Transitioning To Natural Hair | 5 Mistakes To Avoid

August 15, 2016 Uloaku Enyingwa 3 Comments

You might know what to do while transitioning but do you know what you should avoid doing? These are common mistakes made while transitioning.

Don’t expect everyone to cheer you on this journey. There’ll always be some peeps around that’ll say negative things about your hair and will even try to talk you into going back to relaxers, just because they think your hair will look better or more presentable. While you don’t have control over what others may think or say, you do have the power to ignore it. Knowing what you want and setting goals to achieve it makes this easier. The truth is, sometimes people tend towards being negative when they don’t have an understanding of things. Try educating them if necessary, you maybe surprise at the outcome in some cases. Besides, when you become 100% natural and they see you rocking your natural curls, they’ll come to appreciate it more. I had a lot of naysayers when I started transitioning but after my big chop they started liking my hair more and respected me for sticking to my decision. Some even went natural at the end of it all.

Are you expecting the old curl pattern you had before you started relaxing to do a come back? Then you maybe in for a big disappointment. Don’t expect your new growth to look like that. Years and years of having your hair chemically processed alters your curl pattern. Guilty of this one. I kept thinking my hair will go back to being very soft and curly, as it was before I started relaxing. How very disappointing!

You always hide your hair in protective styles just because you think it’ll require less maintenance or because of negative comments. While protective styles like wigs, braids, extensions etc are great for retaining length, don’t overdo it. Let your hair breathe sometimes, play with your hair, try out other styles such as two strand twist, bantu knots, flat twist, roller sets etc. Too much of protective styling might result in further breakage. And of course never think that protective styling is a ticket out of taking care of your natural hair. Your hair still needs all the TLC it can get while in protective styles!

Okay, I was quite obsessed with this. When I realized I could never get back my old curl pattern, I started trying to guess my hair type with the new growth. The curl pattern you have right now isn’t your true curl pattern. And yes, I guessed my hair type wrongly! Take a chill pill! Avoid guessing what your hair type is, until you’re completely natural.

Oh, you heard a good review about this product or saw your favorite hair blogger/vlogger use that product and it came out bomb on her hair. Maybe you just can’t resist buying most products you come across. Most times new transitioners or naturals spend tons of money trying out new products. As much as you want to try out products and discover what works for your hair, you don’t have to break the bank or become a product junkie doing so. Like I always emphasize, before you buy any product ALWAYS read through the ingredient list, make sure the ingredients you want to avoid aren’t contained in the product.

To figure out if a product works on your hair do a “controlled” experiment by using the product for a while, say at least a trial period of a month before drawing conclusions. You can also try it with other products and see how the combination comes out. If it doesn’t work out for your hair after these, it’s ok to move on to a “next” product.

Hope this post helps you avoid some mistakes I made during my transitioning.

Please do let me know if there are other mistakes transitioners make.