By the time I was 61 weeks into my transition from relaxed to natural hair, I had a mini chop but I still had a significant amount of relaxed ends that I needed to blend with my curly hair for the times I decided to wear my own hair out.  More often than not during this time, I relied on...

At 50 weeks and 4 days post relaxer I attempted to flat iron again using Sabino.  I thought that if only I could properly blow dry my hair, I’d get better results. I do think that I used Sabino properly this time, I used it on wet hair.  I washed with June Jacobs clarifying shampoo...

At 49 weeks and 5 days pot relaxer I picked up a new wig, Freetress Bali Girl in 1B/30.  It was a lot of hair but I made it work by wearing it half up and half down. As you can see, wearing hair that is not my same length nor my natural color (or that has highlights) is not an issue for me....

I picked up a new wig called Sarifa by Vanessa while wig shopping with my mom, around 48 weeks post relaxer. I had been wearing a synthetic lace front for a while but Sarifa is not a lace front.  It’s a full wig.  I simply put my own hair in cornrows and pinned on the wig with bobby...

I’ve had this kinky twist protective style in for just over two weeks.  I have been back to the salon, twice, to have sections replaced that were loose and nearly slipping out.  I have photos of one example of a loose twists below. This is my first ever single braid/twist extensions...

      46 weeks & 5 days – Rollerset & Flat Iron (Breakage Galore) I need to just stick with what works. I took out cornrows this day after 12 days. I detangled with Hair One and all was well….until I washed. I clarified with June Jacobs citrus clarifying...

I took the plunge and tried a shampoo bar for my natural hair, a sulfate free shampoo bar. There are tons of companies that sell natural hair products and in this case I went with Chagrin Valley Soap & Craft Company. I purchased 20 samples, some skin bars and some shampoo bars. At least...

      PHONY BUN I picked up a phony bun filler as a protective style.  It was only $2.99.  I decided to it lower on my head. I was 7 weeks and 4 days post relaxer at this time.  It goes on like a pony tail holder and the hair is fanned around it. It’s made of a...

        Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife, but most importantly, Hide Your Hair Products  For some reason that Bed Intruder song just popped into my head when I was writing this. Hah!  If you have not seen it, check youtube. Something that became a problem for me during my...

      18 weeks and 3 days post relaxer It is time to make a decision, continue with transition or relax.  I had been in this place once before, at 18 weeks and 3 days post relaxer.  At that time, I decided to go ahead and get my relaxer.  That was just prior to my...

  Can You Use Apple Cider Vinegar for Hair? Using apple cider vinegar (ACV), yes the vinegar you find at the grocery store, is a great way to remove product build up.  Using an ACV rinse can also balance out the ph level of your hair and give you some shine since it seals the cuticle...

        Accidental Afro at 84 weeks and 3 days post relaxer  I washed my hair in preparation to flat iron and then decided to have it done by a stylist for a week long work trip. Well, I had wet hair and no appointment until the next day so I just put my naked hair...

      Homemade Steam Treatment – 53 weeks and 2 days post relaxer Having never had a steam treatment, I had no idea what my should have looked or felt like afterward. I did not buy a steamer but instead used a trick post online. “HOME Grown Steam Treatment! here...

      Saran Wrap attempt -13 weeks & 1 day post I was 13 weeks & 1 day post relaxer at this time and I tried to use the saran wrap method to straighten my hair.  I normally would have gotten my relaxer touched up at week 12. I apparently didn’t do it...

      CORNROWS – Protective Hairstyle I found this cornrow, silky dread & two strand twist style and decided that I had to have it done, but that I did not want to travel to Connecticut.  I had never worn cornrows or braids in my adult life until this style. I...

      Straw Set Natural Hair You can straw set natural hair and transitioning hair to get an idea of what your natural hair might look like once you transition from relaxed to natural.  If you are impatient, and you want to see what your naturally curly hair could look like...

      TREE BRAIDS – Second Attempt A protective hairstyle that I tried during my transition from relaxed to natural hair is tree braids. It was not a successful style for me (tried twice), but if it was done properly, I think tree braids would have worked well for my...

        Transitioning from Relaxed to Natural Hair – Top Hair Tools One thing that you will realize as you transition from relaxed to natural hair is that you need some different hair tools.  I used the denman brush for natural hair.  When I first started my...

         Aveda Institute Flat Iron – 34 weeks and 2 days post relaxer. I decided to go to the salon to have my natural hair flat ironed as a treat and someone suggested Aveda Institute here in NYC.  I went to the one on Spring street.  I got there at 9:16 a.m....

Braid Out on transitioning hair  – 87 weeks and 3 days post relaxer I tried my first braid out on my transitioning hair after watching a video on youtube showing rods used on the relaxed ends. I washed my hair with WEN Fig and did a deep conditioning treatment with heat for 20...

