5 Things I learned transitioning my hair from relaxed to natural.

1. You don’t have to do “the big chop!”
   Small chops will due.  I’ve always had around shoulder length or longer hair and enjoyed it. The idea of shaving it off or cutting it super short just to go natural did not appeal to me at all. When I decided to go natural, I stopped relaxing my hair and continued to get blowouts to smooth the new growth. I also got regular small trims.  After a while I had enough natural hair that I could trim off a significant portion of the remaining relaxed hair while still keeping a fair amount of length. At this point I could focus on doing more natural non-heat styles, since one of my goals was to grow long, healthy, natural hair and limiting blow drying and flat ironing are part of decreasing damage and keeping hair healthy. 

2. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.
   This may go without saying, but just in case...MOISTURIZE. Dry brittle hair is not healthy and is difficult to handle. Transitioning your hair poses the additional challenge of trying to style two different textures of hair on your head. Keeping all the textures soft and supple will make detangling easier, minimize breakage, and save you much frustration.

3. Your hands are magical detanglers!
   While you may be tempted to buy every comb or brush you see advertised on Instagram or Youtube, a simple wide tooth comb and your fingers will do just fine for detangling. Using your hands allows you to learn the feel of various textures of your hair. I do most of my nightly detangling with my fingers and really only use a comb when absolutely needed. 

4. Gel will help your twist outs last longer.

   Whether you are using the LOC, LCO, curly girl method, wavy girl method, or [insert natural hair care method of your choice here], you want your style to last. I am incredibly busy, so if there is a way to make my twist outs last an extra day so I’m not having to spend extra hours each week starting from scratch, I am all about it. Try using a curl enhancing gel after your leave in or curl cream to add definition and hold to your style. You can also try mixing your gel and moisturizer or curl cream together. It took me a while to discover this, but once I did...game changer!

5. Satin scarves are a must.
   I think this probably goes without saying whether you wear your hair relaxed or natural. Wearing a satin scarf or bonnet nightly helps your hair lay and keeps your ends from drying out. I recommend owning at least two, so that you are never without if one is in the wash.

Hope this helps. Sign up for our email list for more tips to help ease your relaxed to natural transition. Until then…

Stay sporting!

-Deb R-M.

Sporting DR