Whitney-A Story of Transition

-Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
I transitioned for about 5 months. I could have gone longer, but I hated dealing with the two textures at once.I just really wanted to get rid of my relaxed ends. I was also asked to be in my best friends wedding in early August and I wanted enough hair to put up. After that I was comfortable with the amount of new growth that I had so I decided to get it cut.

-When did you BC? What was your initial reaction to your natural hair?
8-7-08. I was turned away from the mirror most of the cut, so when I was shown the final product I was kind of surprised. Then I fell in love with it.

-What was your transition routine (products included)?
I experimented with quite a few products. I washed my hair once a week with Kera Care shampoo, and followed up with the conditioner. I hadn’t really researched natural products yet so I was using what I thought was good. ( Not such a good idea) For a moisturiser I used ORS Olive Oil Lotion( which I have stopped using) I was really into that product line at the time,I wasn’t into reading labels.I used the Nex-Faze protein leave in treatment. I detangled with conditioner in my hair and usually put my hair in 2 strand twists to wear for the week.

-What is your natural routine(products included)?
Right now I’m really into pure Shea Butter and natural oils. I use a natural conditioner I got from Trader Joe’s. I have admit right now I am kind of a product junkie, but I’m trying different things to see what works for my hair. I use a 2 minute deep conditioner from Burt’s Bees. Jojoba oil is great. I am currently only doing conditioner washes to wash my hair. Since my hair is still pretty short I usually just finger comb my hair.

-What was your staple hair style during the transition?
Twist outs, wore a few wigs, straw curls, braid outs, bantu knots. I tried out a lot of different styles

-How did you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
I did a lot of hot oil treatments and tried to comb my hair as little as possible. I deep conditioned twice a week( I think it was with a Olive Oil Relishing pack) I looked up a lot of natural hair recipes online.

-Why did you choose to go natural?
I chose to go natural because I was sick of how unhealthy my hair has been most of my life. My hair has stayed the same length for a good part of my life. The breakage was pretty extreme. People would joke that my hair never grew, but in reality is was breaking off as fast as it was growing. I remember I had so much trouble with shedding and hair lost. I was very frustrated. I had natural hair while I was little, but my mom had no idea how to deal with it. I decided that at this point in my life I wanted a change, I wanted a fresh start with my hair.

Big Chop! 8-7-08

10-10-08