Is there anyone here who went natural w/o the BC by just pressing...

[monie20032007]

Their hair instead of getting a perm? I would like to be natural one day with out having to cut off my progress. My hair dresser told me that I could transition w/o having to cut my hair off. I just want to hear it from someone who has actually done this themselves.

 

[glamazon386]

That would be considered transitioning. I would be careful with the heat usage though. You can damage your natural hair's pattern. Which would mean you might have to chop even more hair off once you finally decide to cut the relaxed ends. Do you plan on wearing your hair straight the majority of the time once you're natural? If so, you might as well stay relaxed. It won't be worth the trouble.

 

[monie20032007]

That would be considered transitioning. I would be careful with the heat usage though. You can damage your natural hair's pattern. Do you plan on wearing your hair straight the majority of the time once you're natural? If so, you might as well stay relaxed.

I do not, but I would like it straight every now and then though

 

[kweenameena]

If you don't wear it straight all of the time....what happens when you wear your natural texture with the relaxed ends. I guess you could do a braid out or twist out. But I agree with Bmore....I wouldn't consider you natural with relaxed hair.
This reminds me of the thread I started a couple of weeks ago...Are you still considered natural if? Lawrd! lol

 

[Southernbella.]

Their hair instead of getting a perm? I would like to be natural one day with out having to cut off my progress. My hair dresser told me that I could transition w/o having to cut my hair off. I just want to hear it from someone who has actually done this themselves.

Me! I'm transitioning now...It's been one year since my last relaxer. I flat iron my hair 1-2X per month, alternating wearing buns.

I make sure my hair is loaded with heat protectant and I deep condition and baby my hair, and I have had no problems. My curl pattern has not changed and I have had little to no breakage.

I disagree that you should stay relaxed if you want to wear your hair straight. Some people just don't want to deal with chemicals anymore, but still like the straight look. Pinkskates and WhipEffectz are two natural ladies with healthy hair that they wear straight most of the time.

I say go for it! Don't get caught up in labels and whatnot...everyone will have an opinion about what you do with your hair, but the only thing that matters is that you are happy with it!

 

[Chromia]

You should check out MissMarie's fotki. She has been successfully transitioning without the BC. Check out candiel's fotki, too. She's doing a great job transitioning without the BC.

 

[kim]

Me! I'm transitioning now...It's been one year since my last relaxer. I flat iron my hair 1-2X per month, alternating wearing buns.

I make sure my hair is loaded with heat protectant and I deep condition and baby my hair, and I have had no problems. My curl pattern has not changed and I have had little to no breakage.

I disagree that you should stay relaxed if you want to wear your hair straight. Some people just don't want to deal with chemicals anymore, but still like the straight look. Pinkskates and WhipEffectz are two natural ladies with healthy hair that they wear straight most of the time.

I say go for it! Don't get caught up in labels and whatnot...everyone will have an opinion about what you do with your hair, but the only thing that matters is that you are happy with it!

I agree, I transitioned this way all the way until I got were I was comfortable to trim off the rest of the relaxer. There are alot of naturals who were their hair straight most of the time. Good Luck!!

 

[glamazon386]

Me! It's been one year since my last relaxer. I flat iron my hair 1-2X per month, alternating wearing buns.

I make sure my hair is loaded with heat protectant and I deep condition and baby my hair, and I have had no problems. My curl pattern has not changed and I have had little to no breakage.

I disagree that you should stay relaxed if you want to wear your hair straight. Some people just don't want to deal with chemicals anymore, but still like the straight look. Pinkskates and WhipEffectz are two natural ladies with healthy hair that they wear straight most of the time.

I say go for it!

Lauren, I made that comment because IMO it's harder to wear your hair pressed all the time. You have to worry about weather, being in too warm environments, sweating, etc. Also, Whipz wears half wigs a lot. Like when her hair isn't done. I do the same thing. I noticed when we were in NY the front of her hair that was left out started puffing by the time we left the club. For that reason, I never wear my hair out if it's straight when I go out. By the end of the night it would be a puff ball. That happened to me in September the day after I got my hair done. By the time I got to work that morning (20 min subway ride and 5 min walk) it had totally frizzed and looked a mess. I couldn't go the whole work day with it looking like that and bought a half wig on my lunch break. It wasn't even that warm that day. I wouldn't be able to deal with that all the time. That's why I rarely wear my hair straight. I only straighten when it's cold out.

