Should I Transition?

[Golden*Brown]

This is my first post. Sorry so long. I' ve been thinking about transitioning recently but I'm having a hard time making up my mind. I'm currently stretching my relaxer to eight weeks and I'm due for a retouch at the end of the month but I don't want to relax if I'm going to transition. If I do, I don't plan on BCing because my goal is to grow my hair to waist length. My problem is I remember a time when I wasn't relaxed and I had a terrible time with my hair. I was so frustrated I wanted to cut it all off and I hated it but that was about 12 years ago. I've been stalking fotkis and I see so many with long natural hair and I realize that I don't want to be relaxing my hair when I am 50 and I think that it may be easier if i do it now and not wait until my hair is longer. (I'm almost APL). My husband says he's okay with me going natural but he like my hair straight and I do too. I would like some advice.

 

[SEMO]

I say give it a go. I transitioned for a long time before cutting off the relaxed ends. If you transition for a while and change your mind you can go back to relaxing. And there are lots of naturals who wear their hair mostly straight. I'm personally glad I went natural, but whether or not you want to be natural is up to you. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[*Muffin*]

My advice is to analyze the reasons why you want to go natural. Is it something you truly want? Do you feel as if you'd be happier in your hair-care journey as a natural? To me it doesn't matter if my hair is so long it drags the floor, it all means nothing if I'm not satisfied with it. There are plenty of youtube videos of naturals that show how to take care of natural hair and do different styles with it. And as long as you take care of it as you have already been taking care of your hair, you should thrive as a natural. But if you feel that this is just temporarly nostalgia for you natural hair (which, I think, relaxed heads get from time to time) then just wait. Continue with your relaxer stretch and see how it goes. If you find that you are missing your natural texture a lot you may want to consider transitioning. You might be happier that way .

 

[Likeyouneverseenme]

I say transition/stretch your relaxer till you have a good amount of new growth to better remember what your texture is like.
BUT, there is a BIG BUT, transitioning is deceiving and the permed hair will stretch the new growth, making the texture of you natural hear appear looser than it really is.
While transitioning, try to remember why you permed in the first place to see if you really want to go natural.
Take this time to make up your mind, and remember; don't chop if you're not sure, it's better to wait until you're absolutely certain.

 

[Golden*Brown]

Thanks SEMO and Muffin. I think that I will transition for a while and see how it goes. I"m hoping that I will also have healthier hair as a natural. Up until recently I wouldn't have even considered transitioning.

 

[MCMLXXII]

My advice is to analyze the reasons why you want to go natural. Is it something you truly want? Do you feel as if you'd be happier in your hair-care journey as a natural? To me it doesn't matter if my hair is so long it drags the floor, it all means nothing if I'm not satisfied with it. There are plenty of youtube videos of naturals that show how to take care of natural hair and do different styles with it. And as long as you take care of it as you have already been taking care of your hair, you should thrive as a natural. But if you feel that this is just temporarly nostalgia for you natural hair (which, I think, relaxed heads get from time to time) then just wait. Continue with your relaxer stretch and see how it goes. If you find that you are missing your natural texture a lot you may want to consider transitioning. You might be happier that way .

Great points! All very important things to consider.

 

[lilsparkle825]

My husband says he's okay with me going natural but he like my hair straight and I do too. I would like some advice.

that's a problem. if you are gonna transition and eventually be natural, that's gotta go. sorry.

oh, and try transitioning for a few months, then cut off a *very* small section of relaxed hair somewhere where it won't be noticed. that will let you see your natural texture and it may force you to go one way or the other. some people freak out and relax the next day, some people (like me) get super excited and BC that night.

 

[HeavenlySkies]

oh, and try transitioning for a few months, then cut off a *very* small section of relaxed hair somewhere where it won't be noticed.

See I did that and people said I still won't know until it's been awhile so what's really the deal with that? lol Oh yeah I say go for it...me personally all I ever knew was to "perm/relax" whatever and once I stopped and saw these lil curls coming out all over I got excited and it keeps me on the right path...I really would like to see my natural texture once in my life I think everyone should want that at least once and if you aren't feeling it you can go back to the creamy crack no biggie no hair loss...​

 

[ycj]

I say transition/stretch your relaxer till you have a good amount of new growth to better remember what your texture is like.
BUT, there is a BIG BUT, transitioning is deceiving and the permed hair will stretch the new growth, making the texture of you natural hear appear looser than it really is.
While transitioning, try to remember why you permed in the first place to see if you really want to go natural.
Take this time to make up your mind, and remember; don't chop if you're not sure, it's better to wait until you're absolutely certain.

You could'nt have said it any better MissNorway, I myself am really giving it some thought about going natural. It's a great idea to transition for a long time to see with the new growth if you want to or not. I've given this a lot of thought and I am ready, but I think what I will do is put it in braids and transition slowly for 7-8 months to see if I am absolutely certain about chopping off the relaxed hair. I am glad I read your post because of all the sense it makes as far as transitioning at a slow pace. I am tall and don't want to walk around looking like a man! Thanks so much!!!!

 

[Allandra]

This is my first post. Sorry so long. I' ve been thinking about transitioning recently but I'm having a hard time making up my mind. I'm currently stretching my relaxer to eight weeks and I'm due for a retouch at the end of the month but I don't want to relax if I'm going to transition. If I do, I don't plan on BCing because my goal is to grow my hair to waist length. My problem is I remember a time when I wasn't relaxed and I had a terrible time with my hair. I was so frustrated I wanted to cut it all off and I hated it but that was about 12 years ago. I've been stalking fotkis and I see so many with long natural hair and I realize that I don't want to be relaxing my hair when I am 50 and I think that it may be easier if i do it now and not wait until my hair is longer. (I'm almost APL). My husband says he's okay with me going natural but he like my hair straight and I do too. I would like some advice.

Only you can decide if you should transition. Is it something you really want? I decided to do it because I really wanted to.