Ways to prevent breakage while transitioning

Hello Naturalistas, How are you all doing? Kinks and all?

One of the things transitioning naturalistas have to deal with is breakage. Breakage is a concern more for transitioning naturalistas because your hair is strained and stressed to a certain degree at the line of demarcation

(Where previously processed hair meets your new growth) and you can create more stress for your hair if it is not properly taken care of.  Here are a few ways to prevent breakage while transitioning.

Moisturise from roots to ends; It's important to also moisturise the ends of your hair. Avoid using too many products at once as that can cause your hair to dry out easily. Moisturising and sealing your hair generously will keep your hair soft and avoid the breakage that comes with dry hair.

Detangle your wet hair only; You do not want to detangle your hair while it is dry. Detangling is easier on your hair when it is conditioned and wet.

Trim Often

Deep condition weekly; Deep conditioning is the best friend of every transitioner. Deep conditioning helps strengthen the relaxed strands and keeps the natural bit of your hair in top shape! I know deep conditioning every week seems abit too much but your hair will thank you for it.

Cut out heat

Use satin Bonnet or satin pillow; You don't anything harsh rubbing against your hair.

Protective styling; Ensure to do protective styles that requires less manipulation and protective styles that do not cause more harm than good e.g Styles that pull too much at your scalp.

Protein treatment; You can do this once a month. It strengthens the 2 textures you have. A simple protein treatment recipe is;

1 Egg
2-3 tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tsp Honey
1 tsp Olive Oil (or any other oil you have)

Mix it all together then continue like you would a deep conditioning treatment.

What are the other ways you prevent your natural hair from breakage?

Transitioning Corner: Protective styling

Hello Transitioners,

How are you all doing? Kinks and all? Finally, in my series I would be talking about one of my favourite things to do; Protective style. I love having various options of what to add to my hair to 'protect' it.

Bantu Knot Out.

My go-to protective styles are; Bantu Knot and knot out, yarn locs, yarn braids, turbans, braids. The reason these are my go-to styles is because I still have the flexibility to take care of my new growth by keeping it moisturised. We're all about healthy hair. I make sure to spray my hair everyday while it is in a protective style and deep condition after I take it down.

Turban Styles:

Yarn Locks: This I take down after 6 weeks regularly

Crochet Braids: This I take down after 4 weeks

Yarn Braids: This is what I currently have on and the maximum I can keep the hair for is 6 weeks.

Challenges: The challenges I have with protective styling are;

1. Not having option of styles to do with my own hair.
2. White flakes that you find only on the edges of your hair.

If you have suggestions for me, please, let me know. Now, over to you.

What are your go-to protective styles? How long do you keep the hair and how do you take care of your hair when it's in these styles?

Transitioning corner: Experimenting and getting burnt

Hello Transitioners,

I have always wanted to experiment with my hair and transitioning my hair gave me an opportunity to do so. The idea behind it for me was to just try something different at this stage but when I did my research, I was discouraged because most of what I read didn't encourage me to put any chemical on my hair.

All I wanted to do what just dye my hair which I did and I got burnt. I probably didn't do enough research or just didn't do it right but my hair started breaking. I just thought since I was eventually going to trim my ends little by little, it won't hurt but it did.

Dyed hair. Can you see all that colour?

There are different things to try out on your hair while transitioning, mine was colour. I love the colour but I paid the price but I try to compensate it with my deep conditioning treatments which does my hair alot of good.

There are other ways to experiment with your hair at this stage;

- Try a different hair cut style instead of just the big chop.
- Try out protective styles.
- Try out different ways to curl your hair without heat. Flexirods, curlformers etc.
- Try out products
- Try out different hair accessories. Scarfs, turbans etc

My one and only advice for anyone trying to experiment while transitioning;

Do a lot of research.

Now, I wish I did but I am still happy with the progress of my hair in the last months and hoping to stick it out for longer.

