Living with Two Textures

[naija24]

Hey ladies.

So i'm on the fence about either transitioning to natural or just stretching out my relaxer. My hair is in twists right now so I dont' have to think about it until at least December, when I revisit the big question again.

But I wanted to ask, do I really have to choose?

Why can't I just....have half my hair be relaxed and the other natural, and never chop at all? Is this common? I don't want to lose any length I may gain/retain and I figure that if I learn how to properly stretch, then dealing with two textures wouldn't be a big deal, especially if I wear my hair straight anyway.

Are there other ladies out there who do this/have done this? WHat would my hair look like straightened if I didn't chop my relaxed ends off?

 

[PureSilver]

Living with two textures has its ups and downs, good and bad. I'm curious though, how do you plan to care for your hair since its now in twists as you mentioned and wont be taking them down till December.

you should be cautious abut leaving in any protective style too long, you may end up with more breakage ad damage than you would like. Please ensure you moisturize your hair daily and pay attention to you NG and roots.
HHG AND ALL THE BEST.

 

[Lucie]

I had two textures when I was natural. 3C in the temple. 3C in the nape. And 4a in the middle. LOL! It does not get better just because you are 100 natural either. If I may ask, why are you going to have twists until December? That seems like a long time. Pay attention to your new growth, nape and temple area while they are in. All the best to ya!

 

[naija24]

Sorry. I'm not having twists in December. I'm hiding my hair until December via twists. I plan to take it down in October and retwist again until December.

 

[Amarilles]

You'll have to choose eventually but really long transitions can be done, sipp100 transitioned for 3+ years I believe.

As long as you have the patience that comes with dealing with opposing textures...why not? I'm only 15 months in but I still find transitioning very easy. Just have your go-to styles, wait as long as you can before washing, keep the hair stretched as much as possible, detangle very well on wash day and M&S. It doesn't have to be difficult.

 

[starfish79]

I never did a BC I just let my hair grow and slowly cut the relaxed ends off. I wanted to keep my length so I was opposed to the BC. this was 10+ years ago, but I do remember the relaxed ends being so much drier than the rest of my hair. Also, I felt like the straight ends prevented my hair from curling properly. Overall it was an easy transition for me, but when I got down to the last 3-4 inches of relaxed ends I was done and did a mini chip just to be rid of them. HHG!

 

[Bun Mistress]

I transitioned for 2 plus years I think. I mostly wore buns and twist out bun the first year then braid outs as my hair go longer.

Its doable, oil and aloe vera are great for detangling. DC a lot and moisturized often (did daily if not almost daily) My hair did break much, it looked fine when straightened. This took a lot of babying that I don't know if I would do again though! lol.

 

[DarkJoy]

I think it depends on if the relaxed ends are bone straight and your ng is something like fine 4c strands. The demarcation line could be REALLY weak in a case like that, causing unwanted breakage and splits that travel and damage your ng.

Wouldnt recommend it in that instance.

 

[havilland]

I think it depends on if the relaxed ends are bone straight and your ng is something like fine 4c strands. The demarcation line could be REALLY weak in a case like that, causing unwanted breakage and splits that travel and damage your ng.

Wouldnt recommend it in that instance.

^^^^this

It can be done. But it really depends on the two textures, the difference in them and how strong your relaxed hair is.

 

[ChristmasCarol]

naija24

I transitioned for 3 1/2 years, so it's doable. As the ladies above said, it depends upon the health of your relaxed hair and the difference in texture. Honestly, I've only seen extremely long transitions with type 3 (or very silky 4a) hair.

When my hair was blown out or flatironed, the line of demarcation wasn't at all noticeable.

 

[naija24]

oh. well my hair relaxed or natural is pretty thick and healthy usually. it's healthy now. i have type 4c hair. it's so kinky. it shrinks to like 75% of what it actually is.

 

[naija24]

naija24

I transitioned for 3 1/2 years, so it's doable. As the ladies above said, it depends upon the health of your relaxed hair and the difference in texture. Honestly, I've only seen extremely long transitions with type 3 (or very silky 4a) hair.

When my hair was blown out or flatironed, the line of demarcation wasn't at all noticeable.

that's a long time sipp100!! I don't think I could transition for 3.5 years but maybe 1 and a half is my max. I assume that 1.5 years of growth is pretty much going from shaven to SL anyway. So if i have NL hair now, and I go from that to SL natural/APL in total, then I'd be okay with that.

If I were natural, I'd be a straight haired natural anyway.

 

[havilland]

I'm at the 2 year mark in my transition and the longer I go the more often I need to trim.

My natural hair is about shoulder length which to me is about where it would be if I big chopped two years ago. It's just WAY MORE WORK!

I believe it's harder to do a long transition because you have to be so careful with your hair at the demarcation line and the ends. Both are extremely fragile. One bad detangling session could render you "big chopped".

 

[DarkJoy]

I'm at the 2 year mark in my transition and the longer I go the more often I need to trim.

My natural hair is about shoulder length which to me is about where it would be if I big chopped two years ago. It's just WAY MORE WORK!

I believe it's harder to do a long transition because you have to be so careful with your hair at the demarcation line and the ends. Both are extremely fragile. One bad detangling session could render you "big chopped".

Yeah, we do see these threads pop up where someone was forced to chop b/c their relaxed ends vs ng got matted from this or that product or manipulation during a longish transition...

 

[naturalmanenyc]

You don't have to choose. I transitioned with 3 textures on my head for 104 weeks. I had some bone straight relaxed hair at the ends, mildly relaxed hair in the middle and natural at the roots. I kept my hair at shoulder length while I grew it out. For the most I wore my hair loose but I did try a couple of protective styles with extensions.

Tons of details, photos and videos are on my blog and YouTube channel.