Relaxed Hair Care: Stretching vs Transitioning?

Heyy Readers,
                      Sorry i have been unable to update my posts for some weeks. Its been super hectic!! Today's post is specifically for relaxed girls.
So you figured out your hair is all fried and dried.So you tried the protein treatments, moisturizers, cowashing, healthy hair care tips, hot oil treatments( will talk about hot oils in a few posts' time)- and the limp hair only showed minimal improvements, if any. You're tired of wasting your products, looking at your hair in the mirror frustrates you. You've even decided to braid or do a sew in just cos you can't deal with this!!
Good job!! I did the same too, its a natural reaction. Frankly, its the right reaction.

Here's where we're at now, weave/ wig/ braid in place- we're wondering; "should i cut it all off at the new growth (a.k.a BC) and start all over? Should i do the 6 month- 1 year stretch and trim the ends as i go? Should I avoid the BC and transition ( almost like the stretch, only its an everlasting stretch)

The second and third questions are usually the plague for women who can't deal with short hair. I'm one of those. Its difficult to know what to do with short all natural hair if you've never had to. I know a lot of you may say its actually easier-but trust me, not everybody knows what to do.

This where my post comes in handy. Sorry to disappoint you, i'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm only here t outline all the benefits and challenges involved in both options. The idea is you (being grown up enough to read my blog) would be able to weigh what you can or can't handle, and make a decision.
As always, i like to hear what other have to say, i like to share your experiences with you, so add your comments/contributions. There's something to learn from it all.

Something in common:
1. For both methods, you would have to deal with caring for two different textures; the fragile relaxed hair, and the ever- so - annoyingly tough new growth. The point of maximum fragility is the transition line. Its important cos breakage occurs at the point of transition and it could get really bad if care is not taken. Best management in this situation is a lot of conditioning and moisturizing. This helps to soften the new growth while preventing excessive breakage.
2. You'll also have to deal with a lot of matting if you're braiding or using sew-ins. For tips on how to manage this, check my earlier posts.

Stretching:
 If this is an option you're considering-Having dealt with the above challenges, you have just two more things to worry about;
-the relaxer that is most suitable for your hair.This is because relaxers are big on the healthy hair journey. Being very strong chemicals themselves, they could be solely responsible for the hair trauma you're currently recovering from, or they could be contributors to a whole cascade of unhealthy hair decisions. So take time to think about your old relaxer. was it good for your hair? do you need something new? consulting a specialist could help with this. Its vital to make the right decision.
- Second thing to worry about is protective styling in between stretches. The common thing to do is masking the hair under a wig or weave or braid. But bear in mind, this isn't necessarily helpful for all hair types. Braids and weaves could cause extensive breakage if you have certain type of hair.
I do suffer a lot of breakage from braids, especially the tiny ones, but weaves are more gentle on my hair. Nonetheless, i didn't want to be bored with weaves, so i decided to learn about some no-heat protective styles i could wear inbetween stretches. youtube came in really handy for me in this regard. you can watch some video tutorials there. Hopefully it would be a post for another day. Remember; avoid very tight hair-dos!!!

Transitioning:
Here's where you decide that you actuallu want to get rid of the relaxed hair, just not in one BIG CHOP. You'll hae to deal witht he two different textures for a little bit, at least till you take off that bit, then your challenges kind of deviate. You should have the following challenges in mind:
- "Do i want to go all natural eventually? or would i be considering milder options like texturizers?" A lot of people often agree that texturizers are milder and more gentle on the hair, though some people may debate that. Personally, i am of the opinion that if your hair is very kinky and dry, softening it helps, and saves you a lot of time with conditioning and other measures to try to make your hair more manageable.
-If you;re all natural, you may want to consider styles, cos you;ll be in a whole new world of hair with the natural. Its supposedly easy (this is based off of people's experience cos i have never gone all natural in years). But even when they tell me that, i can't help but wonder what they do for styling -apart from braids, that is. It may seem like those going on the locks are the lucky ones. But then, witrh locks there's also a few protocols to observe in order to ensure healthy hair growth.

That's a lot of talking from one person( or typing in this case), so here's the part where i remind you, i could learn a lot from your own experience too. So Please please and please, tell us about your Stretch/Transition experiences. your comments are very welcome.

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