AuBurn's Hair Story

Hi you all!

K so I am currently transitioning for the second time now and I have to say it is pretty manageable. Still, I've yet to find the perfect combination of products to keep my hair in a much healthier shape.

My mom began putting relaxers in my hair when I was 3 years old. Yes, 3 YEARS OLD ya'll! She actually did a good job at keeping up with it and making sure my hair was really healthy. She used alot of Nexxus and Sebastian products as well as some other, and relaxed my hair with Just For Me.

My hair was bsl to mid back length up until I began highschool. My mom had stopped doing my hair and I began to take care of it, or atleast I thought I was..

I stopped moisturizing my hair, I would just blow dry my hair instead of rollersetting it and then blow drying. Then one day, I don't know what got into me but I became obsessed with curly hair. I would wear braidouts more often, and gel my ENTIRE head to try and get some type of curl pattern with much failure. So I decided to go natural in 2005.

I transitioned for 12 to about 14 months and I really enjoyed it because I knew it was all worth it because I was becoming closer and closer to get rid of these relaxed ends. I had 2 mini chops inbetween my transition, and I would wear my hair in braid outs for the beginning of my transitioned, then after months 4-5 I would get my mom to blow dry my hair and I'd be unhappy with the not so sleek roots that I would immediately gel down my hair and wear my hair in a bun for the rest of the week.

Then, fast forward to summer of 2006, I was about 14 months into my transition and I relaxed out of frustration because I had an event to go to and I didn't know what to do to my hair. From then on I pretty much still DC'd but didn't necessarily take proper care of my hair alnd my hair was then bsl-ish.

Fast forward to today, I am completely determined and I have WAY more knowledge now than I had before. I am planning to transition for maybe 18 months to 24 months. Once my relaxed ends reach bsl (i'm a little past apl now), I'll start cutting them off.

I can't wait to see these curls! My natural hair, MY hair.

Thank you all for reading ladies, and stay tuned for progress pictures!

Welcome to the challenge!! You will find quite a few of our curlies are transitioning. I am sure you will find a hair twin, as well as tons of encouragement. I am looking forward to reading your journey. We have two transitioners that are days away from the BC!! WE are all very excited about it. Again, welcome!!

Welcome to the BnB side of CN.com! lol I loved reading your story and I'm sure you'll be able to make it through the transition this time because you'll have plenty of help from all these amazing curlies that post here

That's a pretty long transition so just stay encouraged and don't give up hope! In the end you'll have the reward of seeing your beautiful curls

Welcome to the challenge...and this is the perfect place to be for support, encouragement and knowledge.

I'll be surprised if you make it through your transition time...that are some ladies on this site that have awesome hair!!! You will get so excited that you may b/c before you know it...

Stay focused and when you feel the need to relax (your hair and your mind) just check in here!!!

^ Thank you all so much! I won't give up hope!

Hey Auburn, welcome. I am happy you joined. Have fun here

^ Thanks, doll!

Weekend Update: I shampooed with Organix Coco Milk Shampoo and DC'd with Silicon Mix overnight. Results....? Silky, Smooth, Soft, Full of Volume hair!! I will post pics in a sec, but ladies this DC left my hair feeling great, and a great bonus is it smells magnificent!

I tried this DC plenty of times before but I think leaving it in overnight really made the impact. I will be trying this again because after I rollersetted and blow dryed my hair is looking SUPER straight and soft AND shiny! (Looks like I just got a relaxer lol)

Hey Auburn, just be careful with that silicon mix. It is full of cones so it will build up quickly on your hair. So you will constantly have to use sulfate shampoos on your hair to wash out the build up.

@ IB, Really? even though I dont use it as a leave in?

Yes, even though you don't use it as a leave in. Once you apply it, it sticks to the hair and coats it and the only way to get it out is with the sulfate shampoos. Silicone serums are great to use right before blowdrying or flatironing to help prevent heat damage but long term use can make the hair become unhealthy.

@ IB, Oh ok I see, Since you've been transitioning as well, what DC's do you recommend that has some kind of slip and possibly not necessarily adds shine or strength to the hair. Natural ingredients or not
TIA!

Welcome. I was also going for the long haul of at least 18 mths. But I can't do it any longer. The two textures are getting to me now. I wish you great success in your journey again. Is that you in your profile pic?

Some of the conditioners I have tried and liked were Tresemme Moisture Rich, Aubrey Organic Honey Suckle Rose, Trader Joe's Nourish Spa or Tea Tree tingle, Jessicurl weekly deep conish tx, Devaone Condish.

Welcome AuBurn! I transitioned for over 18mos Good Luck! Have you ever tried the organix coconut milk conditioner? Also a good DC is simply mixing olive oil and coconut oil. It doesn't provide much slip at first (i was oh so skeptical as I applied it) but it is heavenly when you wake up in the morning!

^ Really? I've tried the Organix Coco Milk but I don't DC with it, I need a good DC.
Won't it leave my hair greasy after I rinse it out? I want something I can rinse out without having to shampoo

Welcome to the challenge and good luck on your journey!!

Not at all! Those were my concerns too (even as applying it) but I think because of the way coconut oil penetrates your hair it is completely absorbed by your hair. Sometimes I don't even wanna rinse it out! Dajewel did a whole post on it on curlynikki.com ill try to find it for you. Lynnie and Jamaicacurl are some of the other people that you can ask although I haven't ran across a single person who didn't have an amazing experience with it. I totally understand your hesitation though...that was me!

^I'll have to give that a try. Reason why I ask is last week I DC's with real coconut milk and coconut oil and my hair was extremely weighed down after rollersetting. It felt disgusting. Maybe I didnt rinse it out well enough?

Hmmmm I'm not sure! I've never used coconut milk though. If you don't like it I promise I'll give you have my lottery winnings when I hit the jackpot! lol no but really the best part about this phase is that if something doesn't work for you it's not all bad...at least you know for future reference that you would have to change it up a little. Or maybe it will work on your naturally curly hair as opposed to on the relaxed hair so you may want to try it at different stages of your transition. some of the products that didn't work for me when I was relaxed are now heaven sent...and vice versa...

here's the article: http://www.curlynikki.com/2009/12/our-resident-curly-chemist-on-olive-and.html

My second fav DC is this: http://images.buzzillions.com/images_products/00/65/bioinfusion-olive-oil-deep-conditioning-treatment-12oz_531193_175.jpg there are a million DCs out there I hope you don't turn into a product junky lol. Plus you really don't get to see if a product works for you until you've tried it a couple times. HTH

^ you are absolutely right. I will def. give it try and if it doesn't work now then maybe it will later, or not... lol

Update:

I'll be co washing and braiding 'n' curling tonight for a braidout tomorrow!

Will have pics and pics of the past weekend's rollerset/blowdry silicom mix results!