In this post, you will learn all the best tips to achieve a natural transition from relaxed to curly hair.
I lived a long life of shampoo, blow-dry, and flat iron sessions, and my hair hated me for it! Now, my hair has been completely heating tool-free for almost 7 years! Sometimes I do catch myself missing the activity of doing my hair, but that lasts for a split second.
I love my hair natural and most of all healthy. When my hair was relaxed, it was essentially dead if you think about it. Chemically processed hair with endless heat damage. No thanks.
To achieve success during the natural transition period I learned a lot about hair and myself. I don’t want to sugarcoat the reality of it. However, this journey was a difficult one for me in a lot of ways, but it did help me learn more about myself and opened the door for self-healing and growth.
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Best Tips For A Natural Transition
Tip #1- Big Chop or Gradual Chop?
The chop comes from haircutting. Typically, when you are growing out your natural hair from relaxed to natural, you will have a line of demarcation.
The line of demarcation in the hair will show a prominent line between the hair that is chemically straight and where the natural curls are ending.
If you have a lot of natural re-growth you could do the big chop, meaning you could cut off the chemically processed ends and the current length of the curly hair will be left. Or, you can gradually cut the chemical-processed ends off as the natural hair grows out longer.
When I first began researching what I should and shouldn’t do, this was a huge decision I saw countless women make. I knew right away the big chop wasn’t for me due to my round face. I applaud the women who made that big chop because I couldn’t do it!
Tip #2 Eliminate Heat
Heat is at the top of the list of stop-doing when growing your hair in the natural transition. I thought this would be hard at first. However, it was the opposite. I was physically tired of doing the same old shampoo, blow-dry, and flat iron routine.
Although, it was hard because, with chemically processed hair, the only thing that looks good is heat-styled hair.
When you finally ditch the heat tools/styles, your natural hair growth will begin growing faster and healthier, and your curls will grow in without heat damage.
Now I do know a lot of people will still heat style their hair after the journey. However, to get the best results and focus on the overall natural transition, I recommend completely giving up heat tools/styles for this process.
Tip #3 Deep condition weekly
I won’t go in-depth into this step as I have already posted highlighting this step and the importance of an overall curly hair care routine.
However, I do want to say that deep conditioning treatments helped my hair growth and the health of my natural hair.
Deep conditioning treatments are great to help maintain moisture in the curls and keep them hydrated in between shampoo washes. Listed below are a few deep conditioners I recommend and used during my natural transition!
Tip #4- No-Sulfate Shampoo
You do not want to use sulfates when washing your curly hair at any point in life. Sulfates strip the natural hair of its nutrients.
Instead, look for professional and or naturally curly hair-specific products that are sulfate-free.
When using a shampoo that is not sulfate-free, you will experience flakiness, dry hair, and breakage over time. The best hair products are ones that easily display the pH level of the product.
Tip #5- Protective Styles
Whether you do a big chop or gradual chop, without a doubt, protective styles will be your go-to.
Protective styles are important to have throughout your curly hair journey even after your full transition.
Protective styles help maintain the health of your curly hair by tucking away the ends and protecting them from harsh weather, fingers (if you know, you know..), and any other free radicals.
To get an idea of what protective styles you can do, I highly recommend searching Pinterest. It’s a search engine like Google but you will visually see the styles and how-to instructions.
Tip #6- The Importance of Patience
This is a super hard one. I’m a patient person, to begin with. However, going through this process, really tested that patience. Unfortunately, I don’t have any tips on how to make this natural transition faster or how to make your hair grow overnight.
Other than the good ole’ virtue of patience and trust in the process. When I finally changed my mind and focused on other areas of the natural transition and my life and less on the growth process, I do think it went faster.
You just have to keep your mind focused on other things or the natural transition will feel like a slow crawl!
Tip #7- Promote Hair Growth
Your hair will always grow whether it’s at a faster or slower rate. However, these next few tips & tricks will help promote faster growth and will begin the foundation for your daily/weekly/monthly routine.
Scalp Massages
Scalp massages help stimulate blood flow to the scalp and follicles. Doing daily scalp massages is said to help hair growth and overall thickness!
It’s said that 69% of patients with Alopecia found that hair thickness and growth were improved by scalp massages. (Source)
Scalp massages are effective with your fingers and or a scalp massager. I highly recommend the scalp massager linked below. You can use it for dry scalp massages or on wet hair while shampooing!
Drink More Water
Drinking more water each day will increase the overall health of your hair. Not drinking enough or not drinking water at all will result in dry hair, and split ends, and may even slow down or stop your hair growth.
Sleep On Satin
Satin is an excellent material you need in your natural transition and daily routine. Sleeping on a satin pillowcase is great for your skin and hair.
Satin material decreases friction with the curls against the material and decreases breakage while maintaining moisture in the hair and skin. You can find the best satin hair tools you need for a successful natural transition, below.
Tip #8- Routine Trims
Getting your hair trimmed is super important, especially if you want to grow your hair. Earlier I mentioned a big or gradual chop. However, I want to mention that trimming the ends regularly even if you no longer have chemical ends, is a must.
Hair can’t repair itself like skin does when it’s cut. When the hair has damaged or split ends, you must cut those ends to promote healthy curls, manageable hair, and length.
You don’t have to cut multiple inches off the hair for each haircut. However, going without regular trims to maintain your ends, will further promote you cutting more than you would like on your next trim.
Tip #9- Creating a Routine
The easiest thing for me in my journey was testing and trying what worked and didn’t work for my curly hair. Building a routine of what worked helped the overall management of my hair.
A simple routine can be certain days of the week you shampoo your hair, deep condition your hair, set protective styles, etc. It doesn’t have to be hard and you can make a routine that best fits your schedule.
For Example
I shampoo my hair/scalp once a week and deep condition/co-wash in the middle of the week to extend my curls. I do this because on the weekend I can then wash my hair and style it for whatever event I have going on and I’m not overwashing my hair.
At night time I always sleep on my satin pillowcase and have my hair tied up with a satin scrunchie. My hair is still at its best the next day and I can wear it without my curls being pasted to my head!
The best part of the natural transition is that it’s a huge learning process. I learned all the dos and don’ts and managed to find a routine that best fits my hair and schedule.
Make sure you check out our latest post, 11 Healthy Curly Hair Tips You Need To Know!
When I began my curly hair journey, I went from all heat styles to completely natural and protective styles. It was not the best time of my life and I won’t sit here and act like it was. I had to really be kind to myself and embrace this new unknown. Ultimately, I’m so glad I made the sacrifice to now have the hair of my dreams!
It was a hard process but either way, time will still go on. If you are wanting to make the natural transition, do it! Life will be so much easier in the long run when you have healthy natural hair you’re happy and proud to wear.
This journey helped shape who I am and how I view myself and helped me learn a new skill. Let’s be honest, curly hair is no joke! Although it’s high maintenance, I’m grateful I was blessed with curly hair.
Embrace your curls and trust and enjoy the process, your results will be so worth it!
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