Dry, dry, dry, dry...oh, and did I mention dry???!!!

If you couldn't tell from the title, I've been suffering from some SERIOUS dryness. However, I think I've pinpointed some part of the problem. One of the reasons I gave up deep conditioning for longer than 10-20 minutes was because the dryness I experienced was unaffected by the deep conditioning no matter how long or how much money I spent on hair products. Once my hair dried, ALL moisture was gone!

I thought maybe using products with no cones would help. I've been using the Shea Moisture (yellow) hair product line, but I've heard a lot of bad things about that product on both natural and relaxed hair. I'm thinking I'll try mixing these products with olive oil to add slip so I won't have wasted my money. The conditioner works well on detangling my dry hair, so I'll just keep up using that one as a pre-poo/detangler before I wash my hair and cut out using it after I shampoo.

Today I decided to go back to the silicone-based products. My hair is only half an inch away from bra-strap length (BSL) when stretched, so I definitely have way more relaxed hair than natural. I went through section by section and moisturized my hair with my old favorite Redken Smooth Down Butter Treat, then sealed with Africa's Best Herbal Oil. I lightly brushed it, put it in a ponytail (with ends tucked and pinned), and tied my hair down with a scarf. When I took off the scarf and rebunned my ends, my hair felt a MILLION times better! It feels moisturized, and the natural hair is finally laying down so my bun looks smooth and neat. I don't know if using silicone-based products will have any long-term negative effects, but it was something that finally penetrated my fragile air-dried hair. I will continue using my tried and true cone-based products until I experience any further trouble.

I was thinking I would need to start adding a lot of heat to my no-heat regimen, but it looks like it won't be necessary. I will be adding a teeny bit of heat to the middle section of my hair (meaning not the roots, not the ends, but the middle) so that this section will finally fully dry overnight (it REFUSES to completely air dry in ponytails, braids, bantu knots--you name it my hair refuses it), but I'll let you know how that goes once I try it.

All in all, I'm very happy with my hair right now.!

Find a style and STICK TO IT!

This is what I'm trying to do now. This will be a very short entry. I'm getting tons of breakage, and I think there are multiple causes, including not moisturizing enough and changing my hairstyle every day. I haven't really been changing it per say. I keep trying to get my bun to lie a little flatter because it looks like a flotation device on top of my head. I take it out daily and finger detangle, finger detangle, finger detangle. Then I break down and comb it with the shower comb (I know, I know...NEVER comb dry hair, but I have truly learned my lesson after seeing all the hair on the bathroom floor), and try two or three different styles before I come right back to the easy, EXTREMELY FLUFFY bun.

Well, today, I'm trying double bunning. I have to get to an appointment so I'll have to post a picture when I get back and a little more detail (product and styling), but if it hold and doesn't get too fluffy, I'm making it my regular go-to style. Be back in a few hours with a picture!
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Alright back with pictures. I'm not a huge fan of this style either, but it is easy and low maintenance. Perhaps moving the part or the bun placements will help I don't know. Plus the red semi permanent in my relaxed hair is extremely different than my natural black hair. This transitioning is not easy!

I'm thinking next wash day I'll try the style below, but bantu knot my hair. I think it should last that way. If it does, and the tangles aren't too much, I'll make that it my regulary.

Second Wash Routine Attempt: Mistakes and Steps to Improve

So today was wash day, and with the braid-out, it was some rough detangling. I won't be using that as a regular style. It's too much manipulation and too much breakage when detangling. So this wash day, here is what happened:

