many months along in your transition were you really able to get a feel for your hair type and texture?

I began my transition in Feb, but it wasn't until September that I was actually able to identify my hair type.
http://public.fotki.com/Pillar/2006/september/coils_yay_6.html

 

[1QTPie]

Yes, I was surprised. I didn't get my first relaxer until I was 13, but before then, my hair was always combed out or pressed.

I thought my hair was a lot kinkier than it truly is because of how hard it was to comb when I "needed" a relaxer. It wasn't until I was about 4-5 in with about 4 inches of new growth that I didn't try to straighten in about the same amount of time, that I saw that my hair was less kinky and more coily and just as fine textured as I thought was.

 

[plove]

No, I would relax my hair like 2 or 3 time a year so I have always known how my natural hair would be. I have very soft hair thats why it was easy for me to go so long without relaxing the new growth.

 

[Enchantmt]

I hadnt given much thought to the texture, so I accepted it as it came. And it actually changed as some of the heat damage grew out. What did suprise me was that I had 3 different textures. The nape is very fine, the crown coarse, and the rest in-between.

 

[ThursdayGirl]

I was somewhat surprised, but I transitioned for about 14months so I had enough new growth to know the goings on . My hair still looks and behaves differently than I expected...but I'm cool with it.

 

[firecracker]

I was happily surprised by my natural texture. I am still learning about what works and doesn't work. I sure wish I could leave color though.

 

[ArrrBeee]

I had no idea what my natural texture was like. I was surprised to say the least.

 

[Peachtree]

Yes, i was surprised
I didn't remember my childhood hair
(in my childhood pics, my hair was always in many ponytails or braided)

When I was relaxed, my new growth would always feel so dry & would tangle
I just knew that was what I had to look forward to... dry, tangled, unmanageable natural hair.

I was really surprised to see that was NOT the case.
(well, lemme say this... my natural hair will still dry, tangle & become unmanageable, however, NOW I know the proper techniques and products to use to fix those issues...)

I'm glad I stuck to my journey... cause my new growth during my relaxed days was very deceiving

 

[danimani]

Yes, i was surprised
I didn't remember my childhood hair
(in my childhood pics, my hair was always in many ponytails or braided)

When I was relaxed, my new growth would always feel so dry & would tangle
I just knew that was what I had to look forward to... dry, tangled, unmanageable natural hair.

I was really surprised to see that was NOT the case.
(well, lemme say this... my natural hair will still dry, tangle & become unmanageable, however, NOW I know the proper techniques and products to use to fix those issues...)

I'm glad I stuck to my journey... cause my new growth during my relaxed days was very deceiving

Your hair is beautiful by the way!

 

[Belle Du Jour]

I knew I had that type 4 hair (even before I knew that it was called type 4!) but when I first started looking at nappturality I was braided up. So I would look in some albums (yante coi, isis, anika) and I thought my hair would look like theirs. I thought, wow, all this time I had that type 3 hair. I guess we didn't know how to style it. I love my type 4 hair--dont get me wrong. I am more frustrated with length retention than texture.

 

[cocomama]

...
I transitioned for 14 months, but I never really trusted what I saw because it just seemed to me when I cut off the relaxed ends, the look of my new growth would change. I think it's hard to know your real texture until all the relaxer is gone.

I agree with this! You never really know until you chop

 

[curlilocs]

I wasn't really surprised by my texture. My relaxed hair was curly so I figured once it grew out it would just be a tighter curl/ coil. However, I was surprised at it's manageability though. It has been super easy for me to maintain my hair since going natural, even as it grows out.

 

[LovelyMiracle]

Peachtree your hair is beautiful, I was on your fotki and saw that you make your own butter. I copied the ingredients but was wondering about measurements. I'm tryina be like you homie! Also, what do you use for a daily moisturizer other than your butter?

 

[Country gal]

Did you natural texture surprise you? I seriously don't remember what my natural texture is, and I'm not far enough in my transition to determine that yet.

I was wondering if you had one thought in mind about your natural texture and come to find out, it was completely different in the end?

And for those who had a longer transition before BC or didn't BC, how many months along in your transition were you really able to get a feel for your hair type and texture?

I remember my hair being very thick as a child. I don't remember any coils except for in the back.

 

[Soleado]

Did you natural texture surprise you? I seriously don't remember what my natural texture is, and I'm not far enough in my transition to determine that yet.

I was wondering if you had one thought in mind about your natural texture and come to find out, it was completely different in the end?

And for those who had a longer transition before BC or didn't BC, how many months along in your transition were you really able to get a feel for your hair type and texture?

Yes, and no. No, because when I was relaxed I was able to use gel and scrunch to get big curls and my hair stayed straight pretty well. Yes, because I did not realize that I had several different textures on my head and I did expect the coils.

I transitioned for about 11 months and I can say that it gave me SOME idea about what my hair would look like, but in no way did I know how it would behave. For example, I think of shrinkage.

 

[Soleado]

I agree with this! You never really know until you chop

I agree as well!

 

[Amour]

sorry to hijack the thread... but just wanted to know whether any of the naturals transitioned to SL or longer.

If so, how long was your transition?

Im thinking that, i don't want to have to chop lower than SL; but at t he same time want the transition to go as quick as possible erplexed