Have you tried experimenting with your transitioning hair? What did you do and how did it go? Let's talk

Transitioning Corner: Hair Regimen

Hello Transitioners,

Transitioning Corner today, we would be talking regimen. I would share with you my regimen and process and ask some of my burning questions which I hope other transitioning can relate to and give me answers based on experience. 

Let's talk; 

Asides all my mini research, my room mate is also on a natural hair journey and she gives me pointers. We purchased different oils and I use them on my hair. Coconut Oil, Jojoba Oil, Castor Oil and Olive Oil. 

Question 1: How much Oil is too much Oil? 

When I don't have a protective style on, I wash my hair once in a week. Wash with black soap and condition my hair after. If i've had a protective style, I deep condition my hair with a DIY mix which has banana, honey, egg, olive oil and mayonnaise a recipe my room mate gave me.  

Hair after a deep condition

My Spray bottle: In my spray bottle, I have water, leave-in conditioner and all my oils. I spray my roots when I don't have a protective style on to make it easier to detangle. I use a comb to detangle.

Question 2: When caring for the 2 textures, do you just concentrate on the new growth? What worked/works for you? 

What my hair looks like dry

After so much breakage.

What was/is your regimen like? How does it help with managing the 2 textures? 

Transitioning Corner: Why I decided to transition my hair

Hello Naturalistas, My name is Toyosi and I am on a journey of transitioning to natural hair!

Through my primary and secondary school years, the low cut is all i've always known. I had always dreamed of then I would be allowed to grow out my hair and have it long and flowy like the girls on disney channel... I loved watching them growing up. When I finally got the chance after secondary school, all my sisters and mum had either done the BC to grow out their natural hair or just rocking the BC.

There was no way, I wasn't going to fulfil my hair dreams. Hello Relaxer. I've been growing my hair since 2011 and really appreciative of the length and health. I watched my sisters be naturalistas and hailed them from afar. Until, 2016!

Relaxed Hair

I stopped putting relaxer in my hair in February, not because of anything in particular but I just stopped and felt I didn't need any retouch because I was either in a protective style or just wasn't interested. In May, I made a decision. I was going to transition because there was NO WAY I was going back to the low cut days. My sister believes I'm too much of a diva to want to rock a TWA but who cares? I just wasn't going that route! Now, it's been approximately 7 months of this transitioning journey and I want to share it with you in the next few posts. :) 

Bantu knot

7 Months

My Hair as at yesterday after a Deep Conditioning

I will be sharing my regimen, the experiments I have tried and how I manage with products purchase as a student. 

Are there other transitioners out there that won't just do a BC? Let us know why you chose Transitioning over the Big chop.

4 Reasons you should NOT grow your Natural Hair

I have encountered a good number of people that have been attracted to me because of my hair. They are of different categories, the "Oh! you are trying o, I don't think I can manage my natural hair" category, the "I have not relaxed my hair in like 2 months, shebi I am natural too?" or is it the "I have not relaxed in a while but I cannot carry it like that o" and the list is endless. I am sure you as a naturalista have encountered such. The new ones I am meeting now is "I am tired of the hair, I don't know what to do with it. I am going to relax it"

I overheard a lady ranting about her hair and all she was bothered about was length, she kept on and on about how her hair still looks as it was exactly a year ago and how it would be longer if she relaxed her hair. I was like

 Now, I don't know why she decided to go natural in the first place but it's evident that it was for the wrong reasons and I am so over people saying "It's hard", "I don't know what style", "My hair is not growing" etc. I acknowledge that maintaining your natural hair can come with it's own set of challenges and that goes with every other decision we make in life. Get over it!

Here are my 4 reasons why you should not grow your natural hair.

1. It's the new trend; If this is the reason why you want to grow out your natural hair, then trust me you should just go with the next hairstyle. You will be relaxing your hair in another month and if you are resilient 6 months.

2. Your hair will be more manageable; err....Sorry Sister! You'd need more patience with your Natural Hair and if you don't have that, you'd end up frustrated in a very short time.

