Am I ready for the BC??

Hi everyone. I am a soon to be 50 yr old, thinking about going natural. My daughter (Mstokes2008) BC'd almost 4 months ago and has never looked back and has me really excited about going natural. I know I don't want to relax my hair anymore but the hair in the front of my head is very thin, especially in the crown area. My last relaxer was sometime back in Feburary, but I am afraid to BC because of my thinning areas, and I feel like I would practically have to shave it to get everything even and I'm not ready for that. I currently wear wigs about 90% of the time but with me being in the Texas heat my head gets HOT!! I want to be able to just WnG and let my hair breath!! Please help me

Products, regimen suggestions, or any kind of advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

congratulations!!!

maybe it doesn't have to be alll even and all natural immediately. you could stop getting relaxers, but let it wait and grow before you cut it.

i had long relaxed hair, let it grow out for months, then cut it down so that i just had an inch of relaxed hair left. i wore that for a little while, still took too long to wash it. then i cut some more of it in the front, so i have like two inches of hair in the very front, then four in the middle, then five inches in the back. i just wear a head band every day and do braid outs every day, to try to hide the different lengths. by that, i mean i braid every night and un braid in the day. that makes the relaxed part look like the natural part, all uniformly wavy. it's not a perfect routine; i'm itching for it to grow so it will look better in twists or something that doesn't require me to braid and un braid twice a day. i'm sure eventually i'll find some holding product with good ingredients and then i won't have to re braid to keep the same look; it won't fall out over night. for now, i 'set it' with a mix of water and oil. like olive oil or coconut oil or grapeseed oil.

so, long story short, if you are not ready to cut it all off with the thinning, i'd say it's ok if you take awhile to cut all the relaxed hair off. you could skip the wigs too. without the friction and weight of a wig, it might grow better.

wear it in buns, it looks long enough for that. or braid it at night, and un braid it for a curly look. or put it in big twists and pull them into an up-do. there are lots of curly styles all over this site that blend the two hair textures. in styling and profiling section there is a lot; this site is where i got all of these style ideas!

now that you are not getting relaxers, the thinning parts might grow in a lot better. they have a chance now!! i am happy for you.

HappyCurly wrote:congratulations!!!

maybe it doesn't have to be alll even and all natural immediately. you could stop getting relaxers, but let it wait and grow before you cut it.

i had long relaxed hair, let it grow out for months, then cut it down so that i just had an inch of relaxed hair left. i wore that for a little while, still took too long to wash it. then i cut some more of it in the front, so i have like two inches of hair in the very front, then four in the middle, then five inches in the back. i just wear a head band every day and do braid outs every day, to try to hide the different lengths. by that, i mean i braid every night and un braid in the day. that makes the relaxed part look like the natural part, all uniformly wavy. it's not a perfect routine; i'm itching for it to grow so it will look better in twists or something that doesn't require me to braid and un braid twice a day. i'm sure eventually i'll find some holding product with good ingredients and then i won't have to re braid to keep the same look; it won't fall out over night. for now, i 'set it' with a mix of water and oil. like olive oil or coconut oil or grapeseed oil.

so, long story short, if you are not ready to cut it all off with the thinning, i'd say it's ok if you take awhile to cut all the relaxed hair off. you could skip the wigs too. without the friction and weight of a wig, it might grow better.

wear it in buns, it looks long enough for that. or braid it at night, and un braid it for a curly look. or put it in big twists and pull them into an up-do. there are lots of curly styles all over this site that blend the two hair textures. in styling and profiling section there is a lot; this site is where i got all of these style ideas!

now that you are not getting relaxers, the thinning parts might grow in a lot better. they have a chance now!! i am happy for you.

Thanks HappyCurly for the information. I'm really excited about the whole transition process! I like the idea of wearing twist for awhile. I love the look of the braid outs i just worry that my hair my so thin that it would look crazy. I've gotten so tired of wearing the wigs and i haen't found that "perfect" one yet, so i feel like i'm spending alot of unnecessary money trying to find that "right" style. My hear is long enough for a small bun but i worry about pulling it back all the time since the front is already breaking. i will explore some options though and let you know what i decide to do!!

Muz wrote: Welcome! My advice is to keep transitioning until you are mentally ready to deal with whatever will be revealed You don't HAVE to BC. In fact, my mom transitioned the entire time a few years ago with just two strand twists (and that's still how she wears it, I'm starting to think she should just loc it. LOL). I went a year before cutting mine, there are others here who went two years or more without cutting theirs. Just because an immediate BC worked for your daughter, doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you.

The important part is you've started the journey by giving up the relaxers Also, if you're using a lot of heat on your hair, you may want to stop for a while because heat can be very damaging to if you use it constantly. Air drying is the way to go (I did it all the time when I officially decided to transition). If you want to use a dryer, I say use a cool hooded dryer;.

As far as the thinning, I've heard that Castor Oil will help thicken up thin hair. There are a couple of success stories on this board. But you'd need to use the Castor Oil you get from a health foods store, not the stuff in the grocery/drugstores that you use for *ahem* other issues

Hi Muz!! I'm thinking that one weekend i may try the two strand twists just to see what it looks like on me. For some reason i feel like that may be too young a style for me. (I feel a little old for it) But i may try it one weekend just to get a feel for it. I like the look on others and hopefully will like it on me enough to wear it out. My daughter is being very supportive and my husband is kind of freaked out about the whole cutting thing! But i want to let my hair breath! My daughter and i both are ready to chronicle "our" journey! I'll keep you posted!!!

I agree with the other ladies, you should wait until you are really ready. I had the same problem with my edges. It is funny because I had almost the same post as you about 4 months ago. When I bc I thought that my edges would be a big problem for me but it actually made them look better (to me) and gave me more confidence. In the end you have to make sure you are ready. I think that anyone who has bc'd will tell you that you will know when you are ready because one day you will just do it.

Also I had been using the jamaican black castor oil and I feel like it helped not only my edges but all of my hair to thicken up. I would just massage it in around my edges every night and apply through my entire head once or twice a week. They have a castor oil challenge in the natural hair challenge forum if your interested.

Good luck on your journey and you have a lovely daughter.
p.s she looks like you [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thank you MellowOne, Thanks for the advice! I've been thinking about doing braid outs for starters just to see how that goes! Wish me luck!! And yes I do have a lovely daughter, she is the pride and joy of my life!!! She is an only child and definitly my best friend! I'm glad that she is with me on this journey, i'm sure i would never even have considered it if i hadn't been watching her on her journey - now i'm excited!!!