New to Transitioning

Hello All!

I've recently decided to start transitioning from relaxed to natural hair, and I'm VERY anxious. I do not remember the texture of my natural hair. My mother started relaxing my hair when I was around 8 or 9, and before that I would get my hair pressed. Next weekend I plan to search through old photo albums in hope of finding at least one pic where you can see my texture. I have very little support from friends and family. All of the women in my family have long (at least BSL), relaxed hair. They all believe straight=beautiful. Out of my three closest friends one is white (she definitely doesn't get my hair woes) and the other two emulate anything they see on BET. They won't make the change until either Beyonce or most video models start wearing natural hair. I live in a small town in Northwest Florida, but I'm staring to see more and more women with natural hair. I'm wondering if this is a new trend or if my eyes are finally open to see what's been there all along.

I'm gearing up for a long transition (at least 16 months). Currently, my hair is in braids with extensions. My plan to go back and forth between wearing my hair down, in braids, and in a weave. Hopefully, this will make my transition easier and faster. My stylist is natural, but she does not have healthy natural hair. Her hair always looks dry to me. I think it's because she is constantly changing her hair color. She has been encouraging me to use Design Essential's new natural line. Probably because she sells DE. Has anyone tried DE natural product line? Any reviews?

I'm not really sure of the purpose of this post. I guess I just needed to get all of that out. My husband is tired of hearing me talk about natural/transitioning hair, and I haven't yet told my friends that I'm going natural. I'm not ready for the criticism and crazy looks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I understand your feelings of beginning the transition because I transitioned for a year. I BC'd on 9/22/10. It is a challenging process but I found a lot of knowledge and support on this website. Below are some links to information that was helpful to me in the beginning and I hope it will be helpful to you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr8GbJNJ2jM

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/278612/the_fine_art_of_protein_and_moisture.html?singlepage=true&cat=69

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/super-kinky-hair/how-to-create-your-hair-regimen

You can do it!

Good Luck Girlie! It sucks that you don't have a great support system from the people closet to you, but the ladies here @ Curly Nikki are awesome. Most of what I learned about styling, managing and taking care of my hair came from the lovely ladies here.

We got your back girl!

I can really relate to that story. MY mother went so far as to tell me I'd be ugly with short nappy hair and that my sisters would be prettier than me. At first it stung and it still does but it has only made me determined to prove them wrong on the nappy front.

Anyway looking thru old pics might not give you a true picture of what your natural hair is like. When i was younger haircare was just vaseline or a grease of some sort so i thought i didnt have a curl pattern but with some tlc im noticing 3c curls and 4a coils.

Lastly, no1 here gets me, Im all the way in Canada so natural hair is reserved for all the mixed chicks out there but u know what there is a wonderful family here at CN so as the song goes lean on me when your not strong.

P.S
During this stage its super important you keep your hair moisturised and that you develop a routine that works for you which contains the basic steps cowashing, moisturising then sealing.

Hope this helped

kinkycurlycoily wrote:I can really relate to that story. MY mother went so far as to tell me I'd be ugly with short nappy hair and that my sisters would be prettier than me. At first it stung and it still does but it has only made me determined to prove them wrong on the nappy front.

Anyway looking thru old pics might not give you a true picture of what your natural hair is like. When i was younger haircare was just vaseline or a grease of some sort so i thought i didnt have a curl pattern but with some tlc im noticing 3c curls and 4a coils.

Lastly, no1 here gets me, Im all the way in Canada so natural hair is reserved for all the mixed chicks out there but u know what there is a wonderful family here at CN so as the song goes lean on me when your not strong.

P.S
During this stage its super important you keep your hair moisturised and that you develop a routine that works for you which contains the basic steps cowashing, moisturising then sealing.

Hope this helped

Hmmm...that's a good point. I guess I'll just have to wait to see what my texture will be like. I'm hoping that it's similar to my daughter's, but my stylist says that my DD's texture is curly while mine is more wavy.

Thank you all for the support and words of encouragement.