3. Length; Natural Hair can be very deceptive and it shrinks. If you don't have the knowledge and you are looking for loonngg hair to flaunt... I don't think you should grow your natural hair because after one year and it "appears" that your hair length has not changed, in comes the frustration.

4. You are not willing to do the work; Maintaining natural hair is not exactly a walk in the park, except you have your regimen on a lock down, there is constant trying out products to see what works for your hair and the routines you have to do. *Phew* If you think it will be easy, you'd end up with probably more unhealthy hair than when your hair was relaxed.

In that light, I think the only reason you should want to grow your Natural Hair is because you want healthy(ier) hair. While this can be very broad, it is important to count the cost of whatever decision that is being made, which involves doing the research required. It is not just about ''Stop using relaxer" on your hair. It's about taking good care of the hair and giving the hair the opportunity to flourish and when you do have the proper knowledge, you won't be bothered if after on year your hair "looks" the same as long as your hair is healthy!

What other reason do you think people shouldn't go Natural for?

Transitioning Your Child's Hair from Relaxed to Natural

By DiscoveringNatural


So, your child's hair is currently texturized or relaxed and you are wondering how do you stop putting chemicals in your child's hair and make their hair completely natural.

First thing, know that you are not alone.

Let me share a little bit about myself and my older daughter, known as Big Sis on our YouTube channel, DiscoveringNatural.

When Big Sis was 4 years old, I got to a point of frustration with her natural hair. At that time, I was blind to the beauty of natural hair. Maybe I was sleep deprived due to having a newborn, Lil Sis, or maybe it was the pain I felt when I saw her cry when I did her hair. I decided to listen to "friends" who advised me that the best thing to do was to texturize her hair. It will make her hair easier to manage. Everyone is doing it. They said. And, without doing my research, I listened and went ahead.

Her hair was pretty... at first...

Cornrow out (1 month texturized hair (4 years old Big Sis))

Then after the first year of regular texturizing, her hair started breaking. By the time, it was 2 years post, her hair was no longer full and healthy, it was breaking and did not look great. I knew I had to do something... that started our transitioning journey.

Transitioning Your Child's hair is DIFFERENT from Transitioning your Hair

Why?

When you transition a child's hair, you do not want to wear styles that are manipulated daily. You want to keep the process as simple as possible. Try styling your child's hair with a style that can last 2 weeks. Styles such as threading, cornrows, flat twists, twists, will help camouflage the relaxed ends and help with growth because the hair is not being manipulated.

Big Sis - months after starting transitioning

Moisture is KEY!

Yes! Yes! Do not slack on moisturizing your child's hair. Keeping the hair moisturized will keep it from breaking. Whenever you wash her hair, make sure that you do a deep conditioning treatment to help restore moisture and keep the hair healthy.


Big Chop ONLY when your child is ready

Doing a transitioning big chop can be a big step. Make sure that your child is ready for this change. Something that helped me was doing regular trims of the relaxed ends while transitioning. This will reduce the shock factor.

The Hair will Grow Back

Remember, hair always grows back. Practice healthy hair choices and make sure that the ends are taken care of in order to retain length. Stay encouraged because when you are positive, your child will feel the same way.

Do you have a child that is currently relaxed and you would love to transition her? What are your struggles?

How to Start Transitioning to Natural Hair

By DiscoveringNatural


Transitioning to Natural Hair is a process of letting your new growth (natural hair) grow with your relaxed ends.

Let's start from the very beginning...

When it comes to knowing how to start transitioning to natural hair, you have to have a starting point. The starting point is you having relaxed hair and wondering how to convert that relaxed, chemically treated hair back to its natural state. 

Speaking from experience, when I ventured into the great unknown which was natural hair, I did not know what laid ahead for me. I knew that I did not want to cut off all my relaxed hair just 8 weeks after my last relaxer. I also knew that I wanted to learn more about this new world. You would think that it would be easy for me since I just got done transitioning my daughter for a year and my youngest daughter has always been natural. But there is a difference when it comes to caring for your own hair.

