5 things I wish I did more of as I transitioned!

More Co-washing

I tried the other methods of cleansing my hair during my transition. I had already abandoned shampooing before the transition, however, I went back to it to try out new products as the transition grew close to an end. What a mistake! I had to really work hard to get the moisture BACK into my hair.

For me, co-washing was IT! Sure, Clay treatments are great for clarifying but I still would follow with a moisture-boosting co-wash!

More Deep Conditioning

I was downright lazy (sometimes) when it came to deep conditioning as the transition lengthened. I started with weekly deep conditions. Then fell into the bi-weekly sessions. I even remember buying a table-top steamer for the purpose of Deep Conditioning more frequently. Did it happen? Nope.

I just sacrificed deep conditioning for keeping certain hairstyles going for longer. However, in the last year, when I was wearing two-strand twists with my OWN HAIR, I really had no excuse not to do this more regularly. And still, two weeks usually went by before the sit down. And the steamer was usually out of sight.....

More Detangling Sessions

Here, I will be honest. There were times I would go for a month or two without detangling. Sure, I was wearing a protective style like braids or twists at the time. However, it just made my hair feel 'Alien' to me when it came time to detangle!  I needed the regular practice to really learn how to keep the breakage to a minimum during these sessions.

Secondly, I wish I knew I could switch up my detangling method, By this, I mean that I was trying to detangle damp hair post-wash when my hair got to a stage where the majority of natural hair to relaxed ends meant shower detangling was now the right way. Again, I would have seen this sooner if I didn't put off detangling for so long.

More product swaps

That way, I would have realized sooner what became obvious later. My transitioning hair was changing. It went from having mainly relaxed and texlaxed ends to having more transitioning hair than anything else.

Obviously, the products that worked before soon became a joke to my new growth! No more silicone-filled conditioner bliss. No more light leave-in conditioners (did not make a dent in my hair). Definitely needed a lot more moisture in my products!

More heat-free styling

I initially used heat to do length checks until I realized that this practice was just breaking my ends. Once bitten, twice shy. I moved on to try protective styling. Imagine my surprise when I found that the African Braiding Method was great for stretching my hair, as are Curlformers!
I wish I had jumped on the heat-free styling much earlier!

What have your changed in your regimen during your transition?