GOING KINKY? HERE’S A FEW THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE GOING NATURAL

Moji, I love your bun, Moji your hair is nice, How did you do that bun? And on and on……

Some of you may know or may not know that I am transitioning to natural hair. If you didn’t know before now, I would like to officially let you know that I am gently transitioning into natural hair and from time to time, I will be sharing with you some TIPS I am learning along the way. I hope you don’t mind. 🙂

Some call natural hair kinky hair, some nappy hair, some call it melanin fro and on and on. In this post, I will be sharing with you WHY I decided to go natural and secondly and few things to know before going natural…..

WHY I Decided It’s Time to go Kinky

1, I got tired of chemically straightening my hair. If you have seen my video on how to do the perfect bun, you will notice that I have “good hair”. However I noticed that my hair was growing but wasn’t retaining the length. What this means is that each time I take out my braids or weave etc, my hair would have grown but the textured hair keeps failing off. Although, all hair would shed but I noticed something is now wrong with chemical in my hair. I may have tried different hands or different products but I think the main thing is that I have had enough of chemical in my hair.

I also read a lot of articles on how chemicals in relaxers can be detrimental to the woman body. This reason is secondary to me though.

2, I want to know what it feels like to have nappy hair. I want to feel some Janelle Moneo hair vibe. No, just joking but I want to enjoy the hair God gave me.

3, My darling husband is been encouraging me to get on this ride for a long time. He says things like; you will look nice; honestly it will look great on you; trust me, you will look really nice…..

Well I hope I do, if not?? 🙂

But sincerely, people perish because of lack of knowledge. The reason WHY I waited this long is because I just didn’t know if I could manage my hair with my already busy life.

I have now encouraged myself and I am now gently transitioning to natural. I decided I won’t have the big chop because I want some hair on my head to be able to do different things to my hair still. I have now chopped off about 7inches off my hair and I have about 10inches left. The more growth I gain, the more I would chop off so that is my plan till I become all natural. I am looking forward to this journey.

How to Achieve that Perfect Low Bun on Your Hair

What You Need To Know Before Going Natural

Going natural is like having a baby. Your pregnancy journey will be different from every other person’s own and how you raise your chid will be different from how every other person will raise theirs. So it’s like your hair, you way. Although the journey may be different, the goal is to grow gorgeous, healthy and fine fro.  Here are a few things to know before going natural.

1, Know the texture of your hair

The last time I did a question and answer series HERE, one of the question I answered was a hair question. The question was what product should I be using on my natural hair? My answer is; it is better to know the kind of hair you have first before you know what product to use. If you are sick, you have to know what is wrong first before you start taking medications. When you know what is wrong, you know medicine to take.

Know your hair type/texture first before you start buying products. You could have just fine hair or combination of different textures. So know your hair first. Your coil pattern may be different for all the hair on your head so pay attention to that. Your natural hair could be curly or coily, there is a different between the two. I have a blog written on this and I will share that with you soon. 

2, You Need A Routine

With relaxed hair, you can quickly wash, blow dry, straighten and go but with natural hair or kinky hair, you need to have a routine if you want your hair to be healthy and to retain length. This is my goal; healthy and long hair. Oh Lord, help me. Amen somebody!

You need to know how to care for your hair; when you need to wash your hair, how to dry your hair properly and on and on. Some of these things I will be sharing with you on video as time goes on.

I will say though in summary that for natural hair, it takes time to maintain; as in washing, drying and every other thing in between. Like I said, I will share more in the near future.

3, Your Hair will GROW but it will SHRINK

For someone like me whose goal is to have long hair, I have at the back of my mind that although my hair may grow but it will not be growing straight except I get a blow dry so I am ready for that. Even if your hair grows, it will shrink so be aware of that. The shrinking part could be discouraging actually. I do have a friend whose four daughter have full head of hair but the shrinkage is real for them too. So be ready that your hair will grow but it will shrink.

4, The Hair Terminologies

This is another thing to be mindful off. Different people call different thing different things. To be honest, this is why it is important to read as much as you need to know BUT let the decision of how you want to manage your hair be yours. All the info out there could be daunting. You hear things like pre-wash, co-wash(for washing);  twist-out, braid-out(for protective styling) and silk scarf, cotton scarf or sateen scarf(for protecting your hair while you sleep). There are so many terminologies out there but like I said, read all you need to know but let the decision on how to take care of your hair be ultimately yours. Pay attention to your hair and see what works.

