Transitioning into the New Year!

Happy New Year!!!! I pray that everyone's holiday season was awesome. Mine was absolutely amazing even though I wasn't able to go home for the holidays. My fiance surprised me with a late Christmas gift a couple days ago, and this was what was in the box!

Two 16oz buckets of my absolute, most favorite hair moisturizer in.... the .....world. I'm marrying THE greatest man in the world......sigh.......The Lord knew what he was doin when he sent me that man........::smiling::.......Anyhoo! lol

I figured it would be appropriate to focus on transitioning from relaxed/processed hair to natural. I've been getting a LOT of questions about this so I think it's a good place to start - especially since this seems to be the time of year when a lot of black women decide to go natural. (New year, new you, new hair....::shrugg::)

I'll be honest, I think this is the most difficult part of the natural hair journey simply because you're having to care for two different hair types. (And depending on your natural curl pattern, they can be two EXTREME hair types.) So here are a few guidelines that helped me through the transitioning process:

Step 1: Have a vision.

This was my natural hair inspiration in 2006:

And this is what my hair looked like when I was transitioning in 2007:

Why do you want to wear your hair natural? How do you want to wear your hair natural? Is there a particular style you like? Answer these questions, then GO for it! If you're growing your hair out gradually, chances are you can execute some if not most, of the natural hair styles you like WHILE your hair is transitioning.

Step 2: Learn how to execute your vision.

This is where the patience comes in. Trust me, patience is NOT something I'm good at. The natural hair process gave me a new level of patience. I had no choice BUT to be patient because there were some days where I was in the mirror for over two hours. (note: an hour is way to long for me!) I began to study my hair - see what products it liked, which ones it didn't. How long I could hold a style if I used one conditioner apposed to another.  From there, I read a lot then improvised a LOT.  My transition style (shown above) is more of a modified braid out. At first, I followed the simple braid out technique but since my relaxer was so BONE straight, my ends always looked string-y. My "modified braid out" included braiding my hair half way, then adding perm rods on the ends to give more of the spiral/curly look. I'll go more into detail of this particular transitioning style in another blog because it really was my saving grace in reaching my natural goal. It deserves it's own blog.

I also learned how to press/flat iron natural hair when my hair was transitioning. I love versatility and knew I wanted to wear my hair straight as well. If you want to wear your hair pressed/flat ironed while it's natural, LEARN how to press your hair while you're transitioning. (More on pressing natural hair in another blog, too.)

Step 3: SUPPORT!  

There will be days when you will be stumped! Get some people around you that are on the same journey, or better yet, people that have completed the journey. I found that even friends that were still relaxed would encourage me. I'm telling you, you will need people like that.

That's it for now. I think my next blog will be the "how-to" for my transition style. Even if your hair is relaxed and you want a curly style, it's super cute and works for relaxed hair too. Till then!