As the late great Whitney Houston once said, "Crack is whack!" Just joking! Wait, not really.

I respect any way a woman decides to wear her hair. It is HER hair. Truthfully, when I decided to go natural I already planned to "slap a perm in it" if I did not like my natural hair. I have never been a gun-ho coconut oil toting, get down or lay down kind of natural girl. However, I do promote healthy hair and believe hair is healthiest in its natural form.

It is rare that I go a day without getting a question regarding my hair. "What do you do to get it like that?" "Is it a wig/weave?" "Is it a straw set?" "What products do you use?" "Can I touch it?" "It's soft, how did you get it so soft?"

In a series of posts I hope to answer any and all questions regarding my natural hair journey and hair care process. Please note, I am not a guru nor do I wish to be. All opinions are mine. What works for me may not work for you. Before you decide to embark on the natural journey

1.  Why do you want to go natural? Your why has to be strong enough to keep you pushing through the transitioning phase. I had 3 failed attempts before fully transitioning from relaxer to au natural. For me, I primarily wanted to be natural for the convenience. I hated feeling enslaved to keeping my hair "done," devising a master plan on what I was going to do during vacations, and forfeiting hours of my life sitting in hair salons. Of all the things I had to worry about I no longer wanted my hair to be one of them. I wanted to be free! In addition, I wanted thicker and fuller hair and a scalp rid of scabs from the burning sensation of a relaxer. 

2.  What kind of styles do you plan to rock when you transition? This is so important! Not having a solid plan on styles will cause a lot of frustration and may lead you running back to the creamy crack. When I transitioned for the last and final time, I decided to treat my hair as if it was already natural. I wore a lot of curly styles including twist-outs set on rods and flexi-rod sets. Further along in my transition I started pressing and pin curling my hair. I was getting anxious with the 2 different textures. I can recall keeping the flat iron on my natural texture until the steam from the iron burnt my scalp. Cringe! Once I got tired of pressing every couple of weeks, I chopped! In a previous failed transitioning attempt I tried braids and they did not work for me. My hair is super soft, fine, and breaks easily. As much as I like the versatility of protective styles that involve adding hair, my hair ALWAYS result in extreme breakage and leads to a major cut. If your hair is strong enough to withheld protective styling such as braids, faux locs, and weaves consider these as styling options. The photos below are from August 2009-November 2009.

3.   When do you plan to transition? Think about what time and season of the year you want to transition. In my failed attempts, I always started in the summer. Huge mistake! Heat and humidity combined with sweated out roots and frizz always led to a trip to the salon for a relaxer. I got my last relaxer in July 2009 and big chopped close to spring (March 2010). Which leads me to...

4.  How long will you transition? Do you want to have a relatively short transition and big chop or do you want to have a long transition and trim periodically until all of the relaxer is gone? I transitioned for 8-9 months. I knew in order to avoid getting a relaxer, I would have to big chop. Having a long transition requires patience, preparation, and planning.

5.  Who is in your support tribe? Who are your friends and family you can call on for advice, vent to during frustrations, and encourage you to keep going? Luckily for me, my mom successfully transitioned a few months prior to my big chop. We shared successes, failures, products, and resources. The natural community wasn't poppin' like it is today. There is a wealth of information and support on the internet. However, I always think having a person to speak to directly is best. If you don't have a curl friend to confide in...Ash is always here! Feel free to contact me here. I would love to answer any questions you have. Stay encouraged my friends!