16 Things I wish I Knew Before I Transitioned To My Natural Hair By JENELL B STEWART

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By Francis of Eboni Curls

Making the decision to go natural can be well thought out or it can be spontaneous. And in some

cases can even happen by accident. As someone who has transitioned, I’ve learned so many things and I just can not let another woman go through her natural hair transitioning journey without knowing this advise.

Before Transitioning I wish I knew…

1. I was supposed to trim my relaxed ends little by little as time went on. I can remember having such a hard time detangling my hair on wash day, not realizing it was because of my split ends. I would be so frustrated that I would just start snatching the comb through my hair, causing more damage.
2. I really wish someone would have told me that I wasn’t supposed to deep condition more than twice a week to keep my hair moisturized. I never knew that there was a way to over moisturize your hair. My hair was often limp and somewhat greasy from all of the deep conditioning I would do. I hadn’t watched many videos on deep conditioning rules back then.
3. I would be looked at oddly because curly hair is more associated with lighter skinned, mixed girls. I have been asked so many times what I am mixed with because I have very curly hair. I have even been told that you don’t see a lot of dark girls with curly hair.
4. It really would have been nice to know that every product isn’t going to work for my hair. I spent so much time on YouTube watching other people say what worked and what didn’t. Then I would go and purchase the product and be disappointed when it didn’t work.
5. It would be nice if someone would have warned me about the constant frizz and shrinkage. I had the hardest time getting used to my hair being frizzy and not laying down. When I had a relaxer I was so used to bone straight hair and laid edges, but transitioning was a totally different story.
6. I wish I would have spent more money on products with better, more natural ingredients. I was so into getting bang for my buck and I subjected my hair to all types of silicones and sulfates. I just knew that the cheaper product would work just as good, many times I was wrong.
7. I never knew that there would be so much division between naturals because of their specific texture. I have been told so many times that I have “good hair” because my hair is curly and not afro textured. I believe that all natural hair is beautiful in its own way.
8. Never would I have thought that I would be almost 4 years into my natural and that there would be newer naturals with longer hair. For such a long time I was focused on length and not overall health. Length motivated me to maintain a regimen but it didn’t help in the long run because I still experienced damage.
9. I wish I would have known not to trust every stylist that says they are certified to style “natural’ hair. Three times along this journey I have went to people who claimed to know how to care for natural hair. Each one of these times I experienced heat damage and breakage and then I knew I needed to pay closer attention to reviews about them.
10. I never knew that over time my hair texture would change so much and that my hair could get used to certain products. I have tried out so many products but using the same things too much can cause your hair to start rejecting that product. Most naturals texture will change and in turn will require new products to be healthy.
11. I wish I would have learned how to trim my own natural hair properly so I wouldn’t be pronged to breakage or single strand knots. I would do little snips here and there if I had a knot, but I never actually knew what I was doing. I was too afraid to go to a salon so I would just go around my head snipping what looked to be stringy ends. I do believe this is where my hair became very uneven.
12. I was so eager to style my hair that I didn’t realize that too much manipulation would also cause breakage. I was just starting college and I would do mostly wash and gos, but I wouldn’t make it last more than 3 days without redoing it again. I was so obsessed with my curls looking nice for class every day.
13. Knowing that a regimen didn’t have to be an all-day thing would have been nice to know. I used to spend all day washing my hair and sometimes my hair still wouldn’t come out the way I wanted it to.
14. I knew that I was supposed to cleanse my scalp but I hardly paid attention to my scalp. I would make sure that my hair itself was very much moisturized but my scalp would be very itchy and dry. Sometimes I would do a co wash but my scalp would still be dirty.
15. I would have used apple cider vinegarway more if I knew of all of the great benefits it holds for natural hair. I would use it very sparingly if my hair was really detangled but not really to cleanse my scalp. I swore by shampoo or co washing only, but my scalp would be a mess when I went long periods without using it.
16. Most of all I would have liked to know that the best way to get long, healthy natural hair is to be patient and nurture your hair with the right products. Many times we are so focused on growth that we don’t realize that what we are using is the main reasons for the issues we are having. I used to use a conditioner that had an ingredient in it that was also used in fabric softener. I used this product for so long and never knew it was causing my frizz.

Is there anything you wish you would have known? Let me know down below.

About The Author:  Eboni Kurls is a quirky, optimistic,eclectic naturalista who believes that we are all natural hair queens no matter the hair type.  Keep up with her on YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.