Transitioning to Natural Hair {1 Year Update}

It feels like just yesterday I was sitting here writing the 6 month update on my journey transitioning to natural hair. The first 6 months flew by really quickly and were less stressful than I expected. You can read all about the details in my 6 months update post. I find it slightly unbelievable to say I have been transitioning to natural hair for 1 year. When I decided to transition, I didn't set a specific timeline for how long I would like to transition before I chop off the remaining relaxed ends. You're probably interested why, right? Well, the reason is that I didn't big chop because I don't like having very short hair. I have always had about jaw length hair so I cannot really imagine how I would look with short hair. Since I have no idea how fast my hair will grow, it is slightly difficult to say I am going to transition for 1 year, 2 years or 3 years. So, the plan is to transition until I feel comfortable with the length of my hair.

At this time, I have about 6 inches of new growth but with the shirnkage it looks a lot less. In the last 6 months of my transition I've tried a few more protective styles including Flexi rods, braid outs and Marley Twists. I have been enjoying the marley braids so much I've done it twice in the last couple of months. They are perfect for the winter because then I don't have to manipulate my hair everyday but I won't be doing them in the summer thought because I go snorkelling a lot. 

When I wash my hair, detangling has gotten a bit more difficult. I always detangle in the shower with loads of conditioner.  Some days I handle it ok, other days it's like there was a war in the bathroom. I still cowash twice a week and deep condition once a week. I don't have a set schedule for when I shampoo at the moment because after all the braids I've been doing I occasionally feel like my hair needs a good cleaning. But I'll probably go back to my 2 times a month schedule soon. To moisturize my hair daily and revive my hair, I've been using my DIY Hair Moisturizing Spray which works wonders for me. I stopped taking hair growth pills and biotin because I broke out like crazy after trying a new hair growth pill, but I still take Omega 3. I use quite a lot of different oils on my hair either daily to seal in the moisture or when I am deep conditioning.

I am really excited to see how my journey continues and cannot wait to be fully natural. If you have any tips on what products, hairstyles and the rest I should give a go for longer, healthier hair while I transition and when I am fully natural, please leave them in the comments as I am always interested in learning new things.

Are you transitioning to natural hair? Tell me about your journey.