Kyara- A Story of Transition

I was a short term transitioner, I big chopped 4 months after my last relaxer. When I first decided to go natural, I didn’t have any plan. Then I decided to document my journey in my blog and it helped me a lot! At that point in time, I wanted to transition for at least 6 months but I had no patience!!!

When I saw my cute natural shiny coils I had to go find a stylist to cut the relaxed ends off!
It was also really hard to deal with two textures. I was afraid that my hair would break off at the new growth line…

I don’t regret the big chop at all! Now I feel relieved!

CN: When did you BC? What was your initial reaction to your natural hair?
I big chopped at the beggining of May, last year. I went to my stylist and I asked her to cut it all off. She was so devastated that you would think it was her hair that we were about to cut!

It took some time for me to get used to the new hairstyle but I knew that it was a good decision and I never regretted it!

CN: How did family and friends react to the new you? What was your response to them?
My family is used to me changing styles quite often. During the four months of transition and even before, my only subject of conversation was my hair. I was telling everybody that I wanted to get rid of the relaxed ends. That’s why they weren’t really shocked when I came back with 2 inches of hair…

Now my friends also want to come back to their natural texture. But most of all, my acceptance of my natural hair is a gift to my niece. She has the same type of hair as I do and I want her to embrace it!!

CN: What was your transition routine?
During my transition, I kept it simple: Shea butter, coconut oil, co-washes on a weekly basis, bantu knots or twists at night… That was all!

CN: What was your staple hair style during the transition?
Bantu knots out saved my life!!! You couldn’t see the difference between the two textures and my hair stayed soft and manageable.

CN: Why did you choose to go natural?
At the beginning, I had problems with dandruff. I think it was because I was using too much direct heat. I did my research on the internet and I solved this problem using ACV rinses. It did wonders!! Then, I found a lot of resources about healthy hair and about natural hair. I began to think about stopping the relaxer. I wanted to be a model for my niece…

I hope she’ll understand it and that by the time she grows up, relaxing won’t be the main option anymore…

If you want more information about my journey, you can check out my blog @
http://kyaras.blogspot.com

1-My Christmas 2009 hair (above)

2-Side Bun during my transition

3-Me right after the Big Chop

4-Flexi Rod Set on natural hair