If it's going to be straight all the time, you might as well stay relaxed. That would be easier for me than constantly worrying about my hair reverting. Or having to continuously go over it with an iron to fix pieces that have puffed. Also, the amount of time, heat and manipulation it would take to straighten it out every week or two weeks could be damaging. Your texture may not revert. Instead of going through all that I'd rather just relax my hair and just get it rollerset every week or two since it's gonna be straight anyway. Just something to think about.

It sounds like you have a good stylist though. Do you plan on continuing to go to her once your hair is natural?

 

[Miss*Tress]

You should check out MissMarie's fotki. She has been successfully transitioning without the BC. Check out candiel's fotki, too. She's doing a great job transitioning without the BC.

I was just about to mention MissMarie. She inspired me to transition without BCing.

Basically I just did roller sets for straight-ish styles and twist-outs when I wanted ringlets. I still style my natural hair the same way too so most people don't even notice the difference - just that I wear it curly which I never did when relaxed.

 

[Fine 4s]

Their hair instead of getting a perm? I would like to be natural one day with out having to cut off my progress. My hair dresser told me that I could transition w/o having to cut my hair off. I just want to hear it from someone who has actually done this themselves.

I did! In fact the way my journey started was b/c I could't get a touch up after taking out my braids. I liked the press so much that I just kept going. But now I have tons of heat damage. So make sure to avoid extreme heat.

 

[kweenameena]

nevermind..............

 

[Southernbella.]

Lauren, I made that comment because IMO it's harder to wear your hair pressed all the time. You have to worry about weather, being in too warm environments, sweating, etc. Also, Whipz wears half wigs a lot. Like when her hair isn't done. I do the same thing. I noticed when we were in NY the front of her hair that was left out started puffing by the time we left the club. For that reason, I never wear my hair out if it's straight when I go out. By the end of the night it would be a puff ball. That happened to me in September the day after I got my hair done. By the time I got to work that morning (20 min subway ride and 5 min walk) it had totally frizzed and looked a mess. I couldn't go the whole work day with it looking like that and bought a half wig on my lunch break. It wasn't even that warm that day. I wouldn't be able to deal with that all the time. That's why I rarely wear my hair straight. I only straighten when it's cold out.

If it's going to be straight all the time, you might as well stay relaxed. That would be easier for me than constantly worrying about my hair reverting. Or having to continuously go over it with an iron to fix pieces that have puffed. Also, the amount of time, heat and manipulation it would take to straighten it out every week or two weeks could be damaging. Your texture may not revert. Just something to think about.

It sounds like you have a good stylist though. Do you plan on continuing to go to her once your hair is natural?

I guess I see it as...if you are natural and wear your hair straight all the time, then you probably wouldn't mind using extreme heat to keep it straight. The worst that can happen is your texture changes, but if you wear it straight all the time, it doesn't matter. Some people just don't like chemicals.

OP doesn't plan to wear it straight all the time after being fully natural, so she won't have to worry about it. I think it's easier to keep it straight while you're transitioning because your relaxed ends are still pulling on the newgrowth.

I actually do my hair myself. I did go to a stylist once for my best friend's wedding and she got it super straight, but that was too much heat for me. I never try to get mine bone straight so I feel better about straightening it myself. Once I'm fully natural, I plan to try different natural styles and only wear it straight some of the time. I think that's what the OP has in mind too.

 

[glamazon386]

I guess I see it as...if you are natural and wear your hair straight all the time, then you probably wouldn't mind using extreme heat to keep it straight. The worst that can happen is your texture changes, but if you wear it straight all the time, it doesn't matter. Some people just don't like chemicals.

