Any ladies begin transitioning after they reached WL...

[nakialovesshoes]

And if so, how long is your hair now & do you know how long it took you to get back your length as a natural (assuming you're back @ WL again)?

Also, did you do a BC (at what length) or did you gradually cut your chemical ends off?

 

[Traycee]

Ohhhhh.... This is good .... I would love to hear someone WL do a long transition successfully... Once you get to WL its hard to let go of length

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I think SmilingElephant is considering it right now she's WSL and she wants to do a transition.

SouthernBella had super long hair like grazing waist when she decided to transition. This was her long hair at the beginning of her transiton, she BC'd though but not super short just kinda short, she's now back to BSL she seems like her goal is to attain and maintain WSL as a natural, which I've seen her say she will remain for good.

I think it would actually be a good idea to get input from Sylver2 as to how she goes about her year long stretches....I could see that being really helpful as to how to deal with the two textures untill your relaxed hair is completely replaced with your coily hair

I'd love to hear from ladies that did that long of a transition....that would be really interesting to hear about!

 

[nakialovesshoes]

Bumping...

 

[onejamifan]

I started a thread similar to this a couple of months ago and did not get much feedback I started my transition almost exactly a year ago and was WL. I have not had a cut since then but I am having a super hard time detangling and styling. I'm always looking a HAM. I don't like bunning and I can't get textured styles to last more than 24 hours I am going back and forth on whether I should relax or just continue with the struggle. I really love wearing my hair straight and enjoy my current length, but it is taking me twice as long to get my hair done. So, I could cut and continue, or just relax and keep the length. I'm really on the fence right now.


That's my experience with starting my transition at WL...

 

[MsLizziA]

bumping........

 

[VinDieselsWifey]

i was at about waist length then did a 19 month transition. the photo in my avatar was my length in June 2008, 1 month after my last relaxer. i didn't start off with transitioning in mind. Normally I would go about 4-5 months between relaxers anyway. but i had a setback with overprocessing & protein overload and had breakage all throughout the back of my head in September of that same year. So i decided to start over.

This is my 3rd time transitioning. I did it the first time when i was around 13, the 2nd when i was 19. I go through cycles of being natural & relaxed. But i don't plan on cutting my hair off anymore. I'm thinking about texturizing again either the end of this year of around the spring of next year. The only reason i did it this time was because of the setback. I loved my texlaxed hair. I love the thickness of my natural hair too though. But i can't style my natural hair the way i would like.

The only way i made it 19 months was by keeping my hair braided. i do my own braids. the first 6 months weren't that bad. I could still rollerset and flat iron the roots and it looked like i had a fresh relaxer. but after about a year i mainly kept it braided. i did little mini chops here and there. finally i got tired of dealing with the 2 textures and cut all the relaxed ends off. the key for detangling for me was using good deep conditioners with lots of slip and taking my time and doing it in sections. i always deal with my hair in sections when washing and conditioning. when it wasn't braided i would flat iron it and bun.

It's been 2 years since my last relaxer and the last time i straightened was in January of this year. My hair was between shoulder and armpit length then. I hope the be brastrap length in the back by the end of this year. The back of my hair grows the fastest. I've been braided up since January and have been keeping them in for a month, then re-doing them. I'm deployed so i don't have time to fuss with my hair.

I have pics in my fotki.

 

[MsLizziA]

 

[me-T]

**bumpity**

 

[MariposaSexyGirl]

I guess I sorta did. I was just scraping WL or either still mbl when I decided to transition. I am now 10 months in and so far it's been okay. I have to section my hair in like 8 sections when I wash now instead of 6. I don't wear braids or anything in my hair. I detangle with a wide tooth comb followed by the denman D4(love this thing!). I ponytail roller set in those same 8 sections. Actually while I'm in the shower, after I detangle each section I put a hair band on it soon after. So yes I'm in the shower with 8 hair bands around my arm lol. After that I put my rollers in sit under the dryer or try to sleep in them over night. Then I flat iron the roots. Sometimes I saran wrap sometimes I don't. After wearing it straight for a week I oil my hair with vatika oil to get some of the loose hairs and tangle out then I co-wash and wear a bun until I'm ready to wear my hair down again. One deep conditioner that always works for me is the ORS replenishing pak. I leave that stuff in as long as can(usually overnight). And the tangle fall out without much effort. So far my hair is doing good. I'm a little past WL now easing to HL. The only other person I know that was transitioning while at WL was missmarie. Other than that I'm not sure.

