I have finally accepted today that I am just not a loose hair lady. smh. Esp not with long hair. I kept my hair short for about 17 years or so bc I thought long hair would be too much work and I'm proving myself right. LOL. Even with it bunned or in a braided ponytail, I'm worried about friction (and breakage) when I lay back on the couch. And I worry about the daily manipulation when detangling or even just refreshing my ponytail. Too much for my laid back nature. But I'm going to keep growing my hair bc I like rocking it out when the mood strikes. That's why I'll continue to relax, so that there's less manipulation.
So I'm currently putting in mini braids. These have been my go-to style since 2010 and I'm not yet ready to let them go. I love that I can rock these like loose hair without the damage/stress of detangling, and friction from my couch potato ways. I can water rinse/cowash daily and let them airdry down or in a ponytail with little damage. I may still relax in May like I originally planned. I'll be about 6 months post then. But I'm thinking of stretching even longer. But I may just go to 8-12 month stretches, esp if I'm keeping it in mini braids most of the time. I refresh those one at a time every 3-4 weeks which limits manipulation. And there's something so refreshing to me about rocking my hair loose and straightened with the fall air blowing through it. Spring, summer and winter have their drawbacks for straightening but it's usually cool and dry in the fall. Great hair flipping weather! Lol
Anyway, back to braiding. It'll probably take me a few days to finish. I'll try to post pics when I'm done.