Transitioning help.

Ive been transitioning for about a week. I naturally have very, very thick hair and I'm Hispanic. When I was 12 I started bleaching, dyeing, razor cutting, blow drying, flat ironing, rarely washing my hair. I used nothing to help it except coconut oil. When I was very young, before constant blowdrying, my hair was very curly, but after that it was wavy. I decided to transition because the frizz and damage was so bad i'd end up with giant knots, and as soon as I untangled, they were forming again. Im using HETT condish (also as a leave in), HETT gel, and HETMS finishing cream. My hair rarely knots now, but the new growth near my forehead is 3Cish, then my hair becomes bone straight with wavy ends. Should I lay off the curling products until im all natural? Any suggestions on what to do with my three, very different textures? I looove my new growth but the rest of my hair looks terrible and I have that wet/crunchy hair look. Can I just use a curling iron on my straight, damaged hair since its damaged anyway?

Sorry for the double post, (I hope thats allowed) but I wanted to add that I realize this may not technically be considered transitioning as I have not had a relaxer in years, but the straightened damaged hair is in the same circumstances, need to grow it out and cut it off to get to my natural texture. The damaged hair refuses to curl although new growth curls well, which is what I imagine relaxed girls are going through as well. Not sure if its technically considered transitioning if its without a chemical relaxer, though. Opinions?

I would stop using any heat, or very sparingly, because you don't want to damage it more than it is, it will just keep looking worse. If you have split ends, they can travel up the hair shaft, like if you where to split a blade of grass (or any other plant I believe), you can't put it back together again and if you keep messing with it you'll keep splitting it until it splits in half.

I suppose this could be called transitioning, you're trying to do something better for your hair and make it healthy, what we're all trying to do.

I would suggest looking into some curl activator, a lot of people rave about KCCC but it's rather expensive. There's also EcoStyler Gel and it's a good amount for the price, but you have to ask yourself if the ingredients bother you or not. Oh but reading back I see you have a gel. If that works for you than go for it.

To handle your different textures, I would suggest low manipulation or protective styling. I would also look into cutting off those damaged ends, you can do them in your time, say a trim every month, or a B/C.

Hopefully some other ladies will jump in to give you their advice, and more tips. Happy growing!

Hi Venom,

When you're comfortable, you're definitely going to need to get rid of those damaged ends. Not only are they unflattering but as your new growth grows it will only way your healthy hair down. Try protective styles as Treece suggested. Discontinue any direct heat styling and incorporate deep conditioners. The best advice I can give you is to treat your entire head of hair as if it were completely natural. That's what contributed to my stress-free transition for nearly 18.5 months.