I hate to break it to you but it is better to tell you now at the beginning. Ready? Ok. You will have to cut off your relaxer. You may choose to cut it all off at once. Or you may trim it gradually. But it will have to go.

Once you have decided to stop relaxing your hair you will want to be natural ASAP. But transitioning can be a lesson in patience. Don’t believe any product that promises to “revert” your relaxed hair back to kinky again.

Be ware of those telling you to pour beer or any other substance in your hair in an effort to make it “go back.” Relaxing your hair changes the molecular structure of your hair permanently the only why to get rid of it is to cut it off.

But don’t despair in the end you will have a head full of healthy hair if you take care of it during the transition process.

Breakage and Shedding

You will have breakage and shedding. You natural hair is stronger than the chemically treated part. The line where the two types meet is a weak point. Conditioning and wearing styles that limit the amount that you have to style your hair will help. In the end the relaxed ends will need to go anyway.

Opposing Opinions

Everyone will not agree with your decision to stop relaxing your hair. You should be prepared for that. If you haven’t already think about why you want to go natural. If you are solid and confident about your decision most people will respect that.

If you know that you are going to face a lot of opposition from friends or family, you may want to be low key about the whole thing. My mother always told me, “You don’t need to give people a stick to beat you with.” There are several transitioning styles that don’t draw attention to what you are doing with your hair.

If your current stylist is not a supporter of natural hair or only knows how to do chemical/heat styling. You may want to find a stylist who will be supportive of your decision.

Change in Hair Care and Routine

During this in between time you’ll need to take care of your hair differently. It will be important to condition and moisturize your hair regularly. You will need to wash your hair and comb your hair in ways that put tangling to a minimum. You will want to find a protective style that is right for you, if you will be growing your hair out and trimming the ends.

Back to Transitioning Page

Back to Natural Hair Care Guide Home Page

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (7)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

hey i have a question
written by Dominique Riley, May 27, 2008

hello my name is dominique riley and i really enjoyed your website. i found it really interesting. i haven't had a relaxer since march 13 and i made the decision that i wasn't getting anymore perms. i'm not going to do the BC, because i think that would be too much for me too handle. i was wondering can i wash my hair and braid it wet and when i drys just take my braids down and wear it like that? i was going to do this for the summer months and flat iron my hair when it isn't so hot.

thanks in advance and i'll be hearibg from you soon!

dominique :)

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

I\'ve Got an Answer :)
written by AmyM, May 27, 2008

Hey Dominique, Welcome to the site. Congradulation on you decision to transition. I think that that is a good option. It is easy on your hair and you'll have the crinkly look going on. I think it should look nice

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

my 6 1/2 year old NATURAL DAUGHTER
written by Krisjain, June 02, 2008

I am the mother of a beautiful 6 year old daughter, who has SO MUCH beautiful hair. I happen to be white and she is black, through the beauty of adoption God allowed me to mother this wonderful baby girl! However, he didnt prepare me for her hair! LOL

It seems everytime I walk into a beauty shop for help or advice or a style they want to put a perm on it, and twice they have succeeded, once the stylist didnt even confer with me ... my daughter was supposed to be getting braids that day!

I have learned that I can really only go to like the African Braid shops when I decide that she needs more of a style than I can handle(my expertise ends with twists and puffs).

My question today is about pressing, since I have given her the BC and it has grown out and is long, healthy, strong, natural and beautiful already, I am wondering about pressing her hair on occasion, is the extreme heat is safe for her hair? And is this any different to the kind of pressing with a, say Chi straightening iron that I sometimes use at home.

I am so glad to have found a site where I can learn and not be pressured to chemically alter her hair! Thanks for being here!
kris

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by AmyM, June 03, 2008

Hi Kris,

Welcome to the site. I want to commend you for working to learn about your daughters hair.

To answer your question, if you can try to learn how to style your daughter\'s hair in ways that accentuate her natural beauty that would be best.

It is so important to her self image not to see her hair as something that needs to be \"fixed\" or changed. I know that pressing it might make it easier for you. But in the long run if you both can learn to appreciate her hair characteristics now she may not have to deal with issues of self acceptance later.

If you haven\'t already, check out the videos section. There is another white mother of a black little girls that has some great videos on how to braid and cornrow. That is a good start.

If you don\'t have time to do it your self. Maybe find a black teenager in your neighborhood/church that could help.

I\'m not saying that pressing is bad for her hair, (although it really isn\'t the best). I am saying that it would be best to make pressing the last resort.

Here is a happy compromise, why not try blowing it out a little with a blow dryer with a comb attachment. You will have to do it in sections. But it will make it a little easier to handle with out completely subduing all of her curls.

I hope that help. Again welcome to the site.

Amy

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by shygirl, August 22, 2008

I am seriously contemplating going natural after being seriously burned by a chemical relaxer twice! It was to the extent that medication had to be prescribe to heal the areas of my scalp that was badly damaged. I am try to educate myself about what to expect during the transition period. My last relaxer was about a month ago, so I have a ways to go. I am really interested in knowing if I could roundbrush my hair instead of cutting or implementing some of the braids, locs, etc.?

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +1

...
written by MrsJAG85, October 10, 2008

Hey Shygirl, Looks like you and I are in the same boat. I just decided that I dint want anymore relaxers. Ijust joined this site about 2 days ago.... Good luck with your journey. Sorry to hear that you had such a terrible experience with relaxers. I didnt know people could get burned that bad. All the more reason to stay away from relaxers. I have been burned before, but wow that puts it into perpective

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by chisellecouture, November 15, 2008

Hi, i've been growing out my perm since August 2007. Earlier during my trasitioning stage I just flat ironed and curled it as usual. When my new growth started kicking in, after conditioning I would section it in about 7 pieces and twist it up into a ball(similar to how lisa lopes wore hers) until it dried and when i took them down my hair was like a huge curly bush kinda how erykah badus hair is now. But that made it really tangled, so I havent done that in a while. Now I stick to hot curling it, and flat ironing. I just feel like im putting too much heat on it. I've never worn extentions and honestly I don't have the money to get them. I've always took care of my own hair since junior high. I'm now a high school senior. I dont know what to do with it. After washing it other day it was so tangled, but its usually the most tangled where the new growth and the perm meets. I really want to just do the BC!!! But i'm so afraid. I've always had really long hair, past mid-back. I dont know what to do with it! And the thought of just getting a perm is really tempting, but i've come to far to go back! Any suggestions?

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

---