Hair is in transition when you’re growing from a short style to a longer look, or when you’re growing out the dyed portion to showcase your natural colour. I’m doing both this year, so it’s at the forefront of my mind. 

Some people transition their hair more easily than others, which I guess depends on a couple of factors. For example, hubs Greg has thick, dark, luscious, voluminous, curly hair that has been greying for decades. It went from slightly salty to silver fox slowly in THE most beautiful and natural way. Over the decades he’s had super short cuts to longer wavy styles, and the grow-outs and colour change have been effortless and seamless. As long as he had the right product to tame his air-dried mop of hair as it transitioned, it simply curled and ombréd in the most delightful way. Sometimes neat, and sometimes wild, but it always looked good.

I have different hair to Greg. It is fine, light, flat, a bit wavy, and not greying at all. This year, I’m growing it out from a super short platinum blonde pixie to a bixie, or a short bob of sorts. To grow out slow-growing hair from a pixie is tedious, and it will be Christmas before I reach my hair goals. It doesn’t curl into a fab style the way Greg’s does, nor does the bleached blonde look healthy as it grows out.

I’m determined to stick with my plan, because I want a change and a little more hair to play with. My transitional hair requires more effort to look fab than Greg’s does because of the nature of my hair, and my need to create a polished appearance. I’ve found that doing three things have helped me manage my transitional hair more effectively. As a result I’m enjoying the in-between stages instead of feeling like cutting it all off again.

1. Adjust The Colour

I added low lights that match the exact colour of my natural darker blonde hair so that I wouldn’t see the ‘grow-out line’ of the bleached platinum. Now my hair is my natural colour, and I won’t need to colour it again until I’ve reached the desired length. If I want to adjust the colour after I have the length because I don’t like my natural colour, I can do that too. My longer hair looks healthy and feels good when I run my hands through it.

2. Get Regular Trims

Pandemic permitting, I’m continuing with regular six to eight week trims so that the back looks neat. As the top and sides grow, they’re trimmed to the same end point to create a style with some shape. Although the shaping is subtle because the point is to GROW my hair, it goes a long way to making me feel like I have a neat and tidy ‘do.

3. Be Creative With Styling

I do what I can to make these in-between stages look modern and presentable. I’ll blow-dry, straighten, use a curling iron, towel-dry with product, tuck hair behind my ears, brush it back, brush it forward, scrunch, tousle, and add a barrette to create a more styled look. I’m at the hardest in-between stages for the next few months. But that will pass, and by the Summer I’ll have more hair that is easier to style. My hair looks like this after four months of managed growth.

Over the years, we’ve seen lots of forum members grow out their hair and/or colour with stellar and inspiring results. Some people managed their transitional hair similarly to me, while others managed things similarly to Greg. Care to share your own transitional hair story?