Gigi– A Story of Transition

I transitioned for a little over 3 months. My last relaxer was 12/6/08. I started out stretching my relaxers. I did a lot of research on stretching, at the same time I also came across articles, websites, blogs, and fokti’s of natural black women. So in the middle of Jan ’09, I decided I was going to transition. Each time I would shampoo my hair I fell more in love with the new growth, my curly, kinky roots.

CN: When did you BC? What was your initial reaction to your natural hair?
I chopped my hair off 3/28/09, it was a week after my mother’s funeral, and I did not want to be bothered with those straight ends anymore. I called a friend over, told her to bring her camera, and when she got to my house I just started cutting. Because my BC was very spontaneous, I was very shocked at the end result. It was very uneven. So months later, July, I went to a salon, and got a proper cut, and shaping.

CN: How did family and friends react to the new you? What was your response to them?
Both of my sisters are natural, my mother was locked, so my family is used to natural hair. It took some time for my then boyfriend to get used to it. My co-workers are used to my frequent and drastic changes in hair styles. When I started working with them 2 1/2 years ago I had dreads. Then a relaxer. I might come in one day wearing a wig, that trails down my back.

CN: What was your transition routine?
I shed like crazy, so my staple was the Deity America Deep Conditioner for Damaged Hair. I did treatments with that every 2 weeks. My shampoos were Carol’s Daughter Rosemary Mint, and Aphogee Deep Moisture Shampoo. Other staples include shea butter, extra virgin coconut oil, and Elasta QP mango butter for twist outs and braid outs.

CN: What was your staple hair style during the transition?
Once I decided to transition, I opted for no heat styles. Twist outs and braid outs that I pinned at twisted to my head to make elaborate up do’s.

CN: How did you moisturize your hair to prevent breakage at the new growth line?
I co-washed twice a week, and sealed my ends with coconut oil.