Does Natural Hair Have to be Stretched...

[BillsBackerz67]

I dry my hair in braids under the hooded dryer first and then I'll use my hand held dryer to further stretch my hair (i dont like it super crinkly after removing the braids so i use the hand held with the comb attachment...usually 2 swipes on high on each section does the trick).

Are you guys blowdrying hair while wet or dry? When I do it dry I lose alot of hair.

 

[FebeeSigns]

Best way to stretch natural hair purely for length is banding the hair. Braidouts and Twistouts still have an amount of shrinkage. Banding is a complete stretch, though you may not have very defined curls as the results. But if you're only going for length then it doesn't matter.

I personally enjoy banding my hair. It even gives me a semi-straight look in some parts because my curls are loose in the front and back

 

[DigitalRain]

I think I will have to resort to blowdrying and/or pressing in the near future. My knots and tangles are a beast, and the longer my hair gets the worse it gets. Im doing twist/twistouts now, but I still lose a good bit of hair doing those styles.

 

[Amoreofcurls]

I swear by braid and twist outs, especially during the winter time....

 

[ajargon02]

That depends completely on hair texture and/or length. If you're 3b and below (even many 3c/4a silky ladies) leaving your hair fully shrunken regularly wont really stunt retention because there is less of a proclivity toward SSK's because of the size of the curl. Someone with type 4a/b hair that only has about 1-4 inches of hair can retain while leaving thier hair loose in that stage.

ITA!!!

For my particular hair texture 4a/b tightly coily, coarse combined with my length, the answer is absolutely. It must be stretched 100% of the time. This doesnt always have to be accomplished through heat.

IMHO, again, what will work will vary depending on one's hair type. For me, 4a/b with pen spring coils in many places, I DON'T use heat to stretch my hair, and I don't always stretch out my hair prior to puttin it in a protective style. FOR MY HAIR ( ONLY MY HAIR ) what cuts down on in a major way with the ssk is making sure my MOISTURE ( ie. water/water based product ) and protein balance is good, along with a good water based leave-in then sealing my ends.

My hair likes being in protective styles based on cornrows (it truly flourishes in cornrows) flat-twist outs are good, kinky twist/senegalese twist protective styles are excellent. ]

Yup, protective styles = hair love!!!!

So I have alot of fun in the various ways I like to keep my hair stretched. This has been key to my retention. Stretch, protect and have fun along the way

 

[JC-Junkie]

Hello Ladies !! I would like to know when you are stretching how do you then put it into a bun ?

Whats your routine including the stretching part and then the putting into the bun part. I need to start learning how to style my hair while stretching it at the same time.

Also whats your routine for twist outs to get that fullness and thickness ?

TIA and HHG Ladies !!!

 

[AnotherLevel]

Best way to stretch natural hair purely for length is banding the hair. Braidouts and Twistouts still have an amount of shrinkage. Banding is a complete stretch, though you may not have very defined curls as the results. But if you're only going for length then it doesn't matter.

I personally enjoy banding my hair. It even gives me a semi-straight look in some parts because my curls are loose in the front and back

This is exactly what I do. I have tightly coily 4b hair and I have NO PROBLEM at all with SSK's. First, I do EVERYTHING in sections. I prepoo, shampoo, condition, deep conditon, and of course band in sections. When my hair dries it is stretched (similar to a blowout) and free of knots. From there I twist or braid it to bring back more "texture".

 

[pookaloo83]

This is exactly what I do. I have tightly coily 4b hair and I have NO PROBLEM at all with SSK's. First, I do EVERYTHING in sections. I prepoo, shampoo, condition, deep conditon, and of course band in sections. When my hair dries it is stretched (similar to a blowout) and free of knots. From there I twist or braid it to bring back more "texture".

AnotherLevel How many sections do you band? In about 4 sections? Do you band from the roots to the end? Thanks! Also, is your hair banded in your siggy? Beautiful hair btw.

 

[KiSseS03]

Stretching has made a WORLD of difference for me!

It's night and day this time as a natural versus my previous attempt in 2006-7. Back then the only style I knew to do was the wash and go pony or puff. After a year of that my ends were a mess, full of ssk's and I couldn't deal with the tangles, and gave up and relaxed.

This time around I have learned to never ever ever let my hair tangle or fully shrink by braiding it to wash and condition and wearing braid-outs. Now I am positively loving my hair, and I'm confident that I will stay natural. I also love the fact that my wash time is cut in half!

 

[Dee Raven]

For my hair, it definitely needs to be stretched in some sort of way to keep the knots at bay. Even doing loose stretched styles like braid outs and twistouts still leave me with more knots than if I just leave the braids or twists in.

 

[JC-Junkie]

Sorry ladies but can I know how you stretch and then put your hair into a bun? Do you still get the waaaves ?? What's your process?

TIA !

 

[Forever in Bloom]

For me, it definitely does. I have been wearing twists for almost 4 straight months, and this has drastically cut down on single strand knots. I'm so happy I feel like break dancing!

