How To Manage Your Transitioning Edges (And Kitchen!)

For those of you unfamiliar with the term ‘kitchen,’ it is used to describe the shorter hairs located on the back of one’s neck. There are many explanations of this term’s origin. I remember asking my mom when I was kid and she said back in the day most of us had kitchens located in the back of the house. Since the hair is located on the back of the neck and hair styling usually took place in the kitchen—it just stuck.

Edges refer to the hair that is located around the face or along the edge of the hairline. I’m a Southern girl who was lucky enough to have a grandmother who was a beautician, and when Grandma Bessie styled our hair, the “edges” and “kitchen” were a top priority; they were just as important as the body of the hair. They had to be carefully pressed to assure the strands were just as straight and smooth as the rest of the hair.

Like many transitioners, maintaining smooth edges and my kitchen was a concern of mine when I began to grow out my relaxer. In the beginning, I continued to relax my edges until I discovered those strands would stay smooth all day if I applied a leave-in conditioner, gel and wrapped them with a silk scarf overnight. They wouldn’t move all day unless I sweated heavily. It’s really that simple. This technique worked for my “kitchen” as well. Most gels work, but stay away from the cheap stuff that can flake.

It is important to allow your hair to fully dry. Some women prefer to sit under a dryer. This may be the best technique if you have a kinkier hair texture. If the product is still wet, a mini fro will start to form.

How do you manage your transitioning edges and kitchen?

Chime Edwards is an extremely popular YouTube vlogger with over 145,000 subscribers. Chime was also featured in Nikki Walton’s (Curly Nikki) book, ‘Better Than Good Hair.’