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| With this weave, I decided to transition in 2008 |
I haven't posted a hair diary in months. Truth be told my hair and I were not getting along. I started a new workout regimen and I really didn't know how to deal with all this dense coily hair. I sweat in my scalp, so my stretched hair tends to shrink and tangle. Anyway, braids is where I live until November. So I thought, why not tell you about my transition/big chop story?
I started the transition process in 2008. I wore weaves (above) and after each installation I would chop an inch of my hair. By the summer of 2009 when I chopped all my perm off leaving me with about two inches of hair. How did I feel with my TWA?
Shock is what I experienced! My hair was so short. Shorter than it had ever been. Then, it was really DRY! Being newly natural, I didn't know what to do. My permed hair was dry too, but I could mask it with oil sheen and all that jazz.
I went to the Internet - further confusing myself! I have another post on the importance of
taking advice of naturals with your similar hair type - because I was running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to get
Taren's ringlets,
Traci's volume, and
Newly Natural's length. I wasn't listening to my hair so I went to what I know best - braids. I had micro braids installed and rocked them out for three months. The best way to deal with any situation is to avoid it - right? Lol!
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| Micro-braids - MY FAVORITE transition style |
Finally,
I thought I was ready to wear my hair. I took 12 hours to remove my micros. When finally removed, I made the ultimate mistake - I colored my hair with store bought box color. Now, I'm not saying coloring your hair is a bad thing, but ME coloring MY hair was a horrible decision. Most stylists tell you to allow a professional to color your hair. My
hair doesn't do well with color - relaxed or natural. So what happened? I ended up having to cut all that color out of my hair. Lost about two DAMAGED inches. I retained no length and I felt like I was losing the battle of the natural hair.
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| September 2009 - My big chop - then had to chop the color off. :-( |
However, one day it just clicked. After trying several routines, regimens and products, I listened to my hair and figured out what it liked.
Each mistake was discovery that led to the best hair ever. My hair likes to be washed every 4 days, it likes silicones, it likes pomade style hair oil, it loves cream based hair products, it likes water, and it doesn't mind being in protective styles. Finding what worked for me was a JOURNEY (to say the least) but the journey left me with a wealth of info to share with you.
| 2011 - Finally got this thang right! |
What is the future for my hair? After I remove
my Senegalese twists I'm going to be braid free until next summer. My NEW plan is to dedicate my time to growing my hair and
retaining length. This will be another journey, but at least I now know what direction to move in.
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| Summer 2012 - Oh! La Fro likes to be protected! My bun before getting braided up. |
