10 Things to Cross Off Your List When Transitioning To Natural Hair
So you’ve decided to give this natural hair thing a try. Congratulations and welcome to the other side! Transitioning to natural hair is such an exciting journey that should be enjoyed! To make sure that you enjoy your transitioning journey, here are 10 things you should consider when deciding to transition to natural hair.
1. Start with trimmed ends
Most times when relaxed ladies decide to go natural, their hair is often in a damaged state and so they often hope that having Natural hair will solve all their hair problems.
Not that this isn’t completely true, but understand that transitioning to natural hair will not fix your relaxed hair, it will only help to keep your new roots healthy. And even though your relaxed hair will eventually be all gone by the end of your transitioning journey, you still want to make sure that the hair on your head is in a healthy state.
Thinning ends and split ends leads to breakage, tangles and knots. To ensure that your transitioning journey is off to a great start, you should take a look at your ends to see if they’re fit enough to go on the journey with you. If it turns out that they aren’t, you should trim off around 1” of hair. Starting with trimmed ends will not only give you a healthier looking hair to start your journey with, it will also give your “out-styles” a more polished look.
2. Create a healthy hair regimen
A regimen is a planned out activity of what you will be doing to your hair during pre-determined times of the week. Creating a regimen will help make things easier for you because it will be the driving force behind everything that you do to your hair. It will also help you clear out confusion and any overwhelm that you might have about your hair journey.
3. Be prepared to change-up your regimen and products as your natural hair grows out
Overtime, your natural hair will start to respond differently to products as your hair grows out, so be ready to switch things up when needed.
4. Know the basic products that you’ll be using in your hair
While there may seem to be a ton of products out there for natural hair, all you need to start a healthy hair journey is a good bottle of shampoo, conditioner (Leave-in, deep conditioning* treatment) and oils*.
You should have a collection of detangling combs, rat-tail combs, bobby pins*, butter fly clips, and shower cap*. These basic tools are just as important as the products that you’ll be using in your hair.
6. Understand that detangling your roots will require a new set of skills
A comb or any detangling tool could be your hair’s worst enemy when not used properly. It’s important that you choose the right set of comb to use and only comb out your hair after it has been softened with conditioner. Any pain or pull that you might experience while combing your hair is a sign that you’re not combing your hair properly
7. Drop the heat!
In your relaxed days, you probably had a variety of heat styling tools that you used to keep your hair looking straight and silky. However, since your natural hair is naturally coily, you want to stay away from blow dryers*, curling wands*, heat straighteners and any other heat styling appliances.
Unlike relaxed hair, heat damage in natural hair is very obvious and it does not look good. When it comes to drying your hair, you can wash your hair at night so that it dries by the next morning. Also, natural hair looks good when poofy, though you can use an edge-control to get sleek edges, if that’s the look that you’re going for.
8. Wear natural hair styles as often as possible
This means that you engage in hairstyles that are popular in the natural hair community, even if it that means braided extensions* and natural hair wigs*.
Since you’re on a journey from straight to coily, you want to start adopting a coily hair lifestyle in the early stages of your journey. This way, when you finally go natural, things will be much more easier for you.
9. Practice the 80/20 rule
The 80/20 rule simply states that 20% of your effort will yield 80% of your results. So when it comes to your natural hair, less is more. All you need to do to have healthy hair is to keep your hair and scalp clean and you also want to wear a low manipulation style such as corn rows, flat twists or even a wig*.
10. Use common sense
If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t and you should consider alternate option.
If you read something online and it just doesn’t feel or sound right, there’s a good chance that it isn’t and you should try another hair tip.
There are so many information out there that it’s easy for a newbie to get lost and confused. You should also be cautious of DIY hair recipes that might seem dangerous and questionable.
What else can you add to this list?
