Hair

Transitioning Tale: KinkyCurlyBunny's Story

Before & After

Today's transitioning tale is that of a beautiful diva named KinkyCurlyBunny, who, after slowly transitioning for a little over a year, was happy to reclaim her healthy, natural tresses. It's been a year and six months since she submitted her story to Protecting Your Crown & Glory, so please keep in mind that her regimen and product list may have changed. However, the details surrounding her transition from relaxed to natural are just as valid today as they were a year ago. So, without further ado, here is KinkyCurlyBunny's transitioning tale as told to PYCAG.
PYCAG: How long were you relaxed?

KinkyCurlyBunny: I received my first relaxer around the age of 8 or 9. My mom was a young college student with two children, so I'm pretty sure she relaxed my hair because she didn't have time to care for my fuzzy, curly, and kinky hair. My mom took really good care of my relaxed hair, so it was healthy and grew to about shoulder length. However, I didn't want her to care for it anymore once I entered middle school because I felt I was too old for the styles she was doing. She would therefore just relax it and let me do my own thing. Unfortunately, my hair eventually broke off really bad, and so I got braids. I don't think I received many relaxers over the course of my life because my hair was always in braids or some carefree style. In fact, for most of my high school years to my sophmore year in college, I would get a relaxer, then my hair would break off, and I would throw in some braids.

PYCAG: What inspired you to transition?
KinkyCurlyBunny: In November of 2009, I went to a salon after taking my braids out. I didn't know what to do with my hair and I wanted it to be straight like some of the people I saw around campus. My hair never really got straight when I received a relaxer so I wanted it to be straight this time. The stylist decided to apply a strong relaxer. Being that my hair is naturally very fine, the strong relaxer was very damaging to my hair. The relaxer made my hair very thin and fragile. My edges started to thin and break off. I've always loved volume and body and my hair was definitely not that. So, eventually I said enough is enough. I wanted healthy hair and I didn't want to always put braids in when my hair broke off. I wanted to learn how to care for my hair so that it could be long and healthy. I talked to one of my best friends, who was transitioning at the time, and she helped me decide to go natural. I did a lot of research and joined Naturallycurly.com. That website, and the natural community on Youtube, has been very helpful during my natural hair journey.

PYCAG: Why did you opt to slowly transition versus do the BC?
KinkyCurlyBunny: I decided to slowly transition rather than BC because I didn't want to cut all of my hair off and was scared to have really short hair. I transitioned a little over a year, from November 2008-December 2009. I wanted to keep as much length as possible because I felt like my head was too round to have a short afro. I didn't think I would look right with a TWA and was worried about what my loved ones would say, particularly my boyfriend. However, it turns out he loved it and my mom was very supportive.

PYCAG: How are you caring for your hair and or how do you plan to care for it once it's natural?
KinkyCurlyBunny: When I was transitioning, I basically kept my hair in braids or slicked back into a bun. I did a couple of transitioning styles, like Youtube Guru ItsMsHeatherNicole's curly fro. Now that I'm natural, I like slicking my hair up into a puff. It's seriously my favorite style and super easy to do. The first time I did it, I was so excited about it! I haven't tried any other styles because I'm newly natural (one month). Since it's cold where I live, I wear half-wigs and braids to protect my hair from the harsh winter conditions. As soon as the weather warms up, I will definitely wear my hair out more and try some styles.

As for my regimen, I'm still working on that :-). Right now, I wash once a week (maybe less sometimes) and co-wash when needed. I work out a lot, so I like to co-wash after workouts to rid my hair of sweat. When I'm not wearing braids, I like to deep condition once a week too or every other week. However, sometimes I'm a little lazy and it's every three weeks or once a month.

I now use braids as a protective style to help my hair grow rather than as a way to hide my hair. I'm very cautious with the products I use and pay attention to ingredient lists. I use a lot of natural oils and try to keep my hair as moisturized as possible. I never really cared much about my hair and now I do.

PYCAG: What products are you currently using?
KinkyCurlyBunny: I currently use:

• A homemade mix of unrefined shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, and tea tree oil (My hair seems to love these oils!)
• V05 conditioners (For a co-wash)
• Organix Shea Butter Shampoo and Conditioner
• Honey (For deep conditioning)
• Aussie Moist Conditioner
• Ecostyler gel (For my puffs)

PYCAG: What are your hair care goals?
KinkyCurlyBunny: My overall goal is to have healthy hair! Hopefully by the end of 2010, I can have shoulder length hair. Right now, I'm just enjoying my little puff and I look forward to having a gigantic puff one day :-). I love being natural and think it was the best decision I could have made for myself and my hair. This was a journey definitely worth taking!

Thank you, KinkyCurlyBunny, for sharing your transitioning tale with PYCAG. We wish you continued success on your natural hair care journey!