9 Tips For Transitioning to Natural Hair

How to manage your two textures without the big chop.

New Ish - Want to go natural, but not interested in sporting a teeny-weeny Afro? No worries. You can successfully transition from your relaxed tresses to your kinky-curly-coily roots with these tips. By Kenrya Rankin Naasel (Photo: Drew Myers/Corbis)

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New Ish - Want to go natural, but not interested in sporting a teeny-weeny Afro? No worries. You can successfully transition from your relaxed tresses to your kinky-curly-coily roots with these tips. By Kenrya Rankin Naasel (Photo: Drew Myers/Corbis)

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New Ish

Get a Trim - Yeah, you’re not doing a big chop, but it’s still important to clean up any split ends right from the beginning. It will make your hair look neater and healthier and prevent you from ultimately losing more of your length from damage. Get a trim every six months so you can gradually rid yourself of the straightened hair 1/2 an inch at a time. (Photo: 68/George Doyle/Ocean/Corbis)

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Get a Trim

Baby Your Line of Demarcation - That’s the place where your natural texture meets your relaxed texture, and it is the most delicate part of your hair. Treat it with kid gloves — gentle detangling, lots of conditioner and moisturizer — to avoid breakage. (Photo: Commercial Appeal /Landov)

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Baby Your Line of Demarcation

Skip Direct Heat - It’s tempting to use a flat iron to create the appearance of one-textured hair, but using too much heat could damage your new growth before you even have a chance to flaunt it. Plus, it will increase the chances of breaking it off at the line of demarcation. A hooded dryer is good for deep conditioning and setting styles. (Photo: Tyler Kaufman/Barcroft Media /Landov)

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Skip Direct Heat

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Deep Condition Religiously - Moisture is the name of the game here. It’s the best way to prevent breakage and a weekly deep conditioning will help your hair stay healthy and elastic. Use a hooded dryer whenever you can to help the conditioner penetrate your strands. (Photo: Allen T. Jules/Corbis)

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Deep Condition Religiously

Detangle Correctly - Always detangle your hair while wet, using a super-slippery conditioner and a wide-tooth comb. Divide hair into small sections and start at the ends and move up toward your scalp. (Photo: Anthony Redpath/Corbis)

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Detangle Correctly

Embrace Protective Styles - Once you have a couple inches of new growth, twists, braids and updos that don’t put a lot of tension on your strands will help to protect your hair from combs, the elements and even your hands. Take extra care of the ends and at the point where the two textures meet to avoid breakage. (Photo: Mark Cornelison/Lexington Herald-Leader/M Lexington Herald-Leader/ MCT /Landov)

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Embrace Protective Styles

Blend Your Textures - When you’re tired of protective styles, you can try twist-outs, braid-outs, Bantu knot-outs, flexi rod sets and other looks that let you experiment with your natural locks while camouflaging your competing textures. (Photo: Charlotte Observer/MCT /Landov)

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Blend Your Textures

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Act Au Naturale

Be Kind to Yourself - There may be days when looking at your two-textured hair makes you want to head to the beauty supply store for a relaxer right now. Just remember why you want to return to your natural texture, then look for something fun or different — like hair chalk or a new twist-out — that you can do to combat boredom. (Photo: Christopher Weidlich/Corbis)

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Be Kind to Yourself