How will/did you grow out your TWA

[AfroDoll]

I BC'd 2 months post but decided to shave it all off so I started at 1/4" if that.

By the time I was 2 inches, it was fall so I started rocking twist and curly braid extensions back to back. By the time I was 4 inches I learned how to cornrow (FINALLY!!) and started rocking wigs and headbands.

I will say that, initially, the styles I rocked felt awkward at first. But the more I did them, the more comfortable I felt rocking them. Here are a few of my short hairstyles when I did wear my hair out:

Braided roots

Braided roots, back

Braidout @ about 4 inches

Braidout side

Bantu Knotout fro

HTH!

Thanks Mzswift.. Your hair is awesome! I actually pm'ed you a while back when I was transitioning & you were very helpful. my old username was Pocket*Full*Of*Dreams

 

[AfroDoll]

That's cool, AfroDoll ! You can definitely wear a half wig! I don't bother with trying to blend my hair in -- details below.

This is my favorite one. It's Outre Nita. The wig is actually thicker than the picture (the lady told me the manufc added more hair, which I like!), but my wig had this same pic on it. You can get it on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ATFMRE/?tag=710-20

On these pics, it was my first time wearing it, and it's big! So I pulled it back a little more and used hair pins. And the hair on this wig is super soft! Now I really love the biggness (it has settled down some!) and I get a lot of compliments every time I wear it, so I don't pull it as far back anymore or use hair pins at all.

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What I do is, in this order, I just moisturize my hair, apply my satin bonnet (at this point the bonnet is sitting in the middle of my forehead), put on a STRETCHY headband over the satin bonnet and let it go around my neck. Then I put on the half wig starting at where the bonnet is sitting on my forehead and then slowly slide it all back to where only about 1.5-2" of my hairline is exposed. Then I pull the headband up and it covers the wig line.

Doing it this way I don't have to try to blend the hair in or use gel to lay my hair down.

Also beware of wig combs pulling or breaking your hair. I always cut all hair combs out of my wigs.

HTH!

Thank u so much for this! I feel more confident about getting a half wig now. Love the hair.. it looks so natural on you.

 

[AfroDoll]

AfroDoll, I found myself going from SL to a little under 3 inches of hair w/o my consent when I trusted my natural head to a SHS (Feb 2007). So I do know what it's like to find yourself w/ short hair when you were not prepared for it. But after I got over the shock, I made it work.

So this is the hair I had before the BC:

And this is the hair I was left with after the BC:

And just so you can get perspective of how much hair you're looking at, I've got a huge fore- (nay, five-) head. Measured it's about 3 inches long:

I don't know what products you use but if you start by getting yourself S Curl and make that your only leave-in, you'll be on the right track. Trust me on that. (Or just read this thread to learn more.)

Following are some pics of how I wore my hair. First you can see even w/ that itty bitty length, I still wore a puff. I might've looked like those bald babies with a hairband around their heads, but I didn't let that stop me:

This is the front view from my ID (No really, there's a puff; I know it's hard to see without straining but it's there )

Now after discovering S Curl and plaiting my hair for the night then baggying, my hair was fluffy and not as shrunken. I got less shrunken with each subsequent night of braiding and baggying. I'd wait till it was partly dry after taking off the baggy, but not too dry to comb, and then style:

Then I got tired of having to braid my whole head so I cornrowed the front so I could leave it unbothered all week and just braid and undo the back. This was one style:

This was another style:

Now you have to understand that I'm lazy. I had spent most of my life not dealing with my hair on a daily basis so that^^ was work to me. Where I come from (Kenya) and back when I was growing up, folks didn't constantly style their differently every morning--unless school rules called for loose, combed hair, like mine did. The norm was to have your hair put away in some low mani style and save any loose/out styles for special occasions. So this bidness of combing my hair every day to go to work was more than I was used to so by April (2 mths after the surprise BC), I was tired of it and decided to braid my hair. Lucky for me, I can do my own extension braids, and I implore you to learn because once you do, you can put your hair away for months on end and not have any damage. You know how you say that your braids got messy? Imagine if you knew how to redo them... You could just undo one and redo it and keep that up as time allows till all are redone and looking fresh. And you can do the perimeter first so that when you put them up the fresh ones hide the messy ones. Makes life so much easier. What's more, you doing your own hair would be safer since you wouldn't pull too much and you'd take care to use less fake hair per section of yours so you don't create too much tension

