I Can Finally Change My Signature Pic: 2-Year Growth Update

[NappyNelle]

Omg look at that hair! You look fabulous Virtue!! How have you been styling your hair daily?

 

[g.lo]

virtuenow, don't you want to start a finger detangling challenge
After reading your update, i cleared my bathroom of all combs and brushes and it is 01:29 a.m over here in Uk

 

[yaya24]

Lovely!!!!

 

[Pennefeather]

Your hair is beautiful. Thank you for including the pictures of the damage that you had. That is really powerful.

 

[HairPleezeGrow]

Congrats! You and your hair are beautiful.

 

[Froreal3]

I remember how sad you were about your Komaza report. So happy you fully rebounded. Your hair looks amazing and congrats on MBL! virtuenow

 

[EnExitStageLeft]

virtuenow

I LOVE IT! You're one of my hair crushes and by golly you definitely didn't disappoint. I sure hope I can achieve this one day.

 

[Mystic]

Wow, that is such amazing progress. 100% turn around. Keep up the good job.

 

[SunRai Naturals]

Yass!!!!! Love it!

 

[abcd09]

virtuenow Wow! Your hair (and you) is gorgeous! thanks for tagging me so I could see your updates. That's amazing! I remember you back in 2009 and feeling like we had similar issues, like being stuck at a certain length and wondering if it is was "terminal length" and your hair tangling a lot and forming deed-like pieces on its own. That's interesting that finger detangling made such a difference. Did you notice your hair wasn't fraying and breaking at the ends? Does your hair still dred on its own?

 

[DeepBluSea]

You and your hair are gorg ! Congrats on meeting your goal.

 

[faithVA]

Congratulations. Your hair looks fabulous.

 

[ronie]

After reading this post, I made wash day comb free today. I never thought this possible. Let s see how tips works for me.

 

[kupenda]

Congrats! Thank you so much for sharing. I know it must be hard to see where you were. But to see where you are now is amazing! Health over length is absolutely the way to go. And finger detangling has helped me sooo much. Glad to see im not doing it in vain!

 

[luckiestdestiny]

Lovely Progress. Thanks so much for the update. It shows sometimes we just need to switch it up in order to get to the next step.

 

[Je Ne Sais Quoi]

Stunning!!!!!

 

[itsallaboutattitude]

Congrats! Lovely!

God is an alien, and we are living under a microscope.

 

[mscheergrl]

Yass! Congratulations! Your hair looks marvelous

 

[Victoria44]

Congrats!! What an amazing turn around, your hair looks so thick and healthy now. I'm glad you found success with finger detangling, it really does make a difference in how gentle you can be with your hair.

 

[virtuenow]

Omg look at that hair! You look fabulous Virtue!! How have you been styling your hair daily?

Thanks girlfriend NappyNelle, good question. I have really been learning how to style my natural hair over last 2-years. It was a task b/c I had never styled my hair w/o heat before. My goal was to simply take my time...so I started slow. Twists were my friend in the very beginning b/c I really didn't know how to do anything else!

Then I ventured out and learned my first style: the high bun. Then I alternate w/mini twists every few months...I even tried loose mini-twists which were a nice alternative and completely different look. After that, the ladies here taught me how to do twistouts (around September of last year (2013) was my first successful set).

My overall goal is to do low manipulation styles. I don't really protective style per se, but once my hair is in a style, I leave it alone. And I don't do a lot of manipulation to get it in the style. I even allow my ends to be exposed b/c I love styles that showcase hair (I just make sure to moisturize--> L-C-O, heavy seal ends often).

So I did a lot of twistout sets that morphed into other styles; by end of week I tie my hair back-- or do high puff, but do not tuck ends in. Twistouts became my go to style. After a year of successful twistouts, I decided to venture out again and try something I never thought I'd be able to do as a 4c girl. Rollersets. Yes, wet rollersets...no heat, airdrying. I bought some flexirods, and decided to test it out. I've only been doing it a couple months, and working to perfect the flexi-sets. Most people think I'm wearing crochet braids when do this style. They last me 1 full week before I reset. Here's some pics of the different styles:

 

[virtuenow]

Cont. More pics: I'm wearing mini twists in the pink shirt pics. The last pics are different wet flexi roller sets. They really showcase my 4c texture while giving it an awesome stretch at the same time. The last pic is a re-set on stretched, damp hair.
Attached Thumbnails

 

[virtuenow]

Thank you everyone for the kind comments.

virtuenow Wow! Your hair (and you) is gorgeous! thanks for tagging me so I could see your updates. That's amazing! I remember you back in 2009 and feeling like we had similar issues, like being stuck at a certain length and wondering if it is was "terminal length" and your hair tangling a lot and forming deed-like pieces on its own. That's interesting that finger detangling made such a difference. Did you notice your hair wasn't fraying and breaking at the ends? Does your hair still dred on its own?

Thank you girly abcd09, yes, I wondered if I had a really short terminal length and had trouble detangling-- but I didn't have dreads or have unusual tangling. I think you mixed me up with someone else. That sounds like it may be a porosity issue at the ends of hair. But yeah, comb detangling was ripping my hair out; and the hair it didn't rip out was breaking off in the comb. I just knew without a doubt my hair was supposed to be a lot thicker. I could have medium-thin density hair by using combs; or I can have max thickness by throwing out the comb. I chose the latter

Congrats!! What an amazing turn around, your hair looks so thick and healthy now. I'm glad you found success with finger detangling, it really does make a difference in how gentle you can be with your hair.

Victoria44 Hi & thanks sis *tears*, you are actually the one that got me started on a finger detangling routine. I know you have since moved on, but those tips were priceless.

 

[Firstborn2]

Its full and big! Nice job, congratz on your progress!

 

[divachyk]

virtuenow, you're a beautiful lady and your hair is equally as lovely! Congrats! I'm a Komaza believer. My hair is definitely making vast improvement since the analysis and implementing their recommendations.

 

[Victoria44]

virtuenow Yay, I'm glad those tips helped! It's a hard task to describe accurately, so I wasn't sure if I was helpful at all lol.

I've actually returned to 100% finger detangling. It works well in my current regimen so I'm just doing what feels best.

 

[NappyNelle]

virtuenow Thanks for sharing. When I get home, I will break out the castor oil and AO GPB. I'm so excited about my hair again thanks to you, toaster, and Victoria44.

 

[spacetygrss]

virtuenow:

Can we get a step-by-step of your routine? You mentioned some of it, but it would be awesome to know exactly how long your use your products, if you sit under a dryer, steamer, etc.

Thanks!

 

[Sunshine_One]

Pretty hair & AMAZING progress!!!

 

[cynd]

Gorgeous and inspirational!

 

[overtherainbow]

Your hair is awesome! It's so full and your texture is beautiful. I really believe that all type 4 naturals should at least give finger detangling a try. It really does work wonders!