You’ve decided to transition your hair back to your natural hair – good for you!
That’s amazing.
And now you’re wondering how to dry transitioning hair without heat because you don’t want to damage it further.
Because as we all know, transitioning hair is very delicate and vulnerable to breakage – especially the point where the transitioning hair is meeting the fresh hair growth.
At this stage, we need to aim to protect our hair and wear it in protective hairstyles so that it grows quickly and is strong and healthy.
Let’s look at how we can do this while keeping our hair soft and non-frizzy.
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How to dry transitioning hair without heat – 7 Easy Steps
1. Use a teeshirt or special microfibre towel
After you’ve finished showering, use a soft cotton tee shirt or a special micro-fiber towel (especially made for curly hair to reduce frizz) and gently wrap the teeshirt or towel around your wet curls.
If it’s soaking wet, then gently pat it with the teeshirt or towel to absorb water.
Do not rub your hair or be harsh with it.
Transitioning hair is very prone to breakage, especially at the points where it meets the fresh hair so you want to be very gentle with your hair when you are drying it.
2. Use a leave-in conditioner
You want to hydrate and keep your transitioning hair well-moisturized and hydrated so that it’s strong and isn’t vulnerable to breakage.
So, I recommend leaving a leave-in conditioner that is specially made for dry, damaged, and chemically treated hair.
The Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave-In is perfect for transitioning hair.
Make sure you apply it while your hair is still damp.
This leave-in works well for color-treated hair or heat-styled hair and smoothens the ends (especially if you have a lot of split ends that are dry and damaged).
It contains no parabens, sulfates, or silicones and is honestly one of the best leave-ins I’ve used.
This will strengthen your hair and help it resist breakage after drying.
3. Use oil to seal in the moisture
When your hair is transitioning, it is going to lose moisture quickly because chemically treated hair has raised cuticles that can’t hold on to moisture for long.
So, the best way to retain moisture is to lock the moisture in with a light oil that doesn’t leave the hair greasy or sticky.
Argan oil is a wonderful oil. I recommend using the OGX Argan Oil that can be used for skin, nails and hair. It’s perfect for sealing in the moisture and smells great!
I also use it when styling so I go through a lot of Argan oil.
4. Comb your hair gently with a wide-tooth comb
Comb your hair near the roots very gently with a wide-toothed comb.
This will smooth the fresh growing hair so that it doesn’t curl up too much and doesn’t look too different from your relaxed hair.
The idea is to make it look somewhat straight and blend in with your already relaxed hair.
5. Wrap your head with a satin scarf near the roots
Using a satin scarf like this will press down the curly or transitioning hair and will help it blend in with the relaxed or transitioning hair.
And because you have applied a leave-in and oil, it will stay down and take the shape more easily.
Satin reduces friction and won’t allow your hair to get frizzy.
6. Let it air dry
Now, let your hair naturally air dry without using any heat or flatiron.
Your main aim is to grow out your hair as quickly as possible without damaging your fresh hair so that when you do the big chop, you can get back to your natural hair.
So, don’t use heat tools like a hot comb or flat iron.
Air dry your transitioning hair naturally.
7. Take off the headscarf
Once it’s done air-drying, take off the headscarf.
The hair on top of your head should be smooth and almost flat.
This isn’t a permanent solution of course, but it will help you grow your hair fast so that you can return to your natural hair quickly.
And the idea is to dry transitioning hair without heat so that you don’t damage it and it grows quickly so you can do the big chop.
Alternative
If it isn’t as smooth as you hoped it would be, then you can wear a headscarf to cover your hair or tie it in a bun or ponytail. Make sure it’s not too tight because you don’t want to make it vulnerable to breakage.
I hope this helps!
