Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care

Hello! My name is Mary. I just hit my one year transitioning mark on June 21, and wanted to celebrate by sharing my story on my favorite hair blog!

CN: Are you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
Long! I have the weirdest shaped head and I honestly believe God blessed me with long hair all my life to cover it up. Also I don’t remember having my hair any shorter then bra strap length (before I started to transition) and feel more comfortable keeping it that way. Oh and my mom banned me from scissors so I couldn’t chop if I wanted to!

CN: When are you going BC?
I plan on doing my BC on Dec 20 2011, which is also my 22nd birthday. That will be exactly 2 years and 6 months of transitioning.

CN: How did family and friends react to your decision to go natural?
Well, my family and friends thought I was joking because I was getting perms once or twice a month (horrible I know) and I straightened my hair once or twice a week (I honestly don’t know how I had any hair left on my head at all now that I think about it). After a few months of perm refusal they started to take me seriously and they all support my curls, as long as I don’t chop too soon! They all voiced their opinions against short hair on me. grrr...

CN: What is your transition routine?
You would think after a year I would have one, but I’m still all over the place with my routine. I usually co-wash and detangle on the weekend with Suave Almond and Shea butter conditioner. While I’m in the shower I put it into a bun. I wear the bun all week and it’s very helpful during school because I really would rather sleep for those extra minutes than do my hair. Then on the weekend, I do twist/braids with flexi rods just using Cantu shea butter and water. I wash with Suave shampoo whenever I feel dirty and deep condition with Organic Root Stimulator's Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner every other week (when I’m not being lazy). I’m pretty sure I need some more products but I haven’t found any good ones for my hair yet. Any ideas?

CN: What is your staple hair style during the transition?
Buns! All day every day. Twist and curl on the weekends.


CN: How do you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
Luckily I don’t have hair that just dries out, so I don’t use much. Every night I spray more water and add some Shea butter. That’s it! To combat breakage, I mainly just utilize low manipulation styles and handle my hair gently while combing and styling. I only comb in the shower with tons of conditioner.

CN: Why did you choose to go natural?
I’ve always admired natural hair. The curls and the kinks are just so beautiful to me. At the time I didn’t have anyone close to me that was natural so I just went along with everyone else and kept it straight. Despite what others told me, I always thought my hair was too thin and kinda boring. I really wanted my hair to be bold, big, and bouncy and just embrace the texture I have been blessed with! Natural was the only way to go.



I have a fotki-- http://members.fotki.com/-PeaceAndNatrility-/about/

I’m into photography so there are 100s of pictures to share on there and I’m always looking for other long term transitioners or even just anyone with ideas, reviews on products or cute styles. So if you have a fotki , please come check it out and share yours as well. Thank you!

Hi Nikki,

This is my second time transitioning and I'm really excited about it. I was excited the first time about two years ago, however, I was clueless about what to do with my hair after 8 months of transitioning. I ended up relaxing my hair again. So now with the help of my best friend (she has locs) and her addiction to youtube videos , I'm getting the much needed help and information that I wasn't aware was out there 2 years ago.

CN: Why did you choose to go natural?
After seriously thinking about the reasons I'm going natural (tired of relaxing, wanted to see if I could do it, etc.), I think the real reason is because of my son. He's 3 and he has beautiful curly hair (I'm biased though) and I want him to be proud of it. And I figured, how can I honestly do that if I'm not proud of mine? Also, he's my husband's clone, and the only thing we really share is our hair (I know that sounds kind of selfish, but I'm being honest ).



CN: Are you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
Long term. I want to maintain the length of my hair.

CN: Are you planning to BC?
I wouldn't necessarily call it a big chop. I'm doing mini-chops until I get rid of all the relaxed ends.

CN: How did your friends and family react?
They have been really supportive. My younger sister BC'd about 2 years ago and I have an aunt who just recently BC'd. Even my husband says he likes the curls. The best response I get is from my son, "I like your hair Momma".

CN:What is your staple hair style during the transition?
Two-strand twist outs (thanks to CurlyNikki) and flexi-rod sets when I want to change it up.



