DiscoveringNatural

Every week, I get asked by many people who want to stop relaxing their hair, " How Do I Go Natural". After answering numerous messages, I decided to share just how and also some things that you might not know about natural hair.

Last Tuesday, I had a blog radio chat with Joyce Ajanaku of Get Inspired with Joyce .  We talk about caring for transitioning and natural hair. I also share how I manage my life with work, family, and being a natural hair blogger/vlogger. I share many valuable tips that will help you on your natural hair journey.

Your child's hair is texturized or relaxed and you are wondering how do you stop putting chemicals in your child's hair and make their hair completely natural. First thing, know that you are not alone. Let me share a little bit about myself and my older daughter, known as Big Sis on our YouTube channel, DiscoveringNatural . When Big Sis was 4 years old, I got to a point of frustration with her natural hair. At that time, I was blind to the beauty of natural hair. Maybe I was sleep deprived due to having a newborn, Lil Sis , or maybe it was the pain I felt when I saw her cry when I did her hair. I decided to listen to "friends" who advised me that the best thing to do was to texturize her hair. It will make her hair easier to manage. Everyone is doing it. They said. And, without doing my research, I listened and went ahead. Her hair was pretty... at first... Cornrow out (1 month texturized hair (4 years old Big Sis)) Then after the first year of ...

Transitioning to Natural Hair is a process of letting your new growth grow with your relaxed ends. Let's start from the very beginning... When it comes to knowing how to start transitioning to natural hair, you have to have a starting point. The starting point is you having relaxed hair and wondering how to convert that relaxed hair back to its natural state.  Speaking from experience, when I ventured into the great unknown which was natural hair, I didn't know what laid ahead of me. I knew that I didn't want to cut off all my relaxed hair. You would think that it would be easy for me since I just got done transitioning my daughter for a year and my youngest daughter has always been natural. But there is a difference when it comes to caring for your own hair . Step 1: Have a Plan Having a plan as to how I wanted to be natural, was the first step I took. I knew that I was not going to do the Big Chop ; chopping off all my relaxed ends, which will onl...

Did you miss my radio speaking segment on The Nappturalite Radio Show ? Listen to it here (I start talking at 1:24:00) : Online Lifestyle Radio at Blog Talk Radio with Nappturalite Radio on BlogTalkRadio

Hey y'all! I will be on the Nappturalite Radio show tomorrow, February 20th at 9pm EST. The show actually airs from 8pm - 10pm EST. Here is the direct link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nappturalite/2014/02/21/nappturalite-diaries--i-big-chopped-my-own-hair You can listen as I talk about my Big Chop Experience  and provide you with tips and advice for going natural and doing your own Big Chop. Listen in at www.nappturaliteradio.com Thanks!!! I'm so excited!!

By DiscoveringNatural  So, your child's hair is currently texturized or relaxed and you are wondering how do you stop putting chemicals in your child's hair and make their hair completely natural. First thing, know that you are not alone. Let me share a little bit about myself and my older daughter, known as Big Sis on our YouTube channel, DiscoveringNatural . When Big Sis was 4 years old, I got to a point of frustration with her natural hair. At that time, I was blind to the beauty of natural hair. Maybe I was sleep deprive due to having a newborn, Lil Sis , or maybe it was the pain I felt when I saw her cry when I did her hair. I decided to listen to "friends" who advised me that the best thing to do was to texturize her hair. It will make her hair easier to manage. Everyone is doing it. They said. And, without doing my research, I listened and went ahead. Her hair was pretty... at first... Cornrow out (1 month texturized hair (4 years old Big Sis...

By DiscoveringNatural Transitioning to Natural Hair is a process of letting your new growth (natural hair) grow with your relaxed ends. Let's start from the very beginning... When it comes to knowing how to start transitioning to natural hair, you have to have a starting point. The starting point is you having relaxed hair and wondering how to convert that relaxed, chemically treated hair back to its natural state.  Speaking from experience, when I ventured into the great unknown which was natural hair, I did not know what laid ahead for me. I knew that I did not want to cut off all my relaxed hair just 8 weeks after my last relaxer. I also knew that I wanted to learn more about the new world. You would think that it would be easy for me since I just got done transitioning my daughter for a year and my youngest daughter was always natural. But there is a difference when it comes to the care of your own hair . Step 1: Have a Plan Having a plan as to how I wanted to be...

Source: Pinterest.com Most of us have dealt with criticism when it comes to different aspects of our lives. Be it, in our career choices, life style choices, or even our hair choices . To some people, the decision for us to go natural has opened up a whole bunch of criticism. These kind of criticism might be coming from a spouse, a family member, friend, or even total strangers. Yes, sometimes, strangers feel a need to comment on our natural hair . What you do with this kind of criticism will either make you stronger or break you.  Criticism will make you dig deeper to search for the reason  why you decide to go natural . This is why it is important that you know the main reason why you decided to go natural. Here are some ways that you can deal with criticism:   Have you ever faced criticism when it comes to your natural hair?

Congrats on your Return back to Natural ! Wishing you success on your journey, this time.