Step 1: Have a Plan
Having a plan as to how I wanted to be natural, was the first step I took. I knew that I was not going to do the Big Chop; chopping off all my relaxed ends, which will only give me about 2 inches of natural hair.  It was easy for me to realize that transitioning was the way to go.


Step 2: Have a Regimen
Developing a regimen early in your transitioning journey will help you have an easier transition. A regimen can be as simple as what you do on a daily basis, nightly basis, wash day, and monthly, when it comes to caring for your hair.

Step 3: Have Several Transitioning Styles
Due to the difficulty of blending your relaxed ends with your new growth, which can cause some unwarranted frustrations. If you are like me and choose to transition without the aid of extensions/attachments, wigs or weaves, having the right transitioning styles can take a lot of creativity.  Know that there are so many resources out there that can help you. YouTube is a great place to start when it comes to learning how to style your hair.



Step 3: Facing the Struggle
Like every new venture, transitioning can have its own challenges. Getting over those challenges can help make your transitioning period long and less stressful. The longer your transition, the more new growth and length you can have.

• The first struggle I had when I started transitioning was the dryness I experienced. Substituting the use of shampoo that contain sulfates with sulfate free shampoo helped with reducing the dryness. Also, using conditioner to wash my hair (cowash) made my new growth soft.

• Another struggle I had was with the constant tangling of my relaxed ends and my new growth. The point where the relaxed hair touches the new growth is known as the line of Demarcation. This point is prone to breakage. What helped me was finger detangling rather than using a comb.

Transitioning to natural hair can be a wonderful time for you to learn more about natural hair and how to care for it. Take each day at a time and learn from your mistake.

Ditch the comb! Finger Detangling Your Natural Hair is the way forward!

Hi ladies!
   A couple of weeks ago, I took down my 3 months old kinky twists. After a long period of pulling and tugging the tiny twists, i finally had a mane filled with kinks, relaxed ends and knots. As a typical Nigerian, I reached out for my cutting comb to try and unravel the knots. After several failed attempts, I took my pair of scissors and chopped the knots off. After which I went on to wash and deep condition hoping the knots would disappear and I would be able to comb freely. If only I had known. Smh. Anyways, when I was done, I stood in front of the mirror with my wide-toothed comb to straighten my hair and try and look half-decent.

Ladies, I didn't realize I've had so much growth, I mean I am 9months post relaxer, what was I expecting? My natural hair had caught up with my relaxed ends so I had little left. So combing was a no-no even with the biggest one.

Eventually, I cut off the rest of the knots. [Growth retention here was the last thing on my mind] and started detangling with my fingers. I gradually had control of my hair and fixed a quick updo. Gosh! My neck hurt for days. This was my official introduction to the technique of detangling. Would you believe I haven't held a comb since then? *inserts audience clap here* LOL!

So my dear transitioners, take a cue from me. Practice the art of detangling so that by the time you get to that stage of your hair journey, you would need to reach out for a comb anymore.

Till next time

Stay Beautiful
@eBunite

How Natural Hair Transitioners Can Deal With Dryness

 

 

source

 

 

Hi ladies,

       In my short transitioning journey,there's one thing that has been somewhat challenging: Dryness. There's this constant need to spritz my hair at any time of the day especially during the dry season.So i've decided to share some tips that have helped me thus far;

1. Moisturize!
          This cannot be over-emphasized. Whatever it is you use;leave-in,hair spritz, make sure your hair is constantly moisturized daily and don't forget to seal it. The LOC method helps in keeping the hair moisturized for a longer time. Don't forget also that water is the ultimate moisturizer.

2. Deep Condition
          Make sure you give your hair a moisturizing deep condition treatment frequently.This helps too.

3. Use Humectants
         Like honey and glycerine. They help to draw in moisture from the atmosphere.

4. Use silk/satin bonnets/scarfs
          After a long day, make sure you spray your hair with your spritz and wrap it up with your satin scarf. This helps to retain moisture and avoid dryness at night.

