You made the bold decision to go natural. You have seen plenty of your sisters go before you and you’re ready to take the leap and dive head first into the world of natural hair. You have been pretty comfortable with your lazy-girl hair routine, which basically involved going to your favourite hairdresser every two weeks, to get your hair done.
Well now, the time has cometh to put yourself to task and take care of your natural hair, but where to start? We get that you can get pretty overwhelmed by it. There is plenty to read and watch on natural hair blogs and youtube channels. Yet, that does not immediately make you an expert. I remember the first time I did a twist-out, I epically failed.
When you are going through the transitioning process you have to deal with two vastly different textures on your head. That gets pretty annoying as you can’t use heat on your grown out natural hair, yet can’t make any natural style work, because of the straight strands at the bottom. Let us tell you, a great way to ease yourself into natural hair, is wearing a protective style. That is if you are not ready to take some scissors and chop it all off.
Bantu Knots
Bantu knots are a great protective style, when you are transitioning. They keep your ends neatly tucked away, so no one has to know about the two different textures currently living on your head. They are super simple to do and won’t cost you a dime.
Braid-out
Then there is the joy that’s called a braid-out. If you are looking for a quick, easy and sustainable hair routine during your process of going natural, she is your girl. A braid-out gives a look that looks close to natural, but with a little bit more flexibility. Depending on how many braids you make, you can play with different curl patterns, while still keeping your curls very defined (if that’s your cup of tea).
Perm Rods
Ugh, don’t perm rods remind you of the good old days and the good old ladies that would always wear this style? The perm rods look has totally made his comeback and gives your hair a chique, retro look, reminiscent of the edgy eighties. After washing and conditioning, you just section your hair and douse your strands in leave-in conditioner and a bit of hair pomade. You wrap the perm rods around your hair and leave them to air dry on your lazy Sunday afternoon or use a hooded dryer on low heat for the curls to form!
Natural Hair Clip-ins
Another one of our fave easy-to-do protective styles are clip-in extensions for natural hair. Why not manifest the look you desire, when you are done transitioning, by already wearing it every day? Natural hair clip-ins are super easy to use. You braid your own hair in cornrows or plaids, clip them in and you are ready to go. They come in different hair textures to match your own curl patten and you can put them in and take them out when you please.
Box Braids
If you want somewhat of a more permanent protective style to hold you over (we know winter is coming) box braids is the way to go. You can do the braids as thin or as thick as you want (we totally stan jumbo braids) and keep them in for a few weeks or even months. Just make sure you get the right braiding hair for the style you seek from your local beauty supply store. You’ll soon be well equipped to ride the waves of this transitioning process.