OP doesn't plan to wear it straight all the time after being fully natural, so she won't have to worry about it. I think it's easier to keep it straight while you're transitioning because your relaxed ends are still pulling on the newgrowth.

I actually do my hair myself. I did go to a stylist once for my best friend's wedding and she got it super straight, but that was too much heat for me. I never try to get mine bone straight so I feel better about straightening it myself. Once I'm fully natural, I plan to try different natural styles and only wear it straight some of the time. I think that's what the OP has in mind too.

Yeah, I would agree. And I think that's the best bet. I found that it's different when you're transitioning vs a full head of straightened natural hair. At least that was my experience. I had my hair blown out a few times when I was stretching or transitioning and I didn't have any problems with 6 months worth of new growth even in July. I just had to be conscious of my edges. Like if I pulled it back, not to use gel only wax or pomade, etc. But once I straightened my hair after I was fully natural it was a whole different ball game. It's like there's no weight to hold it down so it just frizzes and puffs up.

 

[Southernbella.]

Yeah, I would agree. And I think that's the best bet. I found that it's different when you're transitioning vs a full head of straightened natural hair. At least that was my experience. I had my hair blown out a few times when I was stretching or transitioning and I didn't have any problems with 6 months worth of new growth even in July. I just had to be conscious of my edges. Like if I pulled it back, not to use gel only wax or pomade, etc. But once I straightened my hair after I was fully natural it was a whole different ball game. It's like there's no weight to hold it down so it just frizzes and puffs up.

Yep. My original plan was to wear it straight most of the time, but the more newgrowth I see, the more I change my mind.

I think for some people, it's just easier to stay with what you know until you get over that hump. After awhile, you start falling in love with the natural hair and then it's all uphill from there.

 

[glamazon386]

Yep. My original plan was to wear it straight most of the time, but the more newgrowth I see, the more I change my mind.

I think for some people, it's just easier to stay with what you know until you get over that hump. After awhile, you start falling in love with the natural hair and then it's all uphill from there.

I agree.

 

[locabouthair]

That would be considered transitioning. I would be careful with the heat usage though. You can damage your natural hair's pattern. Which would mean you might have to chop even more hair off once you finally decide to cut the relaxed ends. Do you plan on wearing your hair straight the majority of the time once you're natural? If so, you might as well stay relaxed. It won't be worth the trouble.

Ditto. When I went natural (I'm relaxed now) I transitioned by pressing my roots and then cutting the ends gradually. And I ended up having a lot of straight ends. I couldnt even wear a fro.

 

[Chromia]

Monie, so so chic & caligirl would have some great advice for you. You should check out their fotkis, too.

 

[yodie]

I've done it several times and I'm in the process of doing it right now. I just press my hair and trim as I go. No big chopping for me.

 

[Jetblackhair]

I transitioned w/o the BC. I wore half wigs so that I did not have to use heat on my entire head. I only straightened the front portion of my hair that was exposed.

As my hair grew longer, I had more natural hair versus relaxed hair. At this point I gave up on straightening my hair in the front and decided to buy curly textured half wigs instead of the straight ones.

I'm still wearing half wigs as a protective styling but ultimately I would like to straighten my hair at the most 2x a month once I reach my desired length.

 

[TheNewFine]

I transitioned twice this way, pressing or rollersetting and no B/C. I didn't want to give up my length either. Just be patient and kind to your hair and it will work for you.

 

[kweenameena]

I transitioned w/o the BC. I wore half wigs so that I did not have to use heat on my entire head. I only straightened the front portion of my hair that was exposed.

As my hair grew longer, I had more natural hair versus relaxed hair. At this point I gave up on straightening my hair in the front and decided to buy curly textured half wigs instead of the straight ones.

I'm still wearing half wigs as a protective styling but ultimately I would like to straighten my hair at the most 2x a month once I reach my desired length.

Did you eventually trim off your relaxed ends?

 

[Jetblackhair]

Did you eventually trim off your relaxed ends?

Yes, but it wasn't that much. I probably should have trimmed sooner but I don't like scissors