This is a step by step guide to transitioning nappy, napptural, or natural hair of African descent at home.

Help! My Child’s Hair is Already Relaxed!

You tried and tried to properly care for you daughter’s hair. You asked several friends and family members about what to do with it and the answers were SO different. Some said the hair is too dry, put grease in it. Some said it’s too oily, wash it more. Some tell you it’s just too kinky. She would look sooo pretty with straight hair!

They don’t tell you that a relaxer will permanently dissolve her hair and will often cause CHEMICAL BURNS TO HER SCALP!

You take her to the beauty salon, wait an eon to actually sit in the chair, pay at least $60.00 for the relaxer, and walk out with an angel sporting bone straight hair, not to mention an arm-full of hair care products (around $50.00) that are just for Biracial hair or just for Black hair. You can’t keep your eyes off her while driving home. You certainly can’t keep your fingers out of it!

You finally get home and everyone’s had a chance to nod their approval. You sit down to read the directions on the back of the products plus the Black and Biracial haircare book they sold you (about $20.00). The book is as thick as a technical manual for the U.S. Military.

Several days pass…

Your sweet darling wants to go out and play as usual and you let her. She comes back into the house hot and sweating like a seasoned boxer. You look at her roots and notice the new growth coming through. New growth is simply her natural hair growing as usual.

A few weeks pass…

There is more new growth. You know that you have a couple more weeks before you have to go back to the salon and give them another $60.00 so they can relax her new growth. You start to think about the fact that you are going to have to pay this money EVERY six weeks, not to mention buying the special  haircare products.

You call the salon to ask what you need to do about this new growth in the mean time. They tell you to just bring her in either every week or every other week during each six week waiting period. They will wash, condition, and set her hair. This will make the new growth look more like the relaxed hair, therefore, keeping your angel beautiful.

Many, many months pass…

You realize that relaxers, despite those sleek commercials, is very high maintenance and very expensive. You wonder why can’t I just wash her hair at home. You come to think of water as bad for your child’s new straight locks because it will amplify the difference between her new growth and relaxed hair. You hate when she sweats. You hate spending all that time trying to straighten the area between her new growth and relaxed hair with the flat iron or with the hot curler. You even try using and old fashioned straighten comb! You never realized how much it takes to keep the permanent relaxer looking like the models on the box.

A year past…

Your sweetie’s hair is breaking off! It’s hard and dry. The ends are getting thinner and thinner. It’s lost the life and bounce that it once had. It won’t even hold its curls or styles anymore.

What to do? What to do?

Transitioning to Nappy Hair, Part II

Tags: curly perm, hair softener, Japanese relaxer, nappy haircare, natural perm, natural relaxer, texturizer, thermal relaxer, transitioning to nappy hair, wash and wear relaxer
Filed under: Nappy Hair