CN: What is your transition routine?
This is my routine so far, it's still a work in progress:

• Shampoo once a week with SheaMoisture Brilliant Curls Shampoo.
  
• Deep condition and detangle with SheaMoisture Deep Treatment Masque.
  
• Style using Elasta-QP H2 leave-in conditioner and/or Cantu Shea Butter leave-in conditioning repair cream, SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie, and foam setting lotion for the ends.

CN: How do you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
Right now I'm using the SheaMoisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie and Cantu Daily Oil Moisturizer and it's working pretty well. I'm eyeballing a couple of other products to try, but I'm going to finish what I have (trying to keep the PJism in check).

NaturallyU writes:


I have been transitioning to natural for well over a year now. I had considered chopping just to wear two strand twists when an idea hit me. Why can't I two strand now and just use perm rods on the relaxed portion of my hair?? It would save me from having to do a huge chop and I could just keep gradually trimming my relaxed hair. I'm loving this style and it should help me in my goal to be a long term transitioner. Hopefully you can add this to your list of transitioning styles too!

Hey Curly Nikki readers,

Story time. You're tinkering along in your natural journey, and all of a sudden you find yourself completely overwhelmed and clueless. You thought you had it all together-- the daunting volumes of information, tutorials, product reviews, ingredients to avoid... you knew it wouldn't be easy, but you felt prepared. Then slowly, out of nowhere, little things that you didn’t expect start popping into the picture, gradually, things start piling up and you find yourself in a position where you literally just feel like QUITTING. Sound familiar?


You're not alone. There were times in my natural journey that I felt the same way... I had watched (and re-watched) so many YouTube videos and read so many blogs that I thought I was well equipped with all the knowledge I needed to take care of my hair and style it properly. Unfortunately, I found myself clueless on the day to day care... which is a very important piece! I would rely on the simplest styles like puffs and braids because I had NO CLUE how to do anything else. I felt lost. At one point, I had my hair braided so that I wouldn’t have to deal with it on a daily, but because I have such a fine natural hair texture, I experienced severe breakage and tangling. I couldn't even get protective styling right!

So one day, I decided that I was going to challenge my hair again. I was determined to learn my hair so that I could wear versatile styles and be comfortable with other things aside from just “puffs” and braids. I started experimenting with my hair and I created a very amateur process for my wash n gos. I would literally wash my hair everyday with shampoo and conditioner, come out of the shower with beautiful curls and not put ANY product in my hair because I didn’t want to ruin the curls. Well, I’m sure you know how this story ends... my hair became very dry and brittle. I thought, 'there must be a better way!' That’s when I discovered the use of gel for
curl definition and started working on perfecting my wash n gos. At this point, I’m sure you’re wondering, how this relates to the topic of the post. The point is that I was seriously overwhelmed and at an utter loss of solutions for my hair. I decided that I was going to commit to the process of learning my hair and I took BABY STEPS to learn new things and become an “expert” at styling. Trial and error.

In my experiences, I’ve learned some key things that will hopefully keep you from becoming “overwhelmed”:

1. Commit to the process: No matter what, you must always remember and reflect on the reasons why you went (or are going) natural in the first place. This will get your through the difficult times.

2. Start with where you're at: At one point in my hair journey, I was totally overwhelmed... too many Youtube videos! I was watching them all the time. I was at one stage of my hair journey, but I was watching videos for styles and tips from people who were at a completely different point in theirs. Take your time and ease in slowly.

If you have a TWA, instead of watching videos of people who have waist length hair, you’ll want to find videos that you can relate to, learn from, and apply the knowledge right away. The same thing goes for your hair type and texture. I love watching girls with type 3 curls, but I’m a type 4 so a lot of the products and styling techniques they use might not necessarily work for me. They’re lovely to watch, but if you’re at a loss for what to do with your hair, you need to
find people you can relate to in terms of your hair type.

