Hair in transition

 I am proud to say that many women with textured hair are walking away from the chemicals and heat that held our minds and hair captive for so many years.   I can very vividly remember the days of going to the beauty parlor to get my hair washed and pressed. I remember the pain as if it were yesterday  Now, mind you, washing with a very wholesome and lightly fragranced shampoo was not bad. But the brushing, pulling, combing and drying of my wet kinky hair was horrible.  The nightmare really began when you sat down in the operator's booth equipped with straightening combs and curling irons all meant to be super heated to burn your hair straight.  Oh, the horror of the red, hot stoves-hot oil used to pop everywhere, including on my skin. Wow! What a price we paid for beauty. Today, there are so many other kinder styling options: braids, weaves, extension, locs  and so on. If applied and maintained properly, they can allow the hair a chance to recover.

Let's take a look at some of the methods that I've tried.  Readers are welcome to add to the list since there are many other options available that I might not be familiar with.

Cutting it off

For those coming out of relaxers and the chemicals, the questions is how to let the hair grow out  healthy in its natural state?  From having done this many times in the past, I would like to offer some suggestion sfrom my experience.

For me, the quickest way is to get it over with and cut it off. Now,  that is because my hair is coarse. And, ususally, my hair had suffered so much damage from the over processing that there weren't any other alternatives.  (I sometimes had bald spots  from breakage so cutting off the dead, weak hair was better).  That way, the hair could immediately start on a healthy track.  Now, if your hair is of a smoother, wavier texture, that might not be your choice, or you might decide to cut it over a period of time and not all at once. 
You might want to decide with the help of your hair dresser.

After having abused the hair with lye, blow drying and heat, dryness is also a problem. So the next step to recovery is conditioning. Usually, I found-and was advised-that hot oil treatments once a weak, or as needed, slowly nourished the hair back to health.   In line with this blog, there are many natural oils to use such as coconut oil and almond oil. Just to name two.  It really depends upon your preference and individual results as both these oils will strengthen the hair and slow breakage.

Again, if your texture is a little smoother, perhaps you may opt not to cut it all off and might decide to cut only a little at a time.  Since is appears that the tension betwen coarser hair and the weak hair, or the demarcation is not as drastic. Conditioning regularly, again with hot oil once weekly or as needed is a great help.  Cut ends, to get rid of dead and split ends. Avoid blow drying.  Allow the hair to air-dry as much as possible.  Avoid use of curling irons.  All these things dry out the already weakened hair.

Braids

Several times I've tried braids and extensions to allow the hair to rest and recover.  This is a good idea.  The hair will begin to grow in with the continued cycle of abuse. However, once you come out of the braids, the old, weakened relaxed hair will need to be cut off.  You will have more new growth so it is not as drastic a cut. Again, make sure that you use a good moisutizer daily for your braids. Olive oil is another good choice.

For all who are transitioning, make sure that you take a good multiple vitamin including biotin-with all the B vitamin complex. Eat healthy, drink plenty of water and wait for your wonderful results.