Hi Azalia,
First of all, you know that you do not really hate your hair girl, you were just having one of those days. We all have them. /images/graemlins/frown.gif
The first time I tried a braid out I hated it. I had to go to work the morning I pulled out the braids and I was DISGUSTED. It was so thick and poufy looking, I was so ashamed all day at work.
Over time and with practice, you will discover what works and what does not work for your hair. I discovered for instance, that my hair drys better using a min. of 4 pony tails for the pony tail air drying method and I have to put extra large rollers on the ends. I used this method this past weekend for the first time and it came out beautiful. I do not get the same results using just one big, pony tail (tried it, hated it) and it would take like 2 days for my hair to completely dry.
Perhaps you can try wet setting your hair. If you cannot wet set it yourself, is there anyone you can ask to help you? Wet setting is not that hard once you pracitce and if you use the really large rollers your hair will dry quite quickly. I saw a pic. of a wet set from a girl on the board (can't remember who now so I can send her props) and I used her example to wet set my hair. In the pic. it looked like she used no more than about 17 of the large grey rollers. I tried this(actually my husband tried it under my direction) and it turned out to be the best wet set ever! I had a bag of those rollers tucked away under my bathroom sink for years and I had never used them to set my entire head of hair before. I had only used them on the longest parts.
I do not use the braid out to dry my hair. Maybe with more practice and in warmer weather I will. What I do, is dry my hair, then spray the curl activator on it and twist it every night. When I do this, I can keep my hair really moist and I can put it in all sorts of styles. I looks good in a french roll with some loose hair falling down on the sides etc. or pulled back with a head band or just hanging down.
I do not want to ramble on, but I just want to encourage you to keep trying, you will find out what works for you soon. I am still trying to identify a regime for myself. Many of the ladies on the board have taken years to learn what works and does not work for them and we are all constantly learning. Chin up sis. /images/graemlins/smile.gif
Let us know how you make out. /images/graemlins/smile.gif
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