Struggling with your natural hair? Come in here.....

[lana]

faithVA - I see what you're saying, instead of retwisting each day, do it all in one day. I guess I don't usually allow enough time. When I'm twisting my hair it's usually at night 10p.m. or later, then I'm sleep and wake up and untwist only to find major shrinkage. I'll have to see if I can adjust my schedule to fit this no heat challenge. I will admit the easy way out is just to blow dry my hair and twist it up - tada! Done.

But I don't want to use heat if I can avoid it. I appreciate the suggestion!

 

[faithVA]

faithVA - I see what you're saying, instead of retwisting each day, do it all in one day. I guess I don't usually allow enough time. When I'm twisting my hair it's usually at night 10p.m. or later, then I'm sleep and wake up and untwist only to find major shrinkage. I'll have to see if I can adjust my schedule to fit this no heat challenge. I will admit the easy way out is just to blow dry my hair and twist it up - tada! Done.

But I don't want to use heat if I can avoid it. I appreciate the suggestion!

I understand. Sometimes busy schedules lead to late night sessions. Well try to leave that section until right before you go to bed to let it dry. And if you wake up early enough in the morning, at least an hour before you walk out the door, try taking it down, putting just a little holding product on and twisting it back up.

But without giving yourself more time it is going to be hard to stretch. You can try diffusing it just a bit, so that it isn't completely dry but dry enough to stretch it a bit.

 

[hnntrr]

I found my DC for 9 bucks so I snagged it. I also found a sally's near my ex-SO turned bff (I know) and bought some wig caps for 99 cents.

Going to DC for 3-4 hours today with one n only and see if that helps. I havn't done a tea rinse in awhile but I may depending on shed hair ....it hasn't been much breakage or shedding since I BC'ed though which is great.

I will let you guys know how it goes. I havnt seen my hair in a few days.

 

[BraunSugar]

I don't think I ever mentioned this, but I finally picked up the official Wet Brush from Sally. It works a lot better than the knock off Conair brush I was using. The bristles are more steady and the brush itself is constructed better. I use it on myself and DS. Very happy with it.

 

[hnntrr]

Okay, so this is a tiny bit ghetto but I was going my cap routine for DC (old wig cap/plastic cap/silk cap and beanie (I know its a lot) and I didnt realize there were such huge holes in my cap...but some little curls were springing out! So here is a pic of what my hair is currently doing.

My regimen has been: co wash at least twice a week with burts bee's güd and möp. finger detangle only. dc once a week. wig 12/7. seal with avocado oil (i might go back to using castor oil with my avocado)

These are more toward the side/back of my head, and what some of the the defined and undefined curls look like. I dont know what to do with them...my hair is so cottony the actual curls dont show and it just looks a mess.

Any tips on what I should do so that ALL my hair forms? Do I need to start training my curls? (like my mother and sister are shingling every other day and it seems like its helping their curls to be more defined. This is only really the back and sides of my head, my crown barely curls at all and looks more like the 2 last photos.
I am excited about the parts that are curling, I just dont know how to get the rest of my head to look like the 1st image.

 

[HanaKuroi]

Okay, so this is a tiny bit ghetto but I was going my cap routine for DC (old wig cap/plastic cap/silk cap and beanie (I know its a lot) and I didnt realize there were such huge holes in my cap...but some little curls were springing out! So here is a pic of what my hair is currently doing.

These are more toward the side/back of my head, and what some of the the defined and undefined curls look like. I dont know what to do with them...my hair is so cottony the actual curls dont show and it just looks a mess.

Any tips on what I should do so that ALL my hair forms? Do I need to start training my curls? (like my mother and sister are shingling every other day and it seems like its helping their curls to be more defined. This is only really the back and sides of my head, my crown barely curls at all and looks more like the 2 last photos.
I am excited about the parts that are curling, I just dont know how to get the rest of my head to look like the 1st image.

I am a smoother/shingler. I apply product like I am shingling and I smooth my hair from roots to tip. Then I twirl the ends. I think this helps define my curls. I also let the shower smooth my hair. I always direct the water down too.

I agree with you. I think that what mom and sis are doing is helping.

I can't see any mentions on my IPhone. PM me if it is a must see. Allons y

 

[Ms Lala]

Ladies, I am having problems with retaining length at the nape area of my hair. The rest is doing good in terms of growing/retaining but the back is like 3 inches shorter than the rest. I keep it moisturised and I protective style, 99% of the time. I have only worn my hair out twice this year so I don't get why it's taking so long to grow. The texture at the back is a lot more dryer and finer than the rest. I keep it moisturised so I am not sure what else to do.

Any suggestions?

I think its normal for nape hair not to be as long as the rest. I notices that many peoples edges and napes seem to have shorter lengths and I wonder if that hair sheds sooner or grows slower. If its not impact the styles I wear and isn't super noticeable I dont worry about it.

 

[hnntrr]

I am a smoother/shingler. I apply product like I am shingling and I smooth my hair from roots to tip. Then I twirl the ends. I think this helps define my curls. I also let the shower