So this is a long post about my plan to transition to natural hair that has been written over a few months, so if you’re not keen on reading on and you just want the pertinent bits, here they are…
- I’m currently 17 weeks post relaxer
- I’ve always wanted to become natural since starting my hair journey, at first I wanted to see how far I can take my relaxed hair
- I have been natural many times in my life for long stretches, I’ve never been natural while taking care of my hair properly
- I will not do a long transition, I am keen on chopping my hair. However, I am not sure when this will happen since I have already had 1 false alarm
The long story…
It all started when after my January 2015 relaxer I decided to start using JBCO for scalp massages for the first time. When my new growth started coming in, I was amazed at how soft it was and my hair (in some parts) felt curly and not coily. Obviously at this time my hand in hair syndrome was at an all time high.
At one point I told my boyfriend that I want to shave all my hair off and start again. My stance has always been that I definitely wanted to wear my hair natural in the future, but I wanted to see how far I could take my relaxed hair first. Another thing was that I did not want to transition, I wanted to definitely wanted to witness my hair growing from very teeny. This kind of defeats the purpose of the title of the post, but stay with me.
So these thoughts were swirling in my head for a while, and I was getting serious natural hair envy, everywhere I looked, people’s natural hair was popping! Then I was out on the streets one Friday evening and had a chance encounter with a lady with the most gorgeous natural hair. When I got home that night, I tweeted:
It’s so funny because this happened not even a week after I relaxed my hair. So part of it was the tipsyness talking, but it felt good to finally put it out there in the universe. A few days later, I spoke to my boyfriend again about wanting to chop off my hair, and he agreed to help me shave it off. We agreed on a date a month away. I knew that by telling someone, it would make it harder for me to back out, but that still didn’t stop me from feeling nervous. The nerves were mostly because I haven’t worn my hair natural in 6 years, I haven’t worn my hair short (like TWA) in 8 years, so it was going to be a change from what I have been dealing with as of late.
But the decision was made and I was going to go ahead with it! So then I decided to enjoy the last few weeks of my relaxed hair, I decided to rock all the styles that I wanted, I wore my hair out most of the time, and I was having a ball. And I started telling more people that I might big chop – this was my strategy so that I wouldn’t change my mind. My revelation was met with a mixture of surprise and encouragement – which I was happy with. Then I changed the date of my supposed ‘big chop’ – I guess it was a mixture of nerves and fear of change and I would have been only 5 weeks post at the time.
So here I am at 17 weeks post, I have been at this point many times during my healthy hair journey, the longest I have stretched is 25 weeks. Currently, I am not sure when I will cut off the relaxed ends – I am taking each day as it comes. So in the meantime I plan to enjoy my longer length in preparation for what is ahead. I am playing around with the idea of doing a one or two cuts – I’m not sure yet, I will go with how I feel.
Update June 2019
I’ve been rocking my natural hair for so long now and I’ve been through it all! Read more about my big chop and how I felt about my hair after 1 year post relaxer. I also had a second big chop after experiencing hectic post partum shedding 4 months after giving birth to my daughter. All my hair related posts can be accessed if you click here.
This was my hair at 25 weeks post in December 2013
All the best on your transition and your pending natural journey!!! I am here for you all the way and where I can, I will assist!
Thanks Lebo!
Wishing you all the best!! You can do it.
Thanks Jay 🙂
Nice to know you are transitioning. A good leave-in conditioner like that of Shea moisture will help to soften your new growth. It’s been making my 18 weeks of new growth more manageable. Good luck dear.
Thanks Joie. I will look out for the Shea Moisture products.
All the best on the new journey. I’m now able to do styles with my own hair so you can wait till about 9 months before cutting. You can then do styles with the twa if you get bored.
Thanks Abena. I have been reading your blog religiously, taking all the tips I can with regards to big chopping and the natural hair journey after.
All the best with your new hair journey! it can be done
Thanks Becca! I’m 100% committed
Lungi!!! so many surprises in one day! i had no idea that you were going natural! I missed this information somehow.
my first comment on the new blog and I can tell i will like it here already.
ok so are you done with the transition now Lungi? when are you big chopping now? Will u be following a specific regimen for naturals? something like the curly girl method or maybe the maximum hydration method?
i don’t know what I would go with when I go back to natural, like you i’m wanting to take my relaxed hair to its maximum first before I go natural again.
Hey Kangopie… I’m not sure when I will big chop yet, I’m definitely not doing a long transition though. I haven’t been researching any natural hair regimens as yet – thanks for the tips.
I wish you all the best with your journey. I’ve been thinking about transitioning too but I still haven’t decided.
Thanks Uzo. All the best with your decision