 

[BostonMaria]

Sorry ladies but can I know how you stretch and then put your hair into a bun? Do you still get the waaaves ?? What's your process?

TIA !

My hair always has waves if I don't flatiron it. Are you trying to get rid of the waves?

 

[tmhuggiebear]

Have those of you who strectch using heat frequently losing your curl pattern? I think I need to start stretching but I am afraid of losing all of my precious curls. And what is banding?

 

[Duchesse]

I will never wear my hair shrunken....ever! My hair is stretched 100% of the time. When I first went natural years ago, I washngoed and puffed, all the time and my ends were messed up. I'm thinking about adding heat as well.

 

[JC-Junkie]

My hair always has waves if I don't flatiron it. Are you trying to get rid of the waves?

Thanks! No I want the waves, but I want to stretch at the same time. So do you wash in sections and do everything in sections and then undo the sections and brush your hair into a bun or do it some other way ?

 

[pookaloo83]

Have those of you who strectch using heat frequently losing your curl pattern? I think I need to start stretching but I am afraid of losing all of my precious curls. And what is banding?

tmhuggiebear

[video=youtube;bEYjdKq0n28]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEYjdKq0n28[/video]

 

[Missjae09]

I too must say that I feel like my hair does best when it's stretched. I almost felt like my hair was a little weird when I first discovered this but it's nice to see that so many other women have discovered the same thing.

 

[JC-Junkie]

Hello ladies I was wondering if I stretch with banding I would still be able to keep my curls whilst stretching it ? And also through stretching I would be able to achieve the hairstyles I plan on doing with my stretched hair. If I do twist outs would I be able to achieve the same hairstyles that I would do with a wash and go ?

 

[JC-Junkie]

Hello ladies I was wondering if I stretch with banding I would still be able to keep my curls whilst stretching it ? And also through stretching I would be able to achieve the hairstyles I plan on doing with my stretched hair. If I do twist outs would I be able to achieve the same hairstyles that I would do with a wash and go ?

anyone please ???

 

[Nonie]

Hello ladies I was wondering if I stretch with banding I would still be able to keep my curls whilst stretching it ? And also through stretching I would be able to achieve the hairstyles I plan on doing with my stretched hair. If I do twist outs would I be able to achieve the same hairstyles that I would do with a wash and go ?

JC-Junkie I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. When hair is stretched, at the time it's stretched, it temporarily loses its curls. So that would happen with banding just as it would with braiding.

Nonie's unstretched hair:

Nonie's braid-stretched hair:

And also through stretching I would be able to achieve the hairstyles I plan on doing with my stretched hair.

Erhmm...what? Not sure if you were asking a question or mistyped but I don't follow this sentence. Did you mean to ask if through banding you will be able to get stretched-hair styles? If so, yes, as long as you understand that stretched hair isn't necessarily "flat-ironed straight hair". Threading (a type of banding where you completely cover the hair with thread and leave it on for a spell) is the only way to get "flat-ironed straight hair" that I know of.

Whether twist-outs look like WNGs depends on your hair type. 4B hair WNGs look like uncombed hair to me, like this puff:

4B hair twist-outs look wavy and more defined like my very first twist-out:

If you have 4A hair or 3's and made twists the size of your natural curl, then yes, your twist-out can look like a WNG.

 

[JC-Junkie]

Sorry I didn't make my question clear What I'm asking is like say I've washed my hair, it coils up into it's natural state right ? I was asking whether with banding I would be able to stop it from shrinking to it's maximum but still have my coils but a bit stretched if that makes sense ? And I was also asking whether I would be able to achieve the same hairstyles with a twistout like I would with a wash and go.

 

[Mdmommy99]

The only way that I can wear wash n gos without ssks is by keeping my hair well moisturized and cowashing and detangling every other day. I only do this for short periods of time because it just seems like a lot of manipulation. Otherwise I either wear stretched styles. For me the quickest easiest way to stretch it is just to let in air dry in two braids.

 

[Nonie]

Sorry I didn't make my question clear What I'm asking is like say I've washed my hair, it coils up into it's natural state right ? I was asking whether with banding I would be able to stop it from shrinking to it's maximum but still have my coils but a bit stretched if that makes sense ? And I was also asking whether I would be able to achieve the same hairstyles with a twistout like I would with a wash and go.

I answered both questions in my post albeit indirectly about reversion when I put banding and braiding in the same sentence. Stretching with banding will not prevent your hair from reverting when you wash.

Your second question about whether WNGs will look like twist-outs, I answered in my post above both in words and photos of what my hair type looks like in each case.

 

[AfroKink]

I've been wearing my hair stretched since June and I'm shocked at how much I've retained. It's also easier to remove shed hairs. I've never had a problem with SSKs, but stretching has greatly reduced my tangles and multistrand knots. Most of the time I rollerset then bun. I repeat every 7-14 days. To answer that question about bunning, I just smooth my hair into a bun with my hands. I don't have 'waves', I'm a 4b

 

[scarcity21]

Bumping