5, Be Ready To EXPRESS Yourself

When I see Macy Gray or Nse Ekpe with the “rough” and “tumbleness “of their hair, I say oh Lord! I love the ruff and tumble look of the natural hair. So be ready to embrace and express yourself through your natural hair. Sometimes, it can look mad but that is the idea. Go wild, go bold or go home. On this ride, you must be ready to express yourself and embrace the imperfection of the natural hair. In that imperfection, you find perfection if you know what I mean. Well, you have been made perfect by God. Boom!

You can colour your hair, one of my mentors has her hair coloured in this gorgeous burgundy colour and it looks so gorgeous. You can wear your hair shrinked, you can wear it straight, with natural hair, you can do anything you want to do. Some braids(this will be my go to), wear some weave or wig and so on. Be ready to express yourself.

6, Hair Porosity

Is your hair dry? Why is it dry? What can you use to make your hair not so dry? These are some of the questions to get ready to learn about. If you go on Youtube, a lot of people talk about what they do not know but when you take your time to STUDY, you will save yourself the hassle of wasting your time and your money.

What is Hair Porosity? 

Hair porosity simply refers to your hair’s ability to absorb and retain moisture, and here are three ways to determine where yours falls on the porosity spectrum: low, normal or high.

If you take the time to learn how your hair retain moisture and how quickly your hair dries out, you will figure out how much moisture your hair needs and what works for you. You may not figure this out in a day or in a week or even in a year. This is why it is important to pay close attention to your own hair. This is my plan as I transition.

I will not be recommending books but I am reading a few. The best thing to do is go on Amazon and search the “science of natural hair” and “what to expect when transitioning to natural hair”. Read the preview of the books and see which one you want to buy. That was what I did. I decided not to recommend books because you will spend money and so as not to feel like you wasted your money if you don’t find what you are looking for, I decided no book recommendation.

I will say though that moisturising your hair is one of the best things you could do for your natural hair. It is all about moisturising your hair so it is easy to comb or brush whichever the case may be.

7, What Products to Use & How Much to Spend

This is another thing to be mindful of. There are so many products in the market and many more will keep coming out. Be careful not to keep buying products you may not necessarily use. Know what budget you want to stick with so as not to waste your money only not to get good results. Try out a couple of products and see if they work. If not try other ones and see. Instead of buying and buying and buying, why not just start with minimal products. Like I said, it is best to see what works for you.

For now, I haven’t bought any new hair products since I have been transitioning. However, I have been using my organics deep conditioner a lot to help me soften my hair and it is doing a great job for me. When I try out new products, I will share them with you on video.

8, Join a Hair Community

If you are going in a direction you don’t know, you use a Sat Nav or a Google map to be able to find your way. The traditional way is that you ask from people. Going natural or transitioning is like a territory you may not have treaded before so for you to get some kind of direction, find a natural hair community to join. You can learn from them and you can also share your own experience.

I love a group effort. In a group you grow better than you would on your own. When you learn from people who know more than you, you join their knowledge to yours and you know so much more. Another option is to get a hair coach, they are specialised in helping you on your hair journey. The former I am exploring, the latter, I won’t personally be considering. Instead of the latter, I will pay attention to my own hair and see what works.

Those are some of my tips on what to know before going natural. I am not a hair pro but I am a mother who knows that all children are not the same. And because I know all children are not the same, I know all hair can never be the same 🙂

I want to thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you found this post helpful. If you did, share it with a friend and please let me know in the comments below. Also what are your best TIPS for natural hair? Please share them with me in the comments below. 

Wishing you a fab day today and best wishes for good hair.

Much Love, Mojisola.

Don’t want to miss a thing on Moj in touch? Feel free to subscribe to the blog to get exclusive CHIC styling TIPS in your inbox. Please do so on the bottom left hand corner of the blog.

Catch up with me on Facebook//Twitter//Instagram//Youtube

Subscribe to Moj in Touch on YouTube HERE