3. Buy your staple products: Again, find people who have a similar hair type and texture as yours and see what they use as staple products on their hair. To avoid product junkie-ism, purchase one of each product at a time (eg, 1 shampoo, 1 conditioner, 1 leave in, etc..).
Work with those products and learn how they react with your hair before you decide to buy something else. Trial, error, and repeat if necessary!

4. Focus on mastering one style at a time: As I was illustrating above, the first “style” I really learned to master was the wash n go. I did that style until I was confident that I had it down, the styling, AND the maintenance of the style. From there, I moved on to other styles and
I even learned how to install my own extensions and weaves. Yes, it gets boring doing the same styles over and over again, but there’s no better way to master a style. Natural hair can be very unpredictable, but learning a style can help you predict how your hair will turn out.

By now, you should be starting to see a pattern, taking BABY STEPS and doing things one at a time. Some people are naturally gifted when it comes to their hair. Even if they’ve been relaxed for decades, they can transition back to their natural hair texture and they can easily find styles
and products that work for them. For the rest of us, it takes time before we know our hair and what works and what doesn’t work. Be patient in this process, and if you stay committed and take baby steps, you WILL get better and you’ll eventually be comfortable with your hair.

One of the most important pieces of advice I can offer to prevent from overwhelm is to limit the amount of learning that you do and the information that you take in. Ever heard of 'information overload'? Well it's real! A lot of people spend hours watching YouTube tutorials, hair videos, and reading blogs which is great, but once you leave the computer, a lot of that information hasn’t really sunk in so you just have tons of bits and pieces of different information and you haven’t learned how to put it all together. Try and master the things you learn from each video
and article instead of just consuming hours of information and not doing anything with it. It’s not the amount of time you spend on the web learning that will determine your success. It’s the amount of ACTION you apply with the information you already have.

I would love to get your feedback on this post. Please leave a comment below and share your insights on the topic. If you found this post valuable, feel free to share it with your friends via Twitter or Facebook.

To you successful hair journey,
aJ

Connect with me online:
Blog: http://ajwitafro.com
Youtube: http://youtube.com/user/ajwitafro
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ajwitafro
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ajwitafro

Komirra writes:

Dear Curl Community,

I have been transitioning for 8 months, and let me tell you, it hasn't been easy! Dealing with two fighting textures is no joke. Since I'm on summer break, I've decided that my hair could use a little break too- - I'm thinking about getting braids or twists. I've never had them before so I'm wondering:

• What are the best braids/twists for transitioners?
  
• Which would cause the least damage?
  
• What do you do in preparation for braids (i.e. shampoo, deep condition)?
• How do you maintain the look (favorite spritzes, oils)?
  
• Did you see length retention when you wore them?

Thanks Curls!

Hey Curly Girls!

My story is simple. After relaxing my hair for nearly 15 years, I just woke up one day and decided...no more! It seems strange not to know who you really are, but it feels like I’m getting to know myself (the curly me) for the first time. The concept of “going natural” is a bit overwhelming to me, so I just take it one week at a time (I speak my reflection “I’m not gonna perm my hair this week”)… somehow this mantra has gotten me to 29 weeks without a relaxer! Although I complain about broken combs & nightmarish detangling sessions, most of the people in my life have been über supportive of my decision.

My curl pattern appears to be a 3C around the perimeter of my scalp & a 4 something (LOL) in the crown. I have a bunch of relaxed ends, so I typically rock a roller set to get uniform curls. Every other week I wash n go with a leave-in conditioner, and I straighten it every 6-8 weeks to check my progress and get it trimmed. I went home last week to visit my mom, and she saw my curly fro for the 1st time (since childhood) and loved it! After touching it she said that she was jealous of my curls. It made me feel soooo good!

THANKS MOM!

I loooooove CurlyNikki.com! Thanks for all the support & advice. It definitely keeps me going on those days when I wanna shave my head bald.

