Perm vs Natural hair (african american)

I will going to Japan for 11 months starting this August.

I have had perm for several years now, I am very deplended on getting perms but I do not think it will be a good idea to try to put my own perm in my hair in Japan. Recently I have been thinking it may be good to go natural but I am not entirely sure yet.

I done some research on my own on natural hair. I read that when trying to go natural you might have to cut off all of your hair, an option i am not keen on. I heard that you can keep your perm hair in while letting your new natural hair grow, but then there will be alot of breakage on the hair. I also read that you need to deep condition and use hot oil treatment for your natural hair as well, which i am ok with, but i also read that I am going to need to get my hair braided during the transition stages. Also I will need to find products that work for my natural hair as welll. Which mean spending lots of money buying the right product for my natural hair.

My question is do you think i should try to do my own perm or just go natural. I am trying to save some money for my trip, but it seems like alot of money to go natural�c.money i did not have. Have anyone does this before? I would really appreciate the comments, I am really confused about what I want to do at this moment.

It's very expensive to have your hair permed in Japan. So I guess it's down to perm it yourself or go natural. I have been here two years and have been doing it myself. I buy the product online (FBC)get some of my usual hairdressings (take with you) and no problem. My hair is ok and even have grown a lot. Still, everyone does not have the same luck but it's possible.

Did you chop of all of your when you started going natural? What type of product do you use for natural hair? what type of hair style should I get while tryiing to go through the transition from perm to natural? How often do you wash your hair?

Sorry about all the questions but I really would like to know if its ok. I going to try and go ahead while i have 4 months before my trip to learn everything about natural hair and start going through my transition.

I am a black female & can only answer your question from experience. Two years ago when I stopped perming my hair, I wanted to do as less as possible to my hair (no chemicals, heat, cutting...) I did not cut my hair. I did cornrows & hook-latched in the hair extensions. I prefer the latch extensions because you can change up the style & wear the braided or curly or wavey styles. Also, I found this to be much more easy than putting braids in. Just cornrow your hair, then latch in the hair type that you want, but it must be the hair for latching. It's great when you are super busy & don't want to be bothered with your hair. I would re-do it about every 2 months.

I am actually going to learn how to do cornrows before I leave. Today I washed my hair and I put my hair in bantu knots. I hair is still fairly permed but if this works I am going to continue to wear them. I forgot to put moisture on the knots so tommorrow I will make sure to do that.

Anyone used bantu knots while trying to transition from perm to natural?

I learned to perm my own hair when I went to college. It's actually not that difficult at all. My cousin went au naturale a couple of years ago, after a perming mishap. Just last week, she suggested that I try it. I can't attest to much, except that you have to gradually remove the processed hair as your hair grows out to prevent breakage. If you braid your hair, you should be careful about using extensions. You still lose hair with braids! One, hair sheds regularly. But also, if not put in correctly (too tight or on the delicate hairline), your hair will break anyway.

I intend to move to Japan in the coming months, as well. I can definitely take care of my permed hair and all, but I still debate the natural thing. Part of me really wants to try it. And, with a flat iron (if you choose to use it or any other appliances), you can achieve the same look.

I highly suggest visiting Longhaircareforum.com. It is a forum for black women who have natural or relaxed hair. There are at least 500 members there who live in Japan (around 42,000 members in total, maybe? But not all of them are active!) and many other members who can answer these questions!

thanks for the suggestion! this forum is very helpful. I also been looking up youtube videos as well to help find other styles of transitioning from perm to natural

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTMtnmFvh70&playnext_from=TL&videos=fau...
i actually tried this hairstyle out yesterday and everybody loved it! Though it been less than a month since i had a perm. Hopefullly my natural hair in four month would be growth out enough to get the "big chop" but for now im just in 2 weeks going to go and get my some of my perm hair trimmed off. :D

I lived in Japan for 3 years. The main things about Japan is that is gets quite humid in the summer and the water seemed a bit "hard." Plus it's not that easy getting black hair products in Japan unless you have good friends in the Us to send them (or you have access to someone on a military base).

I lived in Tokyo which had a few hairdressers that did black hair. I went to Japan with a perm but the humidity was already getting to me (I went their in July). So I found a Japanese hairdresser to put my hair in extensions, and I just let the perm grow out. I didn't lose a lot of hair at all, but this may depend on the person and their hair. Eventually I moved on to having her just put my hair in twists which lasted about a month each time. Occasionally I would just rock an afro. LOL I got more compliments when my hair was natural then when it was permed.

The previously mentioned sites are pretty helpful. If you will be in the Tokyo area Room 806 is a name of the salon that does black hair (permed/natural). There's another salon owned by the same guy but I can't think of the name of it (I think it's 4/U Beauty Salon). It's in Tokyo as well. Price wise it was about $60-200 depending on the styles you got.

Thanks for the information about the hairdresser in Tokyo. I will be staying in Tokyo from 3 weeks, but then i will be heading to kyoto for college.

I know that its was going to be expensive to have to pay and get my hair permed, but I did not know they were able to do natual hair too. Well in the next 4 months, I just going to try my best to learn how to do my own hair and growth our my perm.

I have been redoing my bantu knots every night and been using motion's moisturizer hair lotion. I put tea tree oil on my scape every night as well. I going to start co-washing my hair once a week and gradually work my way up to 2 to 3 times a week. Many of the females from longhaircareforum.com has been having alot sucess with co-washing. Thanks again MN for the reccommendation for the forum site.

I hope that I am able to gain between 1 to 3 inches natural growth before I leave if its possible.