LaToya28

Hello ladies! Sorry to jump in on the tail end of the challenge, but I was told that the people demanded a transitioning story So, here's my story:

I started my healthy hair journey in May 2008. I had let my hair grow out from a short pixie cut so it was about EL:


I learned a lot from the various hair forums and it grew very nicely. By November 2008 I was almost SL, but I wanted a nice even cut so in Janurary 2009, I got it cut into a bob...by December of that year I was almost APL:


So, as you can see I had no trouble retaining length. I committed to a few lengthy stretches, my longest being 25 weeks, and I even considered transitioning a couple times, but I always gave in to the relaxer because transitioning was just too much work for me. I always lost a lot of hair, especially during my last stretch. I also didn't get trims like I should have so in February 2010 I had to take a realistic look at my hair and this is what I saw:



My length was where I wanted it to be, but my ends were thin and see-through for a number of reasons: My last relaxer after my 25 week stretch was terribly underprocessed despite the fact that I left the relaxer on for about 34 minutes Yeah! I figured it wasn't burning and I did have a lot of new growth so a little extra time wouldn't hurt...bit mistake! My scalp tingled for two days even though I neutralized about 10 times. Anyway other factors that contributed to my thin ends...not keeping my ends trimmed! I didn't realize the importance of trimming and how much it would affect my hair overall if I didn't trim. I also had quite a bit of shedding. I think a lot of it was post partum shedding, but for some reason it didn't stop. My baby was 14 months, but I was still shedding like crazy. The only reasonable solution was to get it cut...again! At first I was disappointed about having to get my hair cut because I wanted to make APL soooo badly. But then I began to realize that having long hair was not worth sacrificing the health of my hair. I had begun to take my eyes off my goal of having healthy hair and started craving long hair, which is weird because I'm so not a long hair person. As soon as my mom gave me the ok in 12th grade I cut it all off and started rocking the short Halle Berry cut and my hair has been short ever since.

So at this point I was facing having to cut my hair and the fact that I still secretly wanted to go natural. I had grown to love other's natural hair so much and now I was had the perfect opportunity to have natural hair of my own...but I wasn't quite ready for the drastic change that a big chop was sure to bring. So I scheduled an appointment with my friend who is in beauty college and she hooked me up with a nice assymetrical bob:




Pretty cute, huh? Yeah, well I still wasn't satisfied. I wanted to be natural darnit! Plus, my hair was very texlaxed/underprocessed so I knew that styling would be a big problem with me working out and the approaching Texas humidity and heat. Soooo two days later I had hubby chop the rest of it off:



I loved it! I felt so confident and brave for having cut it all off and excited to begin my new natural hair journey. My last relaxer was January 16th, so I was only 7 weeks post at that point so I didn't have much new growth.

Fast forward to today (almost two weeks later) and I am loving my hair even more. I have to admit that I do still have some apprehensiveness about other people's reaction to my hair. I've gotten quite a bit of positive feedback, but I've also gotten some negative from those around me. Of course I got the "are you going crazy?" comments and hubby seems to think that any changes I make have to do with me being a bored housewife, but I'm like seriously, I am a full-time student and have two little ones at home--do I really have time to be bored?? LOL

Anyway, I'm loving my hair and trying to keep my confidence up while ignoring the negativity. This is the hair that God blessed me with, and we all know that God don't make no mistakes!!

Here are a couple more pics.




I can already see that my hair is growing and my thin edges are filling in a little. I still have some texlaxed ends, but I will snip those off as my hair grows out.

Well, ladies that's my story. Hope you all enjoyed reading!

~*~Keep it nappy~*~

Hey Latoya, i will be following your story. My last perm was january 19 and i BC'd march 17. Good luck with your journey

Hey Rosebud!! Congrats on your bc! Thanks for reading.

Hey Latoya, I just started myself so we are in the same boat. Your cut was BOMB and your hair growth is amazing in that time frame. I understand how you felt because I felt the same way like GRRR these permed ends are killing me and cut my hair also. With two small children there is NO WAY in hell you can be bored. My husband used to say the same about me until he went home and be came Mr. Mom. He is now crying a river of how difficult it is to have children to raise because to him NOW!! Raising children is a JOB!! So big ups on the BC and on the super mommy!

Thanks so much ktoliver! I think my hubby needs to spend some time being Mr. Mom too so he can see just how not bored I am! LOL

LaToya28 wrote:Thanks so much ktoliver! I think my hubby needs to spend some time being Mr. Mom too so he can see just how not bored I am! LOL

How old are your children?

I love your story and think you look beautiful. I am also happy you found sistas that are at the same stage, stick with them. Lynn Natural and I all bc'd I. Aug 09 and they are my gauges for my progress. Welcome and enjoy.

Ktoliver, my babies are 7, 4, and 1.

Sweetdrk, thanks so much for the compliment and welcome! It is great to find other ladies who are at the same stage. I love this site!!

good story toya!! whether its a bob or all cut OFF it looks GOOD!! i understand how hard it is to keep ur head up after u get negative comments especially after embarkin on somethin so new yourself but u know what...everyday when i started to fall in love with it more and more the less negative comments bothered me.

nobody says anythin negative when u have a short crop thats relaxed but all of a sudden people just gotta fix their mouth to say somethin against a short curly crop! i sometimes have to hold back cuz my coils are my babies and i treat em as such. so dont worry..keep on struttin yo stuff and let em hate

Thanks so much NubieNatty! You are right, it's compliment city as long as the hair is relaxed, but as soon as you want to wear your natural hair all the negativity starts. I wish "we" didn't hate our natural hair texture so much...it's so beautiful and diverse. We'll realize it one day!!

