Happy New Year!!!!Transitioners Need Advice!!!!!

[shetara20]

Hello Ladies!!! As you all know I have decided to transition to natural in 2009!! Im very excited and I cant wait to have curly hair finally!!!! Im sick of the creamy crack. I just wanna make sure that I am transitoning the healthy way!I am only 4 weeks post so I have a long way to go!!!!

What I wanna know from you ladies is....

*I dont want a TWA when I BC so how long would it take to have a full afro considering I probably have a normal growth rate of .5 inches a month??????

*WHat kinds of style did you have to make it easier to transition??(I dont like wigs, or sew ins so give me some good ones!!!!)

*When you got frustrated about transitioning what did you do????

*Who are some of your inspirations of women with natural hair???(whether it be women on the forum or celebrities family friends ect...)



Once again Have a Happy New Year Ladies and ima try to update every month on my transition!!!!!Thanks for the support!!!!

 

[msa]

These links may help you:
2009 transitioner's support thread:
http://longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=312457

old transitioner's support thread:
http://longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=56005


I'm natural and have never had a relaxer so I don't know about transitioning from experience. I think if you don't want a TWA you'll probably want to transition for at least a year. By then you'd have 6 inches of hair and once that shrinks it could look to be half of that. Even if you do a stretched style like a twist out, it could still look pretty short depending on your texture and amount of shrinkage.

I know a lot of transitioners do styles that make it easy to blend the natural and relaxed hair. Curly styles seem to work well (rod sets, curlformers, twistouts, braidouts).

One of my natural inspirations on the board is Que. She has waistlength 4ab hair. Oh and check Sera25's fotki, I LOVE her hair as well.

Hope this helps and happy transition!

 

[pmichael52172]

We'll be in this together because I'm almot 5 weeks post and decided 2 weeks after my last relaxer to transition. I haven't pinned down favorites yet (too many to name), but I have been studying the threads because I will NOT be BC'ing ... just can't do it. My stylist will be helping me transition. She usually grows hers out every few years for a break and then relaxes again - so I'm confident she knows what she's doing.

 

[Lyoness]

*I dont want a TWA when I BC so how long would it take to have a full afro considering I probably have a normal growth rate of .5 inches a month??????
I guess about a year maybe slightly more? Providing there are no setbacks you'll get 6" in a year.

*WHat kinds of style did you have to make it easier to transition??(I dont like wigs, or sew ins so give me some good ones!!!!)
Buns, french plaits, canerows, twist/braid outs, banana clips

*When you got frustrated about transitioning what did you do????
Talk to other transitioners, found pictures of naturals, flat ironed my hair

*Who are some of your inspirations of women with natural hair???(whether it be women on the forum or celebrities family friends ect...)
I have an inspiration folder in my fotki its not huge but you can have a nose in there if you like.

 

[Neith]

I'd say it'd take about 8 months for you to get a cute fro with a little length to it. Around chin length straightened.

Braid outs and twist outs are great for transitioners. I have 6 months of newgrowth and they stretch my roots out and help blend the two textures.

If/when I get frustrated I come and post here. There will always be someone to support you and give advice here

 

[SimpleBrooklyn]

What I wanna know from you ladies is....

*I dont want a TWA when I BC so how long would it take to have a full afro considering I probably have a normal growth rate of .5 inches a month?????? I just did the BC after transitioning for 21 months. The pic is in my avatar. I also started a thread "New Year...New Doo" which has more pics

*WHat kinds of style did you have to make it easier to transition??(I dont like wigs, or sew ins so give me some good ones!!!!) For the most part I just rocked a bun. But I also tried doing flat twists around month 10. I would do the twist then take them out. The result was a nice spiral looking drop curl effect. Sometimes I would leave the flattwists in and rock a scarf (nothing fancy, just a plain one). This was a big help. I also would get the front flatbraided and then put the back in a bun.

*When you got frustrated about transitioning what did you do????
Hmm, I got frustrated a lot. Like i mentioned b4 i would rock the flattwists. I admit to wearing hats when i didn't feel like dealing with my hair. Around month 15 or so I was so frustrated I cut the relaxed ends off my bang area. That satisfied me and reminded me what I was working towards. Also, around this time I discovered the IC fantasia gel (thank God). This was good bcuz i am known for my flyaways, so this kept them back. Also I got it flatironed to switch it up a bit (not often at all, probably a total of 6 times in 21 months).
*Who are some of your inspirations of women with natural hair???(whether it be women on the forum or celebrities family friends ect...)
All the natural heads and relaxed heads have been inspirations.
But you know what, to be honest my hair prior to my first relaxer in 8th grade and my hair after the first time i went natural were what kept me going. I wanted to get back what i had. I would keep looking at pics from that time.
Its nice to look at other peoples hair and try and compare to yours to see what your hair could possibly look like, but i was fortunate enough to have a point of reference of my own. That way there was no question about texture or any other questions we ask when trying to find a hair twin.

But don't get me wrong, the impatient part of me would still ask the ladies on this board question about their hair (how many months transitioned, hair type...) LOL