I can't believe it's been 4 months already since I " TBC ". I am learning daily about my natural hair... some things I love, some things I like... while some things I am adapting to. But overall, I do love my natural hair. Follow my journey on my blog , on YouTube , on Facebook , and on Instagram ! Watch my reflection on month 4 and what is to come in month 5.

   Not everyone gets the freedom ... heavens opening up ... feeling,  after doing the Big Chop . Some people experience sadness, withdraws and even emotional detachment from their hair. Here are some things to know before you do the Big Chop: Your hair will not be as long as you think it will be   The amount of shrinkage you get while transitioning is very different from what you will experience after cutting off your relaxed ends. The curl pattern you see might not be the same With your relaxed ends weighing down your natural hair, your new growth's curl pattern will appear looser. However, sans the relaxed ends, you could probably have tighter curls. Be ready for this. This is why I am against hair typing while transitioning. This can be a big letdown for a lot of transitoners post big chop. Your hair will require more maintenance While transitioning, the amount of maintenance you have to do to your hair when it comes to moisturizing and dai...

    Styling can be such a struggle when dealing with two textures of hair. Your relaxed ends can prevent a beautiful style from turning out well. While transitioning, I struggled a lot with my twist outs but my braid outs always comes out perfect.  However, now that I am natural, my twists outs come out nice and I am still working on my braid outs. Failed twist outs. Look at those Relaxed Ends. (pics from my Instagram page: DiscoveringNatural) What styles work well while Transitioning? Cornrows Braid Out   Cornrows     Roll N Tuck   Braid Out Bantu Knot Out Flat Twist Out Some other styles that work are roller sets, buns, and using extensions. While transitioning, I never used extensions because I didn't want to deal with my edges getting damaged and breaking. For all my transitioning pictures, click here .

It's been one week since I have been natural. I have learnt so much about my natural hair but the biggest lesson is the vast difference between transitioning hair and natural hair. Hair Typing For all those transitioning ladies focusing on hair types, Ladies...wait until you big chop! When I was transitioning, my new growth had hair that looked like this: Now, that same hair, post transitioning looks like this: Hair Density The first impression of my natural hair was that it was quite thick and dense compared to how thin it felt while transitioning. I think that the relaxed ends pulled compacted curls of the new growth downwards, giving it a looser/ thinner feel. Hair Products Currently, I am still using the same products that I used while transitioning. For those just starting off on their transitioning journey, I would advice to start treating your hair as if it were natural. This means doing away with hair products that work on relaxed hair more than on natural ...

After chopping off my relaxed ends, I decided to two strand twist my hair for my first all natural hairstyle. I have always wanted my first style to be a twist out. I was so scared to over fluff my hair and create frizz. But now, I think I should have fluffed more. LOL! When I got back from church, I decided to quickly remoisturize and put my hair back into two strand twist. It was very tempting to just play in my hair, but I am trying not to develop HIH syndrome. To remoisturize my hair, I first sectioned off my hair into four parts and for each part, I spritz with water, applied a quarter size of Generic Paul Mitchell "The Conditioner",  and Taliah Waajid Style and Shine , and retwisted. I then covered my hair with my satin bonnet. Before going to bed, I checked my twists to feel if they were dry and needed to be remoisturized, and they were still so soft and moist! Yeah! Why all this moisturizing after big chop? From all the research I have done on What to ...

After one year and 17 days, I finally big chopped! This week has been full of struggles and I just gave in. I have no regrets because I was ready. Watch the video below for my big chop experience.  Enjoy! My length check after big chop: Front: 5 inches Crown: 7 inches Back: 4.5 inches Side: 4.5 inches Let the moisturizing and the cool natural hair styles begin!!

When I reached the one-year mark of my transitioning from relaxed to natural hair, I could officially consider myself as a long term transitioner. Unlike other transitioners that have struggled through the journey, mine has been relatively smooth sailing. I am not saying I did not have my issues with tangling up and breakage , but my natural hair has cooperated well with my relaxed ends, most of the time. Yesterday, as I started my moisturizing and sealing process, I suddenly had to urge to do some " chopping ". No , not big chop style , but a trim, which to some might seem like a mini-chop. So, I decided to chop about 2 inches off my relaxed ends. In some areas, I was a little bit scissor-happy, LOL , and took off about 2.5 inches. Overall, I am happy that I did. Now, looking at the amount of relaxed ends I have and the rate my hair is growing , I am giving this journey about 6-8 more months. But then again....who knows. Until then, I will continue doing ...

I am SO excited about today's post! My new growth is one year's old today!! Yeah!! I have had an amazing one year... learnt so much... met so many people that have helped me on my journey. Please watch the video above to hear about my experience during this first year of transitioning.  Thanks to all of you for going on this journey with me!!

I was responding to a comment from one of my post when I suddenly got an Ah-ha moment. So, I felt the need to confess to you all about why I feel I am not ready to Big Chop. Yes, I am. I think the struggle I have currently is that I have never worked with my hair being less than shoulder-length. I have a section of my hair (at the back that is all natural). I call it my "test area".  Last wash day, that area was collar-bone length, STRETCHED. When not stretched, it is ear level. I am hoping that when I BC, my hair will be at least shoulder length when not stretched. Ohh... I just need to embrace shrinkage, right? What is stopping you from doing a Big Chop?