You will need to become very familiar with protein treatments because your hair will need to be repaired, and become stronger.
The curls that are not heat damaged may not be as strong as they used to be even though they do not appear straight like some of the other ones. Adding protein deep conditioning* to your regimen strengthens your hair over all.
We would suggest doing a hard protein treatment once a month or once every 2 months and then maintaining your hair with small shots of protein through out the month.
Find a protein treatment that can moisturize and strengthen your hair at the same time so that you do not suffer from protein over load. For example the yogurt treatment we suggested in this post.
3. Wear heatless styles
You might decide to protective style mostly as you transition because you do not want to lose moisture or further damage your curls. There are however some heatless style options you can try as well. Bantu knot outs are one, or flexy rod sets, or even curl formers.
These styles allow you to blend both textures and they keep your hair stretched which is a must to prevent tangling of thin ends.
You can absolutely make the transition successfully by figuring out your signature heat less style as you care for your hair, if it is easier to stick with one thing, then by all means do so so that your hair can flourish.
4. Get regular trims
If you transitioned from relaxed to natural hair chances are you know how often you needed to get a trim to get to your goal.
The more often you trim off the damaged ends the healthier your hair will be. As we mentioned heat damaged ends can be very thin and can cause a ton of tangles which can set you back even further.
You want to ensure that your ends stay sharp and blunt during your transition so cut your hair slowly month to month until all the damage is gone.
Once you have successfully removed all of the ends, your hair should be back to how it was before you had heat damage (in some cases even better).
Transitioning does not have to be a hard process. The most important thing you have to do is build a new regimen and stick to it. The consistency will bring the results you desire, as you remove the damage from your hair. Cleanse, condition, deep condition, trim, repeat.
Follow these tips, and you will have your curls back in no time!
Tifannie Stoudemire says
Janele Telemaque
Adrianne N Shawntego McCreary says
Hey Traveona idk if you still tryna go natural but these are the steps i took almost exactly when i went natural. especially the first and last one.
Chala Bonner says
Thanks Davida
Renata Gathings says
Having to deal with two different textures has been a true challenge for me. I’m trying not to big chop so I need some motivation ladies. I know how to take care of relax hair but this is a new beast to be reckoned with.
J says
Thanks for the tips. My hair was straightned in April 2015,i now have heat damage a whole section of my hair but everytime i wash it i see the curls coming back.. Can you please give me more tips?
☆smol.kid☆ says
I feel like my hair is damaged which scares me. I don’t want to have to cut it off. I’m also afraid of my hair falling out. What do I do?
Ashada says
I honestly need help
The front right section , some of it is heat damaged and i already started to cut some of it off
So now the back and left side of my hair is full and good but the front right section is short and still heat damaged and i dont want to do a big chop since is only a little front section thats damaged