1.) There are many natural hair textures. One of the most popular texture models is Andre Walker system which shows pin straight, to tight curls (coils).

2.) You won’t know what your natural texture will look like until you’ve removed all of your relaxed hair.

Relaxed hair (and sometimes damaged ends) will weigh your hair down. Until all of those pieces are chopped off, your natural curl won’t spring to life.

3.) There’s a good chance that you will have different types of curls on your head.

Most people do not have a uniform texture; some areas can be more dense than others. For my hair, the around the perimeter of my scalp is thin, while the center of my head has the thickest curls.

Twistouts and braid outs are great for blending different textures and are low manipulation styles.

4.) As long as you’re keeping your hair healthy, you can transition for as long as you want!

Many women do not like the idea of having short hair, and they transition for much longer than others. You can gradually cut off relaxed or damaged ends month by month if this applies to your situation.

5.) Treat the new hair (natural texture) differently from the relaxed hair. Curls and coils require a more gentle approach when you’re attempting to detangle before styling. Avoid yanking and pulling while transitioning to make breakage minimal.

The most important thing is that transitioning is not a walk in the park. It can be frustrating and feel impossible. But hey, anything worth having is worth fighting for.

If you were to look up the definition of “product junkie,” my name would be permanently plastered beside the term. Over the past year and a half, I have bought, sold and borrowed products from dozens of natural hair lines; promising that my curls will spring to life will never be the same after using them.

Of course, it doesn’t always work that way. My most recent experiment was the newly popular no- cone (silicones) version of TRESemme conditioners.  I purchased it on sale at a local drug store, making the final price fewer than four dollars. WIN! A quick cleanse removed all of the previous product buildup and I applied TRESemme to dripping, wet hair with high hopes.

 First reaction: Slip. Slip. Slip. What this means is the product makes it easier to detangle all knots in my hair because of its slippery consistency.  Easier was an understatement. A usual detangling session costs me about an hour, but I was done with my hair in less than 15 minutes. Was I impressed? Highly. But that was only the beginning.

Moisture: My hair dried stiff and crunchy, but don’t be alarmed: “There’s an app for that!”

I’m kidding.

I used to SOC method.  The scrunch-out-the-crunch method is a two-part process.

 1.) Letting the product in your hair dry completely. If it dries firm..

2.) “Scrunch” out the “crunch” with your hands.

My hair was soft, defined, and moisturized. Three checks,  You’re in!  

Hold: I did a regular wash and go, with no additional product. That’s right, didn’t have to layer up a gel or oil to get one look. I got beautiful first day hair. Second day hair yielded another fairly defined set of curls. Third day made for an awesome high puff with the same definition. As long as I was pineappling (tutorial coming soon) to preserve my style, I could have went further without styling again.

Rate 1-10: 8. The only reason this product doesn’t get a 10 is because it made my hair look a little dull the first time I used it. After doing midnight research (insomnia is not a joke), it looks like curly hair has to adapt to only having conditioner on it. My shine came back after using the product about four times, but again, this is based on my first impression.

 I’d definitely purchase this one again, but you don’t have to! Leave a comment below or email us at knowledgeablenaturals@gmail.com and tell us about your favorite style for spring! Add a picture and your name will automatically be entered in a drawing. Three lucky ladies will get a full-sized bottle of Tressemme Naturals to try for themselves. (Posts directly from twitter count as well.)     Contest ends April 8th! Lets see those spring styles!                                                         

Styled with TRESemme Naturals only

Ashleigh Thornton with her natural hair care line Noire Naturals.

Natural hair beauty, Ashleigh Thornton, is no stranger to non-relaxed struggles. While talking with her, she told me all about her journey away from the chemicals, as well as her inspiration for creating her own hair care products.

MJ: Tell me a little about yourself:

Ashleigh Thornton: I am a senior at UNCC, majoring in marketing and Spanish. I would tell you what I like to do with my free time, but I don’t know if you could really call it “free time.” I focus a lot on my business, and kind of growing that and just spreading my message about healthy hair and whether its natural or relaxed. So, that’s pretty much all my life consists of right now.

MJ: So how long have you actually been chemical free?

Ashleigh: Three years in August. I went the transitioning route so I didn’t just chop it all off immediately.

MJ: How long did you transition?

Ashleigh: I transitioned for about a full year. This was before I was really educated about natural hair care and hair care in general. So I end up doing a press-n-curl ended up with a lot of heat damage.

MJ: So what was your reason for stopping with relaxers?

Ashleigh: I really just got tired of the routine of: “ Okay I’ve got some length, its growing. Okay, time to go get it trimmed.” I’d lose an inch, and then two inches. My hair was actually very long, and I have pictures where it went down my back but it was just thin. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t full. So one day I was like, “ You know what? No to this relaxer.” I was just tired of getting perms, and the edges. All of that was just not for me. It was getting to be too much. So I went out and got a funky, little haircut and just kept taking it up from there.

