Ladies from the age of five tend to be very conscious of their appearance. From the hairdo to facials to the nails and you name it all. But most importantly the hair has to be on point whether it be worn long, short, wavy, kinky, straight, curly, permed or natural. This, brings me to the latest “craze” in town; The Natural Hair! Everyone seem to be hooked on this, in fact yours truly has joined the band wagon …*lol*
Mid last year, I woke up with this unusual feeling of going all natural. I kept tossing the idea, going back and forth in my mind, finally after about a week, I decided to begin my transitioning, *yep! That’s the name the excitement I felt was unbelievable… it still leaves me in awe…
Anyway, since I’m now a proud flag bearer of the “team natural squad”, I’d be sharing a feel tips on transitioning to natural hair and you bet it would agreeably be helpful…
Firstly, Natural hair in simple terms is that hair that hasn’t been modified, permed or altered by chemical straighteners, including relaxers, and texturizers. It is the relaxer-free hair, which is different from chemical-free hair. Chemicals, on the surface, are often considered dangerous, but this is often times not the case at all. Most chemicals that you encounter on a daily basis are perfectly safe and harmless. For example, water is a safe chemical.
Basically in Nigeria, it is the “unretouched” hair.
Ladies have you decided to go natural without cutting it all off?
Transitioning to natural hair is the simple process of growing out your natural texture before cutting off the processed/modified/altered or damaged ends.
On your transition journey;
You need to seriously stay away from all forms of relaxers, texturizers, keratin treatments, permanent/temporary hair dyes. These products not only alter the structure and texture of your hair, they also prolong the transitioning process.
Do not be too anxious, give your hair the room to breathe, you do not need to be so particular about the time the growth begins. Allow the hair grow at its pace. Give the hair about 4 months — by then, you should have enough growth to get excited!
The goal is to blend two VASTLY different textures of hair into one. Look for that very comfortable style that will accommodate your transitioning without damaging your delicate hair line and temples.I like to call it “the comfy protective style”; this requires little or no daily styling in which the hair lines/temples are well protected. Being that the texture of your hair is not going to be consistent while you are transitioning, this “comfy protective style” will be quite helpful in keeping your hair line safe and preventing daily styling, all you do is moisturize your hair. You could try a Bantu knot amongst other styles that would suit your transition.
Always detangle when your hair is wet with conditioner and a wide-toothed comb. Start at the ends and work your way up.
Avoid Dry hair, it causes hair breakage.Water moisturises your hair best. Also, you can add your favourite natural hair products, preferably water-based moisturizers and some oil to seal in the moisture.
Try air-drying instead of a blow dryer or flat iron.You should know that your hair is in a fragile state, encountering heat will greatly damage your hair and do it no good.it could also potentially straighten your hair, which is what you are trying to avoid.
All of these, will ensure a steady and healthy natural hair growth; once the natural growth begins, you would need to get a good trim each month to give room for the natural hair.Please know that you do not have to rush into cutting it all, you need to be patient!
Transitioning requires time. You need to give your hair the utmost attention; pampering and loving it all the way. The natural hair needs a lot of TLC–yea! tender loving care one would have to detangle, wash, braid, moisturise, style the roots etc.) it just doesn’t jump on you. For the natural hair, laziness is prohibited!The chemically treated/modified hair (perms and relaxers) doesn’t require spending so much time tending to it. While natural hair needs more attention and a lot of TLC.
So make sure you have the time in your schedule. It could be that adding more “me” time to your life is what you’ve needed all along and caring for your hair should be included.
‘Lamide Olajide
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