Tress Trek - A Transition Journal from Relaxer to Natural

[danielledanielle]

As someone who has had chemically treated hair for many, many, many years, I'm making the transition.  I thought it might be interesting to detail some findings, products and insights.  I also felt posting it here kind serve as a reference (what to do AND what not to do).  There are several posts of this kind, but just like makeup and skincare, everyone's path or choices will vary.  This may be a thread where I'm just replying to myself and while I do feel there is a certain self-aggrandizing thing happening, maybe someone reading it may be vaguely interested.  Then I have served a purpose 😂

So far, I am in month 3, well 3 months without a relaxer.  I have decided not to do a big chop, but just wear protective styles and manage my scalp and moisture as best as I can.  It's less jarring for me than a teeny weeny afro (TWA), and honestly, I find the protective styles easier to manage as I am just doing simple cornrows.

I am also glad for Pattern.  It was definitely working for me prior to this and PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross Detangling Nectar for Curls & Coils 12 oz / 354.9 mL and PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross Hydrating Hair Mist 12 oz/ 354.9 mL helped with my first round of de-tangling.  So far, that's my biggest concern, managing the two textures once I have enough growth.

Also, feel free to share your own tress trek.

[danielledanielle]

So, I'm past a full year without my relaxer.  There's been some growing joys and pains.  Maybe I'll expound on that later, maybe not.

• Daily detangling is a MUST for me.  Fingers and wide tooth combs doesn't do it anymore, that's only when styling.  My wet brush has been handy for this .
• Big dentangles and patience.  I knew I was suffering here because I hate working in sections, but that's really the only way to do it.  Also daily detangling helps here because now that my hair is in its natural state, it's shedding whenever it needs to, so this keeps matting minimal.
• I can't figure out at home heat styling for the life of me, but I know that I have all the tools.  It's probably something that just needs a lot of practice.
• Wash day.  It's a time sink, there's gotta be a way to shorten it.  Last night was my most successful since last year, but it's hours*

Did find a game changer, or I think I have.  And somethings that have been lying around may have a purpose/place in my hair care.

Game changer: Ceremonia Hair Oil Mist con Aloe Vera 2 oz / 60 mL 

Pro: instant shine without the weight

My skin likes aloe, seems like hair does, too

Con: it's such a high price point for two ounces 😭

Potentially purposed:

Fable & Mane HoliRoots™ Hibiscus Hydrating Hair Oil Mist 

PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross Mist Spray Bottle 

OUAI Hair Oil 1.5 oz/ 45 mL**

@jaaayp, so this is my hair, I think you asked way back when I just started to grow the relaxer out, like I was weeks out.  This is 14 months out.

 Look at this stretch!

Also, was able to do Bantu Knots!  I can get them at my braider, but I wanted to try it myself.  I watched a couple of vids, and now I can say I'm an expert 😂. Obvs, not but they were helpful, will name the name creators later.  Will note that oiled rubber bands and technique was picked up from the vids.

They are loosely done, which I kind of wanted, my braider does my cornrows very tight, which can be detrimental and cause tract alopecia, so I try to find a middle ground when I go.  I figured if I do it myself, I can do it without the tension and just touch it up lightly.

**The hair oil I was just using to be able to slip the bands in without pulling, but it also helped seal the hair in without feeling extra heavy. If I needed to redo a section, it was easy to remove them and put the back on due to the oil.

*Also, if anyone has any wash day time savers pllllleeaaassee share.

[Samtian]

@danielledanielle Looks great!!! I need to remember to do daily detangling on my hair too. I can't imagine the pain and patience you have been through! I'm sorry about wash day 😓

[danielledanielle]

It's not so much as a pain, as it is my general annoyance of choosing now to do this.  Wish I started this earlier, maybe pandemic time... Who knows?

It's basically learning a new skill, but it's my hair, so it's a mix of (me) thinking people are looking at it and the time it takes to learn something new..ohhh, all that time. Ok, that part is painful 😖 😂 Versus, with relaxed hair, I know what to do, but def not great for my hair overall. 

[peculiarzmakeup]

This is such a great concept! I love how you able to take note of works well for you and as you said keep track of it. Your hair is absolutely gorgeous! Looks amazing 🤩 @danielledanielle 

[danielledanielle]

Thanks @peculiarzmakeup , you always bring the optimism

[peculiarzmakeup]

You do too and I appreciate that so much 🙂 @danielledanielle 

[jaaayp]

I LOVE THIS, I LOVE YOUR HAIR @danielledanielle you look amazing!!! Wow what a length at 14 weeks! I can't say I'm feeling the pain you're going through but tbh, I am very jealous of your natural hair, the body and volume!!!! I can't wait to see your further progress with it.

Tools. Ah, yes. Tools always take practice and patience during the learning curve... if you find something great, let me know @danielledanielle we obviously have very different hair types but I would love to know what works for you so I can try it too (like our same shade swatch on different tones idea).