MJ: Can you describe your hair’s personality in its natural state?

Ashleigh: In its natural state it definitely has a mind of its own. I say sometimes and joke that when I try to straighten it and do certain things to it, its laughing at me like: “ha, that’s what you thought you were gonna do!” But I have like 3 different textures. It’s just super free, super curly. I love it though.

MJ: So do you have a specific regimen you go by?

Ashleigh: Umm, yes. I do a weekly (sometimes I cheat), bi- weekly cleansing and deep conditioning and then I’ll braid it out or twist it out. Usually over the summer I can get away with leaving it free (loose), but the winter is so hard on your hair so I’ve been doing a lot of protective styling.

MJ: So I hear you have a pretty popular natural hair care line. Can you tell me about that, and how she got started with that?

Ashleigh: Yes! Its called Noire Naturals and noire is actually the French____ form  for the word black; so black naturals. The inspiration for that name is my French-creole heritage and the fact that it’s made specifically for us. And what inspired me to create the line was because I see there were a lot of all natural hair products but not for our hair type, and I used to use those products. I use to have to supplement it. Add the shea butter, add the olive oil, because it was not for us. And this was once I went through my whole phase of trying to transition myself and started educating myself on this new hair I had and how to deal with it. I’m not a chemistry major or anything like that so I was really self taught learning the different ingredients and properties. What’s good? What’s not good? I started mixing up my own stuff, and tried it out on myself a lot. My sisters were my guinea pigs, brothers, family and once they liked it I moved on to close friends with different hair types so they could give me their honest opinions. Then I revamped it again and they were like: “You need to take this to market.” So, it was a two year process.

MJ: So what is your staple style or popular style?

Ashleigh: Well there’s this new style I’ve been rocking since Halloween and I was an 80’s fly girl. I would like brush my hair to the side and French roll it in the back and it’s like really cute. You put a little 80’s bow in it. That’s just a style that I always get a huge reaction from. All races, all ages everybody loves it. I loved it too, it’s really cute. But on a regular day it’s just free. In the winter time a braid out.

MJ: commenting on current hair)It’s so pretty!

Ashleigh: Thank you. I’m really lucky that this is pretty much how my hair is when I don’t do anything to it. My braid outs are close to the actual texture so that’s kind of cool.

MJ: So I see that you have a little bits of highlights in your hair. Can you tell me about them?

Ashleigh: Yes! I got highlights. Oh my gosh Maurii this was maybe two years ago, and they are grown out. They are almost at the ends. I love how it looks now but I kind of want to get more because the whole reason I got them was to add some dimension to my hair. The longer it gets, the looser the curl gets. I used to have a very very tight curl, but now its loosened up since it grows out. And now it’s growing down. So I wanted to add more dimension. I got them done in Kansas City. But im big on Google, research and reviews and there was this one lady that worked in the Aveda there and she had rave reviews and knew how to work with my type of hair. So I went to her and it was fabulous. I didn’t have ANY heat damage and she took it up (lightening), I have some blond in there. So she really did take it up quite a bit.

MJ: So how would you wear your hair on a job interview?

Ashleigh: Actually this is very relevant because I just had a job interview with a law firm in Raleigh and a lot of people would say (especially my grandmother because she’s old fashioned) that I need to get it straightened. But I don’t! I embrace it. And corporate America is still traditional but they are warming up to it. So I’ll pull it back into a free pony tail. It was still a little conservative because it was a law firm, but I wore it free at my internship. It just really depends.

MJ: Do you feel like your hair or natural hair in general would have any type of effect on job opportunities?

Ashleigh: I actually don’t. The big thing about it isn’t if your hair is natural or relaxed. It’s whether your hair is well put together. If it’s well-kept. If it’s healthy. And that’s what I’m all about. Healthy hair, whichever way you go.

MJ: What advice would you give to any new naturals?

Ashleigh: People who are transitioning have probably heard this a million times and it might sound cliché but do not give up. The feeling that you have once you finally get rid of all that natural is indescribable. Like I’m not trying to be extra or a natural Nazi, but it really is an awesome feeling. And you’ll feel really accomplished and glad you did it. So stick with it. People, who are newly natural, just realize that this is not relaxed hair. You’ve got to take care of your hair and understand products, maintenance; all of these things.

MJ: Anything else you’d like to add?

