HOW TO TRANSITION TO RELAXED HAIR.

Hiya,

How's everyone doing! If you are staring at the title of this post and are like WHAT? Did she mean transitioning to natural hair?! As that's the popular practice now, I understand but believe it or not, more and more Naija naturals have reached out to me in recent time asking me to help them as they decide to stop being natural to having healthy relaxed hair.


Most ladies that have approached me have been on both sides of the coin, they were relaxed became natural for a few years have gotten tired or too busy or whatever the reason and now want to be relaxed again and that's completely fine by me but where they go wrong is failing to realize that they have to prepare their hair for that change. Erroneously, people think you only need to transition to natural hair and don't need to transition to being relaxed, you just decide one day, buy a relaxer and put it on your hair and that's it! The issue with that approach is that you completely alter the texture of your hair in a few minutes, forever and your hair is left SHOCKED asking what just happened! 

Right now I am on a top secret mission to transform one NHCG reader's hair...She came in to relax her natural hair and I have put her on a regimen to ensure that this time she gets it right!

Think about it, the whole premise of 'TRANSITIONING' to natural hair is really about managing two hair textures and in so doing, you get to know more about your hair, what products it likes and doesn't...same thing I'd recommend with going relaxed!
So here are a few tips for those of you who want to become relaxed (again :)

Before you transition, you'd have to be on a regimen and know what products your hair likes and doesn't. You know I'm of the school of thought that relaxed and naturals can mostly use the same products, my hair is living proof! So know what YOUR hair likes first and stock up on it.

Give your hair at least a month of intense deep conditioning every weekend and make sure you have trimmed ends( take out all split and uneven ends).

On relax day, don't go and grab a super strength relaxer because your hair is 'stubborn' oh! This time, we are changing things up, you should get a regular relaxer; no lye or lye-your choice. It's better to have under processed hair than over processed hair.

The relaxer should be applied STRICTLY according to the instructions written down for virgin hair relaxing. This is the only time you can relax to the tips and comb  just ONCE preferably with a medium teeth comb not a small tooth comb. Apply to your edges mid way if you have a full hairline or later if you have thin edges, smooth with the back of your comb only. Wash out thoroughly once the time is up!


Follow the the relaxer treatment with a protein based deep condition after washing and conditioning the relaxer to infuse strength into your  strands.


Once you are done, dry your hair in a roller set or straightner (without smoke and flames! Lol)-this step is so your ends are straight and can be further trimmed if necessary.

And with that, the journey continues!! Nothing much should change, go on with your regimen, trim when you need, touch up advisably after 12 weeks.

As for styling, that's where the main adjustment is, your twist out won't look quite the same, your braid outs or updo's too so know that before you take the plunge...

Please, please and please, don't relax your hair and think, well I'm not going to bother with all the things I used to do as a natural and expect your hair to flourish...nope, sadly it won't and you will be back to square one and will blame the relaxer and go natural again, get tired and go relaxed again only to get it damaged and the cycle continues...whew! My head is aching from just typing that!! Please don't do it to yourself!

Hair care is a life long dedication that if we were taught when we were little girls, will be absolutely no big deal now, but since we weren't we think it's more work than it really is, I'm begging you to change that thinking and put in some effort, no matter how little and you will see the difference.

With that, I have come to the end of my post, hope it helps those who have reached out to me about becoming relaxed.

PS. Our magazine is fully loaded in Calabar, off to Jos, Osun, Ebonyi and Benin, Fully loaded in Abuja, Port-Harcourt and of course Lagos!! If you reside in other States and are interested, what are you waiting for, becoming an agent is super easy!! Email me to find out how!!

Also if you have spotted our magazine at your salon, take a picture with it, send it via email to me with the subject SPOTTED! And instantly win a gift from the hub *this offer is for a limited time*

Thanks again for the support, everyday I am putting more faces to the names of you my dear readers and I cannot tell you how exciting it is for me, so please keep stopping by the SAVVY & CHIC HAIR BEAUTY HUB for some hair gist, hair products and hair services!!!

Xxx

Dabs