Love Peace & Nappiness,

Shamigreen

Tmochava writes:

CN: Do you plan to be a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
Currently, I plan to be a long term transitioner (at least 12 months). I am almost 5 months in transition right now and I still consider myself brand new. I want to make sure I do as much research as possible, try as many styling products as I can (in order to find the products my hair loves), and have enough hair to slick back in a pony tail (pony puff) on those "my hair is doing its own thing" days!

CN: How have your family and friends reacted to you deciding to go natural?
My family has been extremely supportive, I think everyone is just anxious to see my natural texture! The majority of my friends are natural, so they are definitely on board with my decision! Most importantly, my husband (my #1 fan), has been my rock! As my hair grows, we are both in the mirror (after I wash and deep condition) trying to see if we can make out the natural texture of my hair...is it curly (nope!), is it wavy (nope!), is it kinky (yup!) and we just bust out laughing...It is pretty cute!!!

CN: What is your transition routine?
I am shampooing with the products I have left from my relaxed days (KeraCare, Mizani, etc...). I'm just trying to clear up some space under my sink...I am truly a product junkie! My conditioner of choice has been the Jessie Curl Weekly Deep Conditioning Treatment (thank you so much for the recommendation CurlyNikki). I absolutely love the way it makes my hair feel...so soft and manageable!

CN: What is your staple hair style during your transition?
Right now, I am all about the flexi-rod set! I use about 20-30 rods and pretty much keep them in all night! The dryer and I don't get along, so I have mastered a way to sleep in flexi-rods and by the morning they are all dry and ready to take out! If by chance the roots are still wet in the morning, I will sit under the dryer for 30 minutes max, then I am out...I just can't take it any longer than that!

CN:How do you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
I have fallen completely in love with shea butter!!! I use a combination of shea butter and coconut oil and my hair is soft, shiny and best of all it smells so good!

CN: Why did you choose to go natural?
I relaxed my own hair every 4 weeks...faithfully! If I saw any new growth anywhere, I was slapping a relaxer on my entire head!!! I'm sure many of you are reading this with your mouth wide open...Yes, I said every 4 weeks!!!! I loved my sleek tresses!!! I wore my hair bone straight with hardly any curl for many years. I would wrap it at night with a silk scarf and never put heat on it at home. I didn't have to, the more I wore it wrapped the straighter it fell and I LOVED it!!!

So, now you are probably wondering what in the world could have this woman, who obviously loves her straight hair, going natural! Well, I was diagnosed with a rare medical condition, Intercranial Hypertension , in 2004 and I was married in 2009. My husband and I really want to have children, but because of my medical condition we are going to be a high risk pregnancy and there are no guarantees for successful childbirth. In preparation, I have already lost 40 pounds, taken off my acrylic nails and now...no more relaxers! This was a personal decision and I just wanted to eliminate any of the self-inflicted chemical influences to my body. I have no idea if acrylic fumes or relaxers will cause any harm to your baby in utero, I just figured it can't hurt to eliminate them...right?!?!

Hair We Grow...Here's To Natural Hair and Successful Pregnancies!!!

blog: www.robynsnestblog.com

PICTURES
Pic 1 - Press-n-curl (4 months in transition)
Pic 2 - Pony Puff
Pic 3 - Flexi-rod Set w/ Flat Twists In Front

Shannon writes:


CurlyNikki Community,

Hi!!! Okay, my name is Shannon and this is my second time going on the natural hair journey. I was natural for two years in 2005 and I slipped up and got a relaxer (the worst mistake ever). Well not only was my hair relaxed but it was also colored which caused my hair to BREAK tremendously!!!! It was like my hair went into shock and the only way I knew how to recover it was going back to the source that made my hair beautiful….. being NATURAL.

So currently I am in my 10th month of transition and it’s been a stress free transition so far. I’ve been wearing quick weaves and sew ins and my hair is growing so fast. My issue is once you decided to do your big chop, where do you go from there? Before, when I was natural, I wasn’t aware of all the different resources that were available to me. So I was looking at my hair and thinking ok where do I go from here. I don’t have the hair where if you put water on it the curls just pop. I have 4b and the alphabet after that LOL! I can see my curl pattern if I pull a strand out but how can I define my 4b hair without using gel??? I washed and conditioned my hair this weekend and it came out really soft and if I get up really close to the mirror and I can see my tightly coiled kinky hair but no definition. Please Help…..THANKS!!!