@ Latoya28 - your kids are at a cute stage.. Enjoy because they start pre-teening and you want to hang them over the banister like Red asking for his office hours.

**OK... I AM BACK**

I do agree with Nubbie when she says keep struttin honey because if your hair was permed... People will still find something to say negative about you. So you DO YOU, and be the beautiful person you are.

ktoliver5303 wrote:@ Latoya28 - your kids are at a cute stage.. Enjoy because they start pre-teening and you want to hang them over the banister like Red asking for his office hours.

**OK... I AM BACK**

I do agree with Nubbie when she says keep struttin honey because if your hair was permed... People will still find something to say negative about you. So you DO YOU, and be the beautiful person you are.

Girl, I try not to even think about those pre-teen years. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I just try to keep them babies as long as I can.

I finally got a chance to use my Komaza Califia care kit today. I just want to say that I loved the products before I even tried them simply because of their excellent shipping. My products shipped the day after I placed my order and they use priority shipping so I got my products in about 3 days. We all know that the turnaround time for a lot of these small natural product makers can be quite ridiculous, so I am extremely impressed!

According to the site, the Califia kit is designed for tightly curled or coarse hair and is "designed to give your coils shine, softness, and minimize breakage so you can see great hair growth results."

The set came with the shampoo, conditioner, leave-in cream, moisturizing spray, and moisturizing cream. I used the entire set and I must say that my hair seems to be very moisturized. Keep in mind that I'm still trying to figure out what moisture looks and feels like for my natural hair...but from what I can see, these products have done it! My hair looks shiny and soft and my curls are defined without the crunchiness that I get from gels.

I also received my second order of samples today (ordered on the 16th). I got the Olive Moisture Mask and Intense Moisture Therapy deep conditioners. I love that they give you generous 4oz samples of the dc's. I also got the Coconut Hair pudding which seems to be a good product based on all the Youtube reviews that I've seen.

I'm going to use the Califia set and the other products exclusively for the next few weeks to see how they perform over time, but so far this line seems to be a keeper! Tonight I'm going to moisturize with the moisturizing cream and see how my hair feels in the a.m.!

~*~ Keep it nappy ~*~

I'm so glad you posted your story!!! I enjoyed reading it and look forward to seeing more of you hair growth I'm kind of jealous that I didn't have the balls to cut my relaxer off immediately cuz you looked FABULOUS!!!! The bob was hella cute too! I'm just loving your BC girl and like Nubie said, let em hate!

*singing* Hate on me haters! Now or later!! (I love me some Jill Scott!)

Welcome LaToya

Enjoyed reading about your journey....I will say that some people have that look for natural hair, and you have that look. Remember to take pictures of each month so your can track/see your growth. I missed month 2 because I was soo wrapped up in finding the right product. Seems like you have that covered. (finding the right product)

Enjoy your journey...you are in for a wonderful trip!!!

Bholmes, thanks for the encouragement! Seeing all you ladies makes me fall more and more in love with my hair.

KNH, thanks so much lady! I am always taking pics to see if I've gotten a little growth yet.

Thanks for reading ladies!

Welcome to the challenge!!

I enjoyed reading your story. I am a SAHM too. My son is 2 years old. You have 3 and in school full time....you definitely are not bored.

I look forward to following your journey!!!

Muz, I sure will keep you updated on the Komaza line. The products are a little pricey, but so worth it in my opinion.

Lynnieluve, I'm glad you feel me! LOL I wish I could get bored...thanks for reading!

Well I moisturized my hair this morning with the Komaza Califia moisturizing spray. I didn't want to use too much because I tend to be very heavy-handed with my products. I sprayed about five squirts into my hand and then applied it to my hair....then I sprayed about five more squirts into my hand. I just need to feel like I have something in my hair. I figure if I can't feel it then it must not be there. So then I remembered that I have the Coconut Pudding so I applied a little bit...and then a little bit more...and of course I ended up with white hair! I tried to wipe a little bit of it out then I put some castor oil over it because it was looking a little dull. But after it dried it was very soft and moisturized, without being all oily.

So my goal now is to figure out how to incorporate the Coconut pudding and to work on not using so much product.

I think I'm really feeling these products. I just have to remember not to be so heavy handed.

~*~ Keep it nappy ~*~

Love the new avatar!!

Hey my fellow march big chopper ( LOL)

You have a lot of cool products, I am still building up my collection. I just bought some castor oil and made a concoction. I like it, it makes my hair soft. Keep posting, I need some ideas.

Lynnieluve wrote:Love the new avatar!!

Thanks!!

RoseBud wrote:Hey my fellow march big chopper ( LOL)

You have a lot of cool products, I am still building up my collection. I just bought some castor oil and made a concoction. I like it, it makes my hair soft. Keep posting, I need some ideas.

Girl I told myself I would start my natural hair journey out simple, but yeah, that went in one ear and out the other. I've been buying a lot of stuff but I will make sure to give my honest reviews of the products to give you some ideas. I use castor oil as well and I love the softness and shine it gives.

LaToya28 wrote:

RoseBud wrote:Hey my fellow march big chopper ( LOL)

You have a lot of cool products, I am still building up my collection. I just bought some castor oil and made a concoction. I like it, it makes my hair soft. Keep posting, I need some ideas.

Girl I told myself I would start my natural hair journey out simple, but yeah, that went in one ear and out the other. I've been buying a lot of stuff but I will make sure to give my honest reviews of the products to give you some ideas. I use castor oil as well and I love the softness and shine it gives.

Hey, we are still learning. I was thinking about posting something at the end of this month for the march BC'per to post a picture on their birthday (aka chopdate) to see progress. What do you think?