1. I put my hair in nine pony tails instead of the four I did last week. 
2. For the first six sections, I parted, put extra virgin olive oil on it, detangled, and ponytailed. 
3. Then I realized my hair was still extremely dry and I'm getting a lot of breakage. So for the last three sections, I used Shea Moisture's Shea Butter conditioner to detangle. This REALLY helped. I wished I would have thought about it six sections ago, lol. 
4. From there, I changed my mind and decided I couldn't effectively wash nine sections and split then back into four, parting with the comb and finger detangling into the four ponytails. 
5. I washed each section with Cream of Nature's Kiwi and Mango shampoo for dry, brittle hair, then rinsed each section, changing my mind AGAIN, deciding that redoing the ponytails while soaking wet would cause too much breakage because the hair ties tangled with the wet hair. 
6. So halfway through washing, I decided to remove all of the ponytail holders and bantu knot each section.
7. Deep breath...SO! I had four soaking wet bantu knots when I exited the shower. I went section by section, undoing the knot, squeezing dry, toweling dry, coating section in Shea Moisture's Shea conditioner again, detangling with comb, and putting back into ponytail to stretch the new growth. 
8. In the end, I ended up with four ponytails again, which will air dry overnight. Here they are. Nothing special:

In the morning, I plan to undo the ponytails and put in four bantu knots with As I Am Twisting Cream, and cover with scarf. Then I'm going for a 30 minute walk (38.5 weeks pregnant, ZERO dilation, and STILL trying to get this little guy moving), and I'll take down the knots and see if it's possible to get a decent little puff to wear. If not, then I'm going to put it in a bun.

Improved (and shortened) plan for next wash:

1. Part in four sections and bantu knot
2. Take down each section and detangle with conditioner and shower comb
3. Redo bantu knots
4. Wash and rinse each section thoroughly, being sure to redo bantu knots as I go
5. Squeeze dry, condition, detangle, and ponytail section by section to moisturize and stretch new growth

First Braidout Attempt since last transition

I decided to test out a braidout on my transitioning hair. I wanted to try it before I washed my hair so I could know if I wanted to make it a regular transition style during the course of my transition. I haven't washed my hair since this past Monday (so I'll be washing my hair tomorrow). I took down my bun and parted my hair into four sections. I split the four sections into three plaits each, so I had a total of 12 plaits. I sprayed each section with a mixture of EVOO and water,detangled the sections, used Argan Oil Wrap lotion on the relaxed part for hold, and proceeded to plait each section (I just used what products I had on hand. I'm trying to avoid making any unnecessary purchases and filling my cabinet with hair products I never touch). I pincurled the plaits because I don't have any rollers small enough. I took the hair down and attempted to style, putting on a headband. The results (and yes, I'm 39 weeks pregnant with my first baby!)...

Well...I hated it. HATED! I felt like it made me look like a little girl and my husband didn't like it either.

So I played and played and played with it...and finally came up with this style somewhat stolen from my favorite natural youtuber, luvbeinnatural. I already had the same hair accessory. I just used a headband instead. I ended up taking off the one in the pic and just using a simpler headband. The result...

I like it! My husband likes it too. I quote him, "If this is how your hair is going to look when you're natural, then I'm all for it." For me that is a huge coup because he has NOT been on the natural bandwagon since I told him I'm transitioning. Instead of showing him pictures of other people in natural styles like I did before (which didn't work), I decided to show him the styles I like on me. Style #1: Unsuccessful. Style #2: Success! The style to me seems a bit dressy for my usual look, but I'm sure I'll figure out a regular more toned down style soon enough. All in all, I'm happy!

Beginning the Transition

This is my second attempt at transitioning. The first time, my motivation was strictly health-motivated, but to be totally honest it was a little too much pressure for me. I wasn't prepared for the challenge of detangling and styling my hair. The transition lasted for six months before I went right back to the easy way out: the chemical hair relaxer.

This time I'm more than positive that I will make it all the way through my transition. I would like my transition to last about 2 1/2 to 3 years, but from my personal research I'm finding that transitioners with my hair texture don't usually last longer than a year and a half. It seems like the stark difference between the chemically straightened relaxed hair and the natural 4b hair leads to tons of breakage. So I'm keeping hope alive, but also being realistic.

At this point, I'm 22 weeks into my transition (4 weeks earlier than my record of 26 weeks) and I haven't had too much trouble. My original intent was to wait until after I have my baby to relax my hair. Then I realized how beautiful 4b natural hair is through Youtube, hair forums, and most of all the large number of family and friends I have that are natural. This time around I have so much more support from people who have been there through the transition, and I'm hoping their experiences will guide me through the exciting--and at times frustrating--journey of transitioning to natural.