Transitioning can be hectic and a pain since you’re trying to figure out how to style, products to use and sometimes you just can’t figure out what your hair needs but you don’t have to go through all that, I got you covered on matters transitioning.
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Have been postponing putting up a post on transitioning Dos and Don’ts but here we are. I can’t really tell how long I transitioned because when I decided to embrace my natural hair, the word transitioning was nowhere in my hair vocabulary.
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My transitioning wasn’t a tough one, had no major expectations, unrealistic goals, all a girl wanted was to stay off heat and salon pulling and scratching. Let’s get down on it, shall we?
Also read: Transitioning to Natural Hair; Top 10 Tips
Table of Contents
Transitioning Tips and Mistakes to Avoid
Transitioning Tips/ guide
Transitioning method- You can decide to transition without a big chop or just chop off the damaged and relaxed ends. The big chop will give you a fresh start, learn what your hair needs as it grows but you’ll get limited on styling options and if you’re conscious of how you look on short hair then long term transitioning is your to go to method.
Long term transitioning needs patience and giving your hair lots of TLC since you work with two different textures(the damaged/relaxed and the ‘growth’) but you’ll keep your length and have plenty of styling options.
Research-Read and watch every natural hair content you can lay your hands on. Get to know about products, essential tools, styling options, textures, porosity and everything hair care. Join natural hair groups on Facebook, follow natural hair bloggers, YouTubers for inspiration, motivation and hair tips.
Let go of products- The products that worked on your relaxed hair will most probably not work on your all natural hair. It’s time to switch up to natural hair products, I know finding the right products can be a nightmare and my advice is, start with a single line of hair products and keep trying different lines at a time until you find one that work best for your hair.
Related posts: 8 Best Hair Transitioning Products
Patience and commitment-growing natural hair is a commitment not a miracle and it’ll take a while before fully transitioning, enjoy the process of learning and unlearning hair care tips, DIY and styling. Did you know not all protective styles are protective?
Mistakes to avoid while transitioning to Natural Hair
Comparison-This will have you sliding back to relaxers real quick. Don’t compare your hair to your favorite natural hair queen or a transitioning fellow. We all have different hair types, textures, porosity and so on just embrace and love yours as it is.
Unrealistic goals and expectations-Sorry, you’ll probably not ace that twist out and braid out and learning to braid and cornrow may be harder than you expect. Just be gentle, patient and trust the process and take one step at a time. Ooh did I mention that your favorite blogger or Youtuber’s products may not work on your hair? Keep that in mind too.
Trimming-As you grow out the damaged hair, the damaged ends got to go to avoid rugged look, tangles and knots and to achieve the bouncy, juicy and defined curls.
Also read: Trimming Natural Hair; Top 3 signs you need a trim.
Listening to neysayers- Just because they failed at embracing their hair doesn’t mean you are doomed to fail, don’t give them a second of your time. You got this and you’ll grow your hair long, lush and healthy.
Also read: How to keep your 4C Hair Healthy & Growing.
Hair regimen-Create a hair regimen/routine and religiously stick to it, your hair will thank you for it.
Not moisturizing- Dry hair is prone to breakage ,know your porosity time and moisturize your hair regularly, seal in the moisture and protect your ends too. Catch up on moisturizing tips on these posts.
I hope this post will be of help to you who is transitioning and all you need to do is embrace and love your hair in whichever state. And for the already naturals, I wanna know about your transitioning rules and tips.
Thanks, but if I have ever soften my natural here, can it remain natural if I don’t don’t again?
Hello Shillah, by softening you mean relaxing? Relaxed hair can’t be changed to natural but you can grow it out and slowly cut off the relaxed ends