MY JOURNEY TRANSITIONING BACK TO NATURAL!!

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**Are you transitioning or have always been natural?**

Why I Began Relaxing My Hair

If you've been following my blog(s) for a while now, you'd know I have been transitioning back to natural hair for almost a year now (1 yr in March 2015)! Before I was even considering putting the creamy crack down, I was not #teamnatural. It wasn't because I didn't like my natural hair, but I just didn't know what to do with my hair in it's natural state. Pretty much the majority of my hair styles in my life have been braids. I wanted to wear my hair straight, but using the straightening comb on my thick coarse hair didn't last through the week. My mom decided that I could begin getting relaxers at the age of 12, and that's what I did. I enjoyed the change in my hair because I would rarely see it straight, and playing in my hair was fun. I was definitely adventurous when it came to styling my hair. Eventually, I went back to braids and this was the trend that I would be on for years ahead. During the cold months, I would wear my hair out because I wouldn't sweat out my relaxer. The hot months was when I would rock my braids. 

I've always been into doing hair and having my hair done at a young age. But I noticed that after Summer break was over, I would take my braids out and go straight for the relaxer. After the take down, I would notice two textures (relaxed and natural). Up until I started getting relaxers, my mom or family friends would braid my hair. I was always told that I had BEAUTIFUL, THICK AND COARSE HAIR, so at a young age I was confident about my hair. But having my mom try to comb my hair and break the combs on my hair was NO BUENO!! Thus, I would remember that and continue relaxing my hair. I remember rocking my afro after taking the braids out, and I loved it so much! 

Journey Back to Natural

Fast forward 13 years later, I am on my journey back to natural hair. I was encouraged so much to start my transitioning process from my peers, but I wasn't 100% sold on the idea. As I stated before, I wasn't use to what I recall my natural hair being. I would immediately get visuals of my mom struggling to comb my hair, and the frustration she endured. I didn't want to go through that same process, so I would ignore what they would say. It wasn't until March 2014 that I noticed the relaxers I was getting wasn't doing anything for my hair anymore. My hair began rejecting the relaxer, and it would no longer did anything to my hair like it did in the past. Another reason I decided to start this journey was after my last salon experience. I had a little bit of new growth during the time of my salon experience. The woman that blow dried my hair did an EXCELLENT JOB getting my ROOTS!!! At that moment I was like, "If I want to wear my hair straight, I can just get it blow out and pressed." The new growth remained straightened until I was ready to wash my hair. Thus my journey back to natural began. 

The first couple of months was a breeze because I didn't have a lot of natural hair. At first, I thought about just rocking braids through this process, but I didn't want to fall back to taking my braids out and not know what to do with my natural hair. I decided that the first year I would go through the motions of wearing my hair out, and build a relationship with my hair. In the beginning months (1st to 3rd) transitioning, I would rock rod sets as a protective style. I would watch

(Kit available at oyinhandmade.com)

YouTube videos for encouragement and different ways I could style my hair. I thought it would be a breeze....HOWEVER, BETWEEN MONTHS 4 AND 7, IT WAS HELL AND TORTURE!! The line of demarcation (where you natural and relax hair meets) cause a lot of breakage in my hair. It go so bad with detangling that my the top part of my hair began to break and caused a thinning hair line. I was so frustrated with my hair that I just wanted to cut it all off. But then after talking to a girlfriend about products to use, I discovered Oyin Handmade and Shea Moisture. I did a review on Shea Moisture on this blog (check it out). Oyin Handmade's Honey Hemp (picture above) was like a STRESS RELIEVER!! This product has so much slip, and really helped detangle my hair. This was the time that I did a lot of research on my hair because I didn't want to give up and retreat back to something that 1. wasn't good for my hair from the start and 2. stopped showing results. 

ALMOST 1 YEAR TRANSITIONING: CHOP OR NAH??

PROTECTIVE STYLES

My signature style.  

From time to time I do two-strand twist

A year literally flew by so fast, but now I'm at the point where I am beyond down with my relaxed ends. A couple nights ago, I decided to cut the little bit or relaxed hair at the nape of my neck. It was such a relief seeing my natural hair and being able to twirl it and see that curl on the end of my hair. I would see this on every natural YT video, and I wanted to see that. Now that I do, I want to cut it all off. However, I'm nervous because I have a BIG ASS HEAD! Since I hadn't trimmed my hair for a couple months, I had a lot to take off and began getting scissor happy. The more hair that grows out of my scalp, the more I want to cut my relaxed hair off. I remember talking to an old coworker about relaxed hair versus natural hair, and I disagreed with her until now. Natural hair is so versatile and you can do so much with it. I get asked a lot why I won't get a relaxer anymore, and it's simple. I don't want life-less hair; I want A BIG ASS AFRO!! 

SECTION OF MY NATURAL HAIR

Twirling my ends to a little coil ^_^ YAY!

stretched a bit

shrinkage is REAL!

All natural here (below) shoulder length ALREADY!

Where my thumb and index finger are is the line of demarcation ---->

I'm most likely will cut off all the relaxed ends in April-June! I think it would be a great new chapter to start my 25th birthday with a new hair style. Will keep you updated..

THANKS FOR READING MY BLOG! STAY TUNED FOR MY AFRO POWER POST VERY SOON! 

NISHA <3