What to Expect in Your First Year Relaxer Free: Month One to Six
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Are you fed up with chemical relaxers that make your hair brittle and prone to breakage? Would you like to embrace your hair for it’s natural beauty? If so, you’re probably considering ‘going natural’. Natural hair, in the stylist-world, means hair that hasn't been processed using a chemical relaxer.
If you currently have a chemical relaxer in your hair, you may be wondering how you can transition to natural hair. Luckily, transitioning is possible – without taking drastic measures like chopping your hair.
Since it takes about one year for the relaxer to grow out of your hair, I’ve assembled some tips on what to expect for the first six months when you decide to go natural. I’ll post a second blog soon on what to expect for months six to twelve.
What to Expect Months 1 – 3:
Big Roots Since most women relax their hair as soon as their roots start growing in, it can be a shock to see some “puffy” hair at the roots. To fix this, start using shampoo, conditioner, and styling products that are suitable for natural (not relaxed) hair.
Dry Ends Also, as your roots grow in, the ends of your hair will get brittle and weaker. To fix this, get your hair trimmed – just a little! There is no need to take off too much length.
New Styling Techniques Your old styling techniques will start to become ineffective in dealing with your roots and brittle hair. I suggest switching to some new products. My favorite hair regime starts the Synergi Thermal Shampoo and Conditioner or the Hello Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner. Once you've washed your hair, use the Restore Leave-In Conditioner on your hair while it is still wet. When your hair is dry, continue to use the styling products that you normally use – but ONLY on your relaxed ends. Blow-dry your hair to ensure that the ends blend well with the roots.
What to Expect Months 3-6:
Unruly Growth Your hair will have grown about 3 to 5 inches by this point and is probably thicker, longer, and seemingly more unruly than ever. At this point, you've come far enough that there is no turning back! It’s still a bit of an awkward stage, where you’ll find that your relaxed ends are thinner than your new growth. Continue to get regular trims to take care of breakage. How to know its time to get your ends trimmed / How to tell its time for a snip!
New Styling Techniques
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With your hair getting longer and thicker, you’ll want to switch up your hair care regime again. My suggestion is to avoid using oil moisturizers on your hair before applying heat, if you've been flat-ironing. If the hair ‘smokes’ while blow drying or flat ironing, you’re damaging it. Continue to use Synergi Thermal Shampoo and Conditioner or Hello Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner. Then use Restore Leave-In Conditioner between salon visits.
Transitioning to natural hair can seem like a long process, but it’s well worth the effort. Good luck and stay tuned for my next blog post where I cover what to expect during months 6-12.
Karen
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