Severe breakage due to overprocessing

by Anna
(Savannah, Ga)

About four months ago I decided to get my relaxed hair colored. The stylist I had been going to off and on chose a red color for my hair that was both severely not my style and too bright.

Well I suffered through having this color for about a month before I decided to color correct my hair. The next stylist that I went to told me that in order to get rid of the red she would have to use a permanent color on my hair.

I should have know there was something wrong when she said that because I have always read that a permanent hair color can damage already fragile relaxed hair.

My hair prior to going to this stylist was past my shoulders and thick, considering it was relaxed. I rarely put heat in my hair, and she relaxed my hair a month later my hair began to fall out.

I knew it was something she had done, because I put little to no heat in my hair. Over that next month my hair fell out in clumps and she had no explanation for me, in fact she told me not to worry.

Well, most of my hair in the crown of my head has fallen out all the way to my new growth. I think this experience has finally convinced me that it is time to stop using relaxers and go natural. I am not sure if I want to do the big chop, I would much rather use braids and others styles to transition from relaxed to natural hair. What should I do?

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Nina's Response:

Anna,  It's a really personal decision as to whether or not you want to transition.  It really depends on how you feel about having super short hair as well as how much patience you have.  Transitioning can take a at least 18 months to get a decent length of hair.  Here are a couple of pages on my site that help you in making a decision:

Relaxed Hair to Natural Hair

Transitioning