After I had decided to get on my natural hair journey it was time to learn all the things about natural hair care. For me, Google and YouTube are mandatory places to go when you are looking for anything that you want to learn about.
That was what I did. It was good but also pretty overwhelming. I found so many great articles of people talking about how they did transition to curly hair, hair porosity, and so much more. By the way, hair porosity is your hair’s capacity to absorb and retain moisture.
Now that I finished my curly hair transition there are a few things that I wished I had learned earlier.
There’s no gatekeeping here. I’m sharing with you all the things that I believe can make your transition to natural hair journey easier from the beginning. Let’s get into it!
Heads up: this page may contain affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.
Why I decided to start my natural hair journey
Starting your natural hair journey is something that YOU should decide. And not only do it because you saw Cardi B and everyone’s cousin rocking their natural hair.
When I decided to stop straightening my hair I had freshly moved here to The States and it was time to get my roots done. I’d found a Brazilian Hairdresser and I was confident that her Brazilian Blowout would give me the same results I used to have in Brazil, right? Wrong!
After the first wash, I could see my roots looking untouched… It was very frustrating, to be honest, but then while thinking about what I would do to fix it I started to think about the possibility of letting my hair be.
After days of thinking about and looking at other curly girls online, the idea of having my curls back grew in my heart. It was time for me to welcome back the most authentic version of myself!
The first thing I would do differently
If I were to start my journey as a beginner transition from relaxed to natural hair today, the first thing that I would do was get a picture of my childhood when my hair used to be natural.
I would learn my curl pattern and I would follow other curly-haired people with that same curl pattern and learn from them. I would also search about how to transition to curly hair to my specific curl pattern.
If I have done that I would have followed the right advice from people and that would have helped me to take better care of my hair needs from the beginning. I’d also probably saved myself from investing in products that didn’t work at all.
Prepare emotionally for what is coming
When you are a beginner transitioning from relaxed to natural hair you are absorbing new knowledge and can’t wait to see your curls, but then your hair starts to grow and what starts to show up is a very rough, frizzy, and undefined hair… that was not what I’d signed up for, but happened anyways.
That weird hair that grows during the first months of your natural hair journey is commonly called scab hair. It normally happens because the “(…)scalp can be damaged by hairstyling choices, and in some cases chemicals if applied too frequently or improperly resulting in scalp disorders that can affect the texture of the incoming hair.” – Explains Dr. Linda Amerson in an interview to NaturallyCurly.com.
But don’t panic, the scab hair is temporary! As with any other transitioning hair stages, they are steps taking you closer and closer to your goal.
The hardest part of my natural hair growth journey was having two different hair textures. At that point, my hair had grown enough to see definition but wasn’t long enough for me to feel confident about a big chop…
I found a temporary solution with YouTube’s help and I learned how to make my hair curly using Flex-Rods using this tutorial.
Trust the process, it will get harder before it gets easy
Maybe because I just moved to a new country, that fresh-start feeling made the idea of embracing my natural hair sound perfect! But little did I know about what was to come.
I say that because transitioning to natural hair will take time and somedays it will try your self-esteem. You can ask any curly-haired that went on this natural hair journey before and I’m almost certain that all of them will tell you that there were hard moments.
It will be a journey that can change you and even heal you if you’re open to the possibilities.
During my natural hair journey, I started to think so much about my younger self and all of the things that made her wish to have straight hair so much. It led me to reconnect with her, accept her, and heal both of us.
And by doing that my friend, I could feel empowered to just keep going.
Comparing yourself with others
While you’re seeing all these curly girls with amazing, frizz-free, and beautifully defined curly hair, don’t get caught up in the comparison trap. I’ll say it lauder: DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN THE COMPARISON TRAP!
Remember to be kind to yourself and your journey. Comparing your day 10 with someone’s else day 1320 won’t help you, but it will bring you frustration.
But, if you do start to compare yourself, I’ve been there too, just stop what you are doing and go do something else. Preferably something that brings you joy so you can shake off any negative feelings you might feel.
Don’t get caught up by XYZ curly methods
As you will see or have already seen, there are many different methods that can be used by curlies. The curly girl method, no-poo, low-poo, and probably more.
Does that mean you need to follow one of these to be successful in your natural hair growth journey? Of course not! You do you! And don’t let anybody tell you anything different.
We are all different and that’s the beauty of the natural hair community. Believing that one recipe will fit all is a waste of time in my opinion.
Unpopular opinion about curly hair products
This one is one of my curly hair unpopular opinions, I guess… But yes, it is possible to transition to curly hair without a massive quantity of hair products!
I did, so you can do that too if you want. I’m throwing it out there to let you know that because that curly influencer has 13 different types of leave-ins it doesn’t mean you will need them too. The truth is you don’t, but there’s is nothing wrong if you want all of them either.
And to avoid choosing products that might not work on your hair a good solution is knowing your hair porosity and how damaged your hair is.
The obsession over the perfect curl shape
I have the perfect curl shape. Do you know who else has the perfect curl shape? You! Also, every curly girl in the world has a perfect curl shape.
I’m saying that because I hope I can make you look at your hair journey in a freeing way. Freedom is what this natural hair journey is about.
I got freed from all the impositions about how my hair should look to be considered pretty or good. Those impositions made me start to dislike my hair in the first place. And that is exactly what I wish to happen to you. Freedom from all that makes you question your own kind of beauty and that includes your hair shape too!
Bonus: my fave hair treatment you probably can find in your kitchen
There’s one ingredient you can incorporate into your hair routine and chances are you have it right now sitting in one of your kitchen cabinets. Can you guess what am I talking about?
Olive oil! Yes, that yummy oil that you use to make delicious dressings for your salads can be used on your hair!
Here’s how:
You can warm it up by putting the oil inside of a glass container in a pan with water. Don’t heat it too much though, just enough to apply to your hair and scalp. You can apply it before you wash your hair and can stay on your hair for a least 2 hours or as long as overnight.
This treatment is also called pre-pooing or humectation and the fat in the oil will nourish your hair, making it shinier and smoother. Perfect if you’re experiencing that painful scab hair too. Thank me later!
If you want to take your hair care to a new level you can find all about the Capillary Schedule here, an in-home hair treatment that will revive your hair!
Do you have any other tips that helped you when you were a beginner transition from relaxed to natural hair? Leave them in a comment or dm me on Instagram. I will love to hear from you.
Leave a Reply