Ashleigh: Well those who are interested in an all-natural line of hair products, we have a cleanser, conditioner and curl defining jelly. And a little secret I’d let you in on, we are actually expanding the line later this year to add a daily moisturizer. So the curl defining jelly is for people that deal with shrinkage or if your hair is really frizzy. And the conditioner is very very rich; a little goes a long way; so it adds moisture which is essential.  What’s popular about the cleanser is a lot of people say they’ve never had a cleanser that’s moisturizing, and our hair is notorious for feeling sulfate free. And its sulfate free! So check us out, noirenaturals.com. We also have a very active Facebook and twitter page with tips so send me a message, and I’ll respond within 24 hours!

Detangling: The process of removing all knots and tangles within your hair.

3c, 3b, 2a,4b: These are natural hair types from the Andre Walker system. The lower the number, the looser the curl pattern. The subcategories:  a, b, c describe the tightness of each curl type, with a being the loosest, and c being tightest.

Protective styling: Styling your hair so that the ends are protected or tucked away. This is beneficial for length retention, because your ends are less susceptible to breakage.  Protective styling is popular for the winter months because your ends are safe from the cold air that may dry them out and cause damage.  Example: Buns and braids.

Low manipulation styling: No heat, no heat no heat.  This type of styling is wise to do because it provides cute styling options and air dried hair, which is always healthier than any direct heat. Examples: twist outs, braid outs, bantu knots.

Sulfates: Usually found in most shampoos, and is actually found in some dish detergents. This is one of the reasons your hair feels “stripped” after washing. No-sulfate shampoos are becoming more popular because they provide the same type of cleansing, without the drying touch.

Cones (silicones):  An ingredient found in many conditioners. It’s known to just “sit” on your hair, and block any moisture from entering into your hair shaft. This can create build up quickly, which will soon have to be cleansed.  There are many silicone free conditioners, which are seen as more acceptable as leave-ins.

Fairy knots: Natural hair is known to curl up on itself, and this can lead to little knots at the ends of your hair. While it is possible to get a pin needle and try to pick this little one out, many naturals opt to just snip this area off. Not detangling on a regular basis, and split ends can cause these type of tangles.

Big Chop: This phrase is used when you finally cut off all of your relaxed ends. This is the last part of your transition over to being a full naturalist. (hyperlinked to first post of my big chop.)

Line of Demarcation: This is the point on a strand of hair that connects your new growth to your relaxed hair. This area is fragile and should be handled with care because it is prone to break. Gently detangling is a must.

I sat quietly in a computer chair, and listened while my mother prepared to cut away at my limp, relaxed
hair in an attempt to show my natural texture. She twirled my seat around to face her, just to verify that
this was my true desire; a one inch hairstyle rid of all damage and chemicals. I nodded my head slowly
to assure her, I was ready. With her left hand she held up the first piece of hair, and moved the scissors
towards me with her right. I clinched my teeth to avoid screaming and then, snip.

“Wait!” I yelled and spun around in my chair, but I was a second to slow. That chunk of jet-black hair fell
by my side, and I faced forward again. I fought back tears. “There’s no turning back now.” My mother
continued.

She had to check on me periodically, just to see if I was still breathing. But she kept cutting. My eyes
were locked straight ahead, only blinking when necessary. She cut more. Finally, I turned my gaze
towards her face after noticing she had placed the scissors down. “I’m done,” she said.

I took my time standing up, removing the hair-covered towel from off my shoulders and looking at the
ground as I walked in the bathroom towards the mirror. After a moment or two, my eyes gained enough
courage to look at my reflection.

First photo taken minutes after my Big Chop.

I couldn’t be seen in public that way and my research did not prepare me to deal with hair I wanted to
conceal. My go-to ponytails nor buns were feasible, so hiding was not an option. My mind went racing
and my heart jumped up and down with panic, but my body did not move. I stood still.

Slowly I grabbed the tiny, black scissors my mother chopped away all of my confidence with, and leaned
in close to my reflection. I snapped a single photo to capture this moment because I knew things were
about to change drastically. Near my ear, a particular straight piece of hair, hanging lifelessly on a curl
caught my eye, and I quickly chopped it away. And suddenly, I could breathe.

That solitary curl bounced back from my fingers after it was freed from the remaining relaxed hair. That
one curl sprang to life so quickly, and so did I. My spirits grew higher and I smiled for the first time in
that hour. I spent minutes marveling at my ringlet, knowing this was that “feeling”. This is the emotion
that I saw on YouTube. Just then, I understood that it was not about being free in the world because
you’re free from your hair. After all, I wanted healthy hair, not the lack of it. The feeling for me was
realizing that I was on a new journey, and with that one, bouncing curl I saw that everything would be
okay.

Eighteen months later and here I am. I am still learning, as I’m sure we all are, but a trained army is
better than a single soldier. No one has all of the answers; however there is a community of women
wearing their natural textures numbering in the millions. We can fight this battle together, and all of
the solutions can be discovered through communication. I am fully certain we can win this war,
naturally.