 

[MariposaSexyGirl]

Oh I forgot to mention that before I wash and I'm not doing anything of importance, I section my hair in those 8 sections with vatika oil and my fingers. I try to to detangle a little that way and then I losely braid them.

 

[biancaelyse]

I was WL and relaxed (I did the Wanakee regimen faithfully in the mid - late 90s) when I decided to go natural about 10 years ago.

I transitioned for less than a year and then decided to BC myself with a pair of not so sharp scissors - bad move!! I went from WL to just enough hair to pull into a stubby ponytail. I had my hair cut professionally a little while later to even things up.

It was drastic but I was okay with it as was DH. A lot of other ppl were shocked, disapproved and were taken aback . I've gone long/short several times - I guess I am easily bored!!

 

[sylver2]

OP im not sure what type hair you have but when i did my 1 year stretch i had a lot of problems with matting. it was really hard dealing with two completely different textures. head was half afro, half straight. after the 11th month the only thing i could do to maintain was to keep it straight/flat ironed. the textured styles styles like braidout would only last a day or two then matted up. it took me an hour to detangle in shower and i had to be extra extra careful and slow so my hair woul'dnt break off at the demarcation line. much $$$ was spent on extra product because my hair was soaking up everything. if i was transitioning i would of just BCd after a year. others could probably continue on with braids.
ive only done one 1 year stretch. now im back to every 6 months.

 

[biancaelyse]

OP im not sure what type hair you have but when i did my 1 year stretch i had a lot of problems with matting. it was really hard dealing with two completely different textures. head was half afro, half straight. after the 11th month the only thing i could do to maintain was to keep it straight/flat ironed. the textured styles styles like braidout would only last a day or two then matted up. it took me an hour to detangle in shower and i had to be extra extra careful and slow so my hair woul'dnt break off at the demarcation line. much $$$ was spent on extra product because my hair was soaking up everything. if i was transitioning i would of just BCd after a year. others could probably continue on with braids.
ive only done one 1 year stretch. now im back to every 6 months.

I remember you stretching. After going that long without relaxing, did you ever think about just transitioning since you had that much new growth??

 

[sylver2]

I remember you stretching. After going that long without relaxing, did you ever think about just transitioning since you had that much new growth??

no not at all.

 

[nakialovesshoes]

Thanks for those that did chime in with a response

I never really talked about why I even posted this thread. When I 1st joined LHCF back in 2007, I had just BCed after transitioning about over a year. Like Sylver said, it seems to be something about that year time frame.

I remained natural until last year, when I decided to get a curl. I really enjoy my curl but there's a small part of me that misses my natural hair. However, I'm less than 2 inches from claiming MBL & 5 inches away from WL. There's no way that I would go back short! I was thinking that I could transition once I get to WL & mini chop & just remain at WL for however many years it would take for me to get rid of my chemical ends.

However & I know you all may think that this is either too ambitious or just plain crazy. I wanted a no direct heat transition. See, last time I transitioned, I had straight pieces & I hated them. I want to know what my natural hair looks like undamaged.

The only thing that I could think of was to transition with Curlformers (extra long). When I was natural I could use them & get relaxer results. So of course it would make my new growth go straight. The only thing that frightens me is the sheer boredeom of wearing my hair in a curly set every single week for 3 or 4 years.

Again, I appreciate the feedback. I won't see WL until next year so I have plenty of time to decide.

 

[Whimsy]

I was MBL headed towards WL when I started my transition.

That was in August 2007.

In March 2008 I cut up to just above APL as my first mini chop.

Then I let it grow back to BSL when I finally BCed in June back up to APL.

For me, yeah I wanted length, but it was natural hair first, length second. Now it's healthy hair first, length second.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

nakia I think thats a reasonable plan. I did a three year transition so by the time all my relaxed ends were gone I was BSL natural....so I can see someone doing the same at WSL....plus since you have a bit to go before you reach WSL you can spend this time taking a look at natural heat-free transition styles other ladies are doing so you dont get bored

 

[SmilingElephant]

Yeah i WAS thinking about transitioning but its not for me right now bc i like my hair to be more straight than curly....even tho i do like curly hair....but i'm texlaxed and thats a great balance for me right now.