Thanks for tagging me and sharing your beautiful journey ❤️

[danielledanielle]

Thank you, that's very kind @jaaayp 

I (hope) think I've amassed everything I need at this point, so I'm trying to figure out what really works, and if course, is something better comes along...

Things that are still in rotation

PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross Hydrating Hair Mist 12 oz/ 354.9 mL 

PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross Hydration Shampoo with Aloe & Honey(this looks like a reformulation 😔🥲, mine didn't mention honey)

Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-exfoliating Scalp Scrub Shampoo 8 oz/ 236 mL(similar .. Didn't remember if this had coconut which I got it, my hair doesn't do well with too much of this)

Dyson Dyson Supersonic™ Hair Dryer 

[jaaayp]

OoooOOOOHH @danielledanielle that's always a challenge. I feel like I've tried like 100s of hair products and I'm still looking for the perfect products. 

Please continue to share 🙏 😊 🥰

[danielledanielle]

I'm on my third wave of cornrows.  I definitely got lazy with maintenance on the second round and regretted it.

Spoiler

I think after this third wave it's trim time.

I did give my hair a longer rest before braiding, but I think it dried out.

The growth coming in is nice and thick, but it was a project to detangle.  I added the PATTERN by Tracee Ellis Ross Transition Mask 15 oz/ 443.6 mL , but I'm not sure if it made a huge difference.  The next morning my hair wasn't as frizzy, but it was very soft.  I also had a different braider, I felt like she was hitting some knots, but I don't know for sure.

[missaa8]

I've been wanting to try her products ever since I found out about the brand, @danielledanielle 💗 excited for your journey and looking forward to seeing what you share❣️

[missaa8]

Do you know a good way to test for hard water 💧 @WinglessOne?

[WinglessOne]

@missaa8  Most people in the US have some degree of hard water, but some folks have very hard water. I used to annually visit people in Florida. I could tell they had hard water because their tap water was very cloudy, and my scalp and body always felt itchy after washing my hair or showering. Plus, that water beat my hair up: my usual gentle finger-detangling in the shower with conditioner produced much more “shed” hair than usual. (It was actually breakage, and lots of it.) Another way to tell is lots of white scale around your faucets and/or scaly buildup on your shower head. 

You can buy water test kits online. You can also do the ol’ soap test: get some liquid castile soap (such as Dr. Bronner’s), add a few drops to a bottle full of your tap/shower/tub water, screw on the cap, and shake it up. If the water’s sudsy, congrats: you have soft or not very hard water. If the water’s cloudy with no suds, or maybe just a very thin layer of suds on the top, then you have hard water. 

[missaa8]

@WinglessOne 💕 thanks!

[WinglessOne]

@danielledanielle  Good luck with your transition! I started mine in 2004 after spending my teens and 20s in relaxers, and I didn’t go the big chop route either. Back then, natural hair (aside from no-extensions braids) was uncommon in various parts of the US and YouTube didn’t exist, nor did many (if any) natural hair blogs/sites. It was so different from the state of things today. I’m glad you have access to tons of info on the topic—and waaay more products geared toward coily hair*—to help you on your journey! 

One thing I’ll recommend for dealing with double textured strands: if you have hard water and don’t have a water filter yet, go get one asap. You absolutely will snap off lots of relaxed ends (leading to splits that’ll run up into your natural strands) if you wash and rinse your hair with hard water, no matter how gently you handle your hair. That’s something I wish I’d known when I began my transition. 🤦‍♀️ 

And okay, one more thing—something you probably already know, but: don’t leave your hair in a protective style too long. “Too long” kinda depends on your particular hair and scalp, of course. For the first year of my transition, I lived in twist-outs. I’d wear twists for one day, then undo ‘em the next day and leave my hair out like that (it helped blur the visible line between my natural coils and relaxed hair), then lightly re-twist that night, then untwist the next morning. I fell into that routine after trying to keep my hair in twists for a week at a time and realizing my natural roots thought “oh, she must be trying to start locs! No problem!” Ah, those days when I was first getting to know my coils. 😅 

I look forward to hearing how your tress trek’s going! 

*Sure, there have been products for curly hair for quite some time. But nowadays there are A LOT more of ‘em on the market. Some hairdressers insist kinky coily hair is no different from non-kinky curly hair; I’m not stepping into that debate. (Not today, anyway.) I’ll just say the explosion of natural/coily hair products has benefited the entire range of curly heads. 

[danielledanielle]

Thank you @WinglessOne !

Products.  🤔 From my end, the accessibility is better, like there is always the beauty supply end of it, but getting the right item and consistently...whew 😅.  The blogs and info IMO is definitely better.  I wasn't into natural hair in early 2000, but I definitely remember the Internet then, for better or worse 😅🤣

Yeah, I'm worried about what else to do without a protective style, but I'll handle it as it arises.  My hair texture has changed about three times in the last four years, so I think having those experiences kind of helped.  I'll for sure need to trim some of this length off if it gets dried out, my hair behaves like it's in a desert, it's constantly looking for moisture.