Nicollette- A Story of Transition

Meet Nicollette…a woman on a journey of self discovery.

CN: Were you a long term or short term transitioner, and why?
N: I guess you can say that I was a semi-long term transitioner because I only transitioned for six months(March to September). I originally planned to transition for a year, but after I took out my kinky twists, there was no way at all I had the patience to deal with two textures.

CN: When did you BC? What was your initial reaction to your natural hair?
N: I did my BC on September 23rd, 2009. When I first looked at myself in the mirror, I felt proud. I felt empowered. I can finally say I achieved one of my goals in life. My mom was more emotional than I was. I was going through a time when I needed to find the real me… I finally did find myself but one thing was missing….my relaxed her was not me at all. That’s when I decided it was time for a change. I feel that now I am actually myself. I felt beautiful when my mom told me “Now that’s the hair you was born with… Oh my baby!!!”-Then she went and finished trimming my hair.

CN: What was your transition routine (products included)?
N: I learned how to co-wash with Suave coconut conditioner and Aussie Moist hair conditioner… I also used Coconut, Olive and Castor oil. I shampooed once a week with Aussie Moist shampoo. In the summer time, SheaMoisture Shea butter was my savior!!!- It saved my hair from being fried in the sun!

CN: What was your staple hair style during the transition?
N: I mainly did Wash-N-Gos with the products above and put my hair into a bun and wore a cute headband. I also did 2 strand twists from time to time. I wore Kinky Twists during a portion of my transition…but my hair grew so fast I had to take them out in a month. My hair grew over a 1/2 inch… it was insane! I honestly never knew my hair could grow that fast without a relaxer.

CN: How did you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
N: Two Words… Castor Oil.. It helped so much to retain moisture at the new growth line. I just used plain ol’ regular castor oil and it helped my hair a whole lot!

CN: Why did you choose to go natural?
N: I had been using relaxers since I was four years old. One day, I was going through my baby albums and I saw pictures of myself when I was three. My natural hair was healthy and had grown down my back… I was only three!! I wanted to see my natural texture again.
Also, my hair was damaged from all of the relaxers and hair coloring. I wanted to say sorry to my hair for all the things I had done to her… so I made a change. I know that I am not perfect, and my hair is not perfect either, so we make a great couple. I love being natural and it feels good to be whole person. I had no idea going natural woud feel this good…make me feel so complete.

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