Hi Nikki!

I love your site and I hope you realize the impact that this site will have on current and future generations of African-American women. Learning to love, respect, and honor yourself despite the world’s negativity is a powerful thing!

I am currently 8 months into my transition to natural hair and it has been a wonderful experience. I believe that my hair is 4a in the front and 4b in the back. I have approximately 4 inches of new growth at this point, but I am trying to hold out for 8 or 9 inches. Like many others, over the years I have had two or three episodes where through no fault of my own,
the chemicals from the relaxer broke off my hair. In 2006 my hair went from past bra strap length to neck length (I had switched to another hairdresserthat botched my hair)…this is when I first contemplated natural hair.

Unfortunately, I was not aware of the options or versatility of natural hair then, so I continued relaxing. When my youngest daughter was two years old, my oldest daughter remarked that she and the little one had the same hair. She then looked at me and said, “Mommy why is your hair different than ours?” I said that their hair was beautiful, thick, and perfectly designed.
Miss Smarty replied, “If it is so perfect, then why don’t you wear your hair “curly” like ours?” That was June 20, 2009 and it was the day I decided to transition to natural hair (My last relaxer was May 21, 2009). My husband and children have been my biggest cheerleaders!

An acquaintance introduced me to a salon in Atlanta that specializes in natural hair straightening. They use Design Essentials products and a hydration steamer to infuse moisture into the hair. Afterwards, my hair would be silky and bouncy and I loved it. But once I washed my hair and saw my little coils, I was hooked! I was determined not to be dependent on another hairdresser to achieve my look. So, I purchased the same Design Essential products and a hydration steamer and went to work on my own hair. I now go to the salon once every other month to get trims and a different look because I don't straighten my hair at home. When I go for my next haircut in Feb, I should be half natural-half relaxed and I am so excited!

Current Regimen:

1. Ideally, on the night before wash day, I part my hair into eight sections,
finger-detangle and then braid each section.

2. I apply coconut oil (Spectrum Brand from Whole Foods) and Suave
Coconut Naturals Conditioner to each section, put on a plastic cap and a scarf
over that and go to bed.

3. The next day, I either use Design Essentials Oatmeal
Shampoo or DE Moisturizing Shampoo for 1 lather and rinse (while still in the
braids).

4. I next apply Design Essentials Stimulations conditioner to each
section. I use a wide-toothed comb to distribute the condish thru each section
and re-braid.

5. I put the plastic cap back on and sit under the steamer for 30 minutes. My
4a/4bhair is so soft and completely detangled at this point.

6. I rinse out the conditioner with cool water and apply a leave in to each
section, comb through with a medium-toothed comb, and put a ponytail holder on
each section. (Picture an old school kid’s hairstyle parted down the middle
with 4 ponytails on each side)

7. On each ponytail I put 4 small magnetic yellow rollers and I sit under the
dryer for 30 minutes. My favorite leave-ins are: Darcy’s Botanicals
Transition Crème and Design Essentials 2n1.

8. After my hair is completely dry, I can brush the sides back, put on an
ouchless headband and wear a curly puff or brush up the back and leave curls on
the side for a cute updo.

I am in the corporate world, so I appreciate seeing hairstyles that have that professional, grown and sexy look! I have enclosed two of my “work” hair styles: one flat-ironed style and one roller set style.

Thanks to sites like this one, I have had a plethora of information at my fingertips to assist me on this journey! I get inspiration from every one of your stories, and I appreciate this opportunity to share mine!

Alta Angel

Picture Guide:
Angel 112009- Flat ironed style during month 5 of transition
Angel 012810- Roller set during month 8 of transition (profile)
Angel 012810-3- Roller set during month 8 of transition (front)
Angelrelaxed- Relaxed hair 10 years ago (yikes that was a long time ago!)