Otherwise, wigs and headwraps and hats are awesome... Just fall in love with baggying and S Curl and you will find your hair will not dry with these methods. Saran wrap works very well for baggying because it lies flat against your head so that wigs and wraps can fit and look right. This is an example of my Saran wrap baggy for the night:

Thanks Nonie! Love the pics!
S-curl worked wonders for my hair when I was transitioning.. then after I chopped.. it would make my hair feel coated and greasy

 

[nisemac]

*bump* this is a really helpful thread. one of the reasons i've remained a twa-er for so many years is because i didn't fully understand my options once i hit the 'awkward' stage. this thread has me thinking more along the lines of what i CAN do with my hair at its current length versus what I can't.

 

[tiffal1922]

When I was in my awkward phases I tried to do twist outs but that took hours on end so I ended up just rocking wash-n-gos. Overtime it got much better but at that point in time i was like... eh... i'm not feeling this length but I refused to get a wig so I had to rock it!

Good Luck Ladies!

 

[tapioca_pudding]

I'm kinda anti-wig/weave (personal thing), so I'm kinda stuck right now. I have between 3/5 inches of hair, and I do wash n go's erry day lol. Some days I hate it, some days I wish I could do something else. But I don't like how twist outs turn out, I don't like puffs on hair this short, and I don't think braids/kinky twists fit me. Soooo I just do this dayum wash n go erry day LOL and just patiently wait for my hair to grow. I slick my edges down a bit with gel and make sure my curls are poppin, and let it do what it do.

 

[Chameleonchick]

I kept my hair in twists, headwraps and extension twists and braids.

 

[nsmith30]

I wore wash-n- gos and coils the first few months and then I started wearing lace fronts. I learned how to do my own extensions and would wear twists with extensions for 4-6 weeks at a time. As soon as my hair got long enough for me to grip I started doing cornrow updos. You'd be amazed at how cute styles are with shorter hair. You can always cornrow it into a puff.

 

[mlwprima2]

HELP...I have relaxed hair but I'm letting it grow out. I want to be natural again. What do you all recommen. ALSO, what do all these acronyms mean? I am new to this!

 

[nisemac]

I'm kinda anti-wig/weave (personal thing), so I'm kinda stuck right now. I have between 3/5 inches of hair, and I do wash n go's erry day lol. Some days I hate it, some days I wish I could do something else. But I don't like how twist outs turn out, I don't like puffs on hair this short, and I don't think braids/kinky twists fit me. Soooo I just do this dayum wash n go erry day LOL and just patiently wait for my hair to grow. I slick my edges down a bit with gel and make sure my curls are poppin, and let it do what it do.

i was the same way about wigs/weaves....but i've decided to give it a try--in the best interest of my hair. i've ordered a few of the most natural looking i could find and i plan to wear them around the house to see if i'm comfortable. the winter is brutal here and i want to explore all of my available options in looking stylish, while protecting my hair. but being patient is good...i'm glad you put that out there.

 

[AfroDoll]

Thanks for the replies, Ladies!
I ended up keeping in my micro braids for about 6 weeks.. Now I'm rocking a curly half-wig : )

 

[MaintaintheSexy]

I grew out my TWA via braids. As soon as I BC, i braided my hair and literally have not stopped, that was back in Jan 2010. Now I am shoulder length. Im sorry I don't have pics t show you.

 

[Taina]

I have 2inches right now. I just let them be ... wash n' go, that's it. I don't like weaves or wigs so i don't use them, and i don't know how to braid ... i don't have a lot of resourses hahahaha and not creative at all.

In my last BC my ackward phase was when hair was almost 5inches or so, cause it was to long and too short at the same time.

 

[makeupgirl]

I grew mine out with wigs. As it grew longer, I would two strand twist under the wig. My hair from twa to shoulder length in one year. Now I'm between shoulder and Apl

 

[Tif392002]

I grew out my TWA wearing those beanie caps and scarfs... i BC'd at 4 months post