5. Use Aloe Vera Gel
         This is an excellent moisturizer. It should be a staple so please incorporate it into your regimen.

How do you deal with dryness during transitioning?

Till next time

Stay Beautiful
@eBunite

How Natural Hair Transitioners Can Deal With Breakage

source

Hi ladies.

The most daunting aspect of transitioning is dealing with breakage. The clash between the old relaxed growth and the new kinky growth is inevitable. Instead of making a fuss over it, we're gonna try as much as possible to prevent it by dealing with it before it goes out of hand.

1. Do a Black Tea rinse regularly. This helps to reduce excess shedding and breakage as black tea is full of antioxidants that help hair to become stronger while maintaining its strength and elasticity to decrease breakage.

2. Keep your hair moisturized at all times as dry hair is prone to breakage.

3. Deep condition as often as possible. The importance of DC cannot be overemphasized.

4. Reduce the use of heat. Flat-ironing,blow-drying and the rest. Try to opt out for protective styles that do not require the use of heat.

5. Give your hair a hot-oil treatment. This softens the hair and minimizes breakage.

6. Pre-poo regularly as it minimizes breakage by helping your hair retain some moisture when you shampoo.

7. Wear protective styles regularly. The less manipulation,the better.

8. Protect your hair at night. Use either a satin scarf or a satin pillow case.

Alright ladies. There you have it.. Breakage can totally be handled.

How do you deal with yours?

Stay beautiful
@eBunite

N.B: Please, beautiful ladies. I need your help urgently. It is really important to me. Please support me by filling this survey. It won't take up to two minutes of your precious time. Please, please, please. Help me do this. I really need the info. Just click here, and do it. Thank you, and God bless.

Protective Styling options for Natural Hair Transitioners

Hi ladies.

You know as a transitioner, there are certain hairstyles you can't rock effortlessly anymore. You can't install braids without you hair popping out after 2 weeks. You can't fix a half sew-in weave. Cornrows with extensions doesn't even last up to a week especially when you're 6months post relaxer. You realize there's no point wasting the little money set aside for hair on synthetic extensions i.e. Expressions et al.
I know a lot of ladies [myself inclusive] have issues with styling transitioned hair, it could be tad frustrating. Then again, we don't need to deal with these dual textures on a daily basis. We need to be able to take our minds off  it at least for a month.
There are a couple of kinky synthetic extensions we can try out. They are light, washable and durable. If properly maintained can last up to 2 months or more.If everything else fails, a wig will always come in handy.

1. Kinky twists

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2. Marley twists



                                       

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3. Havana twists

                                      

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4. Full Sew-in weaves

                                          

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5. Wigs
                                                  

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6. Braid-outs

                                         

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7. Rod sets

                                      

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8. Buns

                                          

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9. Bantu knot-outs

                                        

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10. Twist-outs

                                    

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                                     What are your go-to styles while Transitioning?

Stay beautiful
eBunitehair

When You Finally Decide To Go Natural

                                                                            source

Hi ladies

In recent times, the number of enquries I've received concerning natural hair has been on the rise. A lot of ladies are clueless as to the procedures of going natural. They want to know how to manage the texture of their hair when they finally decide to big chop or transition, the products to use and so on.
  So today I'm gonna be giving guidelines to live by when you finally gather courage to stop the use of relaxers

1. Make up your mind
Don't join the train because it's becoming a fad or anything, make up your mind and stand by your decision.

2. Decide on Big Chopping or Transitioning.
Are you bold enough to rock your TWA? Or would you rather grow your hair out to an extent before big chopping? [Some people transition up to 3years]

3. Create A Hair Regimen.
That is if you don't have one already. Start with the simple basic products like Shea butter and Olive oil. Don't be too hasty to try out products. Let your regimen be stress-free and convenient. Set aside some time or a day in a week for deep conditioning.

4. Study your hair.
As a beginner, it might be too soon to determine your hair type so don't bother yourself with it YET but study it. Does your hair have a high or low porosity? That would determine the method of moisturizing. How often do you need to shampoo and so on.

5. Be Patient.
Don't expect too much. You just started. Be patient.

6. Love your hair and rock it!
Why else would you be going natural if not to flaunt it? LOL.

7. Read, read and read!!!!
There are tons of hair blogs and videos on the internet, you have no excuse.

If you still have any problems, contact us here @ AN. We would love to here from you.

Till next time.
Stay beautiful
@eBunite

Dear Natural Hair Transitioner...

Hello Everyone!

I'm so honored to be part of the AN team. I hope we can rub minds together and correct the misconceptions of Kinky hair.

Today I'm gonna be talking on Transitioning. You know; the longer more stress-free journey of going natural. Right! As a fellow transitioner, I'm gonna be giving tips on what to expect for those of you that would rather go that lane.

1. #DearTranstioner, the BREAKAGE is real!!!! I think this should be the most daunting, A mean you're dealing with two textures, there's bound to be a clash somewhere. Anyways, hot oil treatments and black tea rinses should be at your beck and call.

2. #DearTransitionier, protective styling is your friend. Trust me, you don't wanna deal with styling two hair textures. Your best bet is to hide it under weaves and/or braids until you're ready to big chop except you can handle it .

3. #DearTransitionier, frequent deep conditioning helps A LOT. This will help strengthen and soften your new growth, relaxed hair and prevent
 breakage.

4. #DearTransitionier, combing your hair after a while will become a hassle. You might not be able to run your comb through your hair as freely as you like. The new growth will prevent a smooth movement except on wash days. So please detangle gently from ends to root.

5. #DearTransitioner Growth is at a snail's pace. Do not expect to see your head filled with kinks overnight. It takes time and LOTS of patience.

6. #DearTransitioner, keep your hair moisturised with a water-based product and seal with natural oils.

Alright ladies there you have it. Transitioning isn't that hard.


                        What has been your biggest transitioning challenge?

Stay Beautiful
@eBunite

Transitioning to Natural Hair? Tips for maintenance

Hello Kinylets!

So are you thinking of going natural but scared of doing the BIG CHOP? If your answer is yes, then this post is for you! I have had many ladies come up to me asking for tips to go natural. The first thing I ask them is if they are ready and can be committed to their hair. Then secondly, I ask them if they want to do the BC or transition. If they want to transition then I give them tips for maintenance and useful hairstyles below...

TIP # 1 :BE PREPARED FOR TWO DIFFERENT TEXTURES
 Are you prepared for the two different textures? My advice is be patient and try and manage them. Remember to treat your relaxed ends and the demarcation between the relaxed and natural hair with extra caution, oil them constantly because they are prone to breakage. Also, keep your new growth moist and healthy at all times.

TIP # 2: EMBRACE PROTECTIVE STYLES
In other for you to remain sane and not yank your hair out because of the different textures, try doing different protective hair styles, this will help keep your hair looking neat and tidy, also preventing breakage. Below are a few simple hairstyles you can imitate.

Flat cornrows with a flower by the side

Curlouts/ braidouts with side parting and a flower on the side

TIP #3: AVOID HEAT
Heat from straighteners, tonging iron, and blow dryers can cause your hair to be brittle and frail. Blow dryers and not necessarily bad if its on low-medium heat. The reason I think using heating tools for your hair is bad is because the demarcation between your natural and relaxed hair is very weak, and if heat is applied to it constantly it will cause breakage and spilt ends. If you have to apply heat to your hair, then its best to use heat protective serum before and after heating, this will seal your hair and prevent heat from penetrating directly to your hair.

Heat Protectant  sprays

TIP #4: DRINK LOTS OF WATER
This cannot be overly emphasized! Water is the key agent for growth and healthy hair. If you want a healthy head of hair water should be your best friend. It not only nourishes your body but it extends its nurtients to your hair keep it moist and healthy! So sisters start drinking gallons of water today!

I hope this helps and gives you insight on how to handle transitioning!