15 weeks & 1 day post I attempted to wash & rollerset but at 15+ weeks post relaxer I had way too much hair coming out in the comb and not enough slip with my conditioner.  I tried Giovanni 50:50 shampoo & conditioner and I deep conditioned with ORS. Thankfully I did not...

      Natural Hair Shrinkage – Frienemy As you transition from relaxed to natural hair, there will be times that you feel as if you natural hair is not growing at all due to natural hair shrinkage.  Transitioning from permed to natural hair means  the days of seeing one...

  Roller set Natural Hair – 35 Weeks and 1 day post relaxer I washed 3 times this weekend and completely understand now why so many ladies chop off the relaxed hair. I never noticed until today how prominent my line of demarcation is in my hair. I had a rough time this...

      Dominican Blowout on Natural Hair For my birthday I decided to treat myself to a salon style.  I got a Dominican Blowout and asked that the stylist use my products.  It was a Dominican salon which I did end up using a few times.  I was 64 weeks and 3 days post...

  Full Wigs – Protective Hairstyle for Natural Hair Modu Invisilace 101 When I was 27 weeks post relaxer, I started to experiment with full wigs as a protective hairstyle while I transitioned from relaxed to natural hair.  I purchased a synthetic lace front wig called Modu...

  100% Natural Hair – 104 Weeks Post relaxer As I was updating my keratin treatment photo album, I realized that it had been 104 weeks since my last relaxer! I finally stopped counting post relaxer dates in weeks. I did not see anymore straight ends; however, I did have 3...

      Roller Set Natural Hair and Flat Iron – 49 weeks and 6 days post relaxer I decided to do an Aphogee 2 minute protein treatment, followed by a flexi rod set (which I thought looked a hot mess). I ended up doing a flat iron with my Maxiglide and used Sabino...

      Blowout Attempt – 24 weeks and 2 days post relaxer I attempted to do a Dominican blow out on my own hair after a roller set and it was a disaster. I tried a method I found on-line which included spritzing a bit of water on the hair before the blow out. DISASTER....

    WEN was a pleasant surprise – 49 weeks post relaxer I was 49 weeks post relaxer at this time in my transition from relaxed to natural.  I used WEN Fig cleansing conditioner again and am pleasantly surprised.  This was my second use of WEN. I used about 10 pumps of...

        First Mini Chop – 46 weeks and 6 days post relaxer I had my hair trimmed to get rid of the straggly ends and to give my hair some shape. I was holding on to length just for the sake of length. I finally came to the conclusion that so long as I can pull my...

    Wash & Go – sort of at 21 weeks & 3 days post I did a morning cowash and detangled with my denman brush.   I sat under the dryer for a few minutes (running late for work) so as not to leave the house with soaking wet hair.  I rode to work for about 1 hour...

    At 11 days post relaxer I attempted a ponytail roller set. The mesh rollers did not come out as expected so I tried magnetic rollers. I put my hair into a series of ponytails with elastic bands. Again, I aired dried my hair since I did not have a hood dryer at the time. The...

      Washing Your Own Hair – Tips for Transitioning from Relaxed to Natural Hair As you are transitioning from permed to natural hair, you will eventually wash your own hair instead of always using a salon. The first thing that you should know is that all of those...

Tree Braids – First Attempt At 26 weeks and 6 days post relaxer, I made the mistake of trying tree braids.  The stylist that I used was recommended by a friend; however, the stylist obviously was not honest about her experience with tree braids.  I was looking for a style that was...

      Rejuvenol  Keratin Treatment on Natural Hair (done at home) I decided to try a Keratin treatment at home after having two treatments done at the salon.  My first treatment was with Lasio One Day and my second treatment was with Rejuvenol.  I preferred the Rejuvenol...

      Protective Hairstyles for Transitioning Hair You have done it – you have decided to transition from relaxed to natural hair over the course of a few months or even a few years and now you need protective hairstyles for transitioning hair. Step 1 is to determine if...

      Signature Hairstyle for Transition – Updo at 7 weeks and 5 days post relaxer I was often asked how I do my signature bun hairstyle so I recorded a live video of how I do my hair. Check it out below. I started using this hairstyle at 7 weeks and 5 days post...

    Maxiglide flat iron- 25 weeks and 5 days post relaxer I had been contemplating relaxing for weeks since my hair has looked a hot mess.  My last relaxer stretch was 18 weeks and 3 days so this was new territory for me to go this long without a relaxer. Instead of relaxing...

  Do Topical Growth Aides Work? Lots of people take vitamins and use topical products to try to increase their hair growth rate in order to speed up their transition or to just grow out their hair faster.  I have only tried one topical growth aide, Mega Tek Cell Rebuilder. I used Mega...

        Dominican Blowout on Natural Hair – Why all the Controversy? During your transition from relaxed to natural hair you may find it easier to just keep your hair straight.  Some transitioners have chosen to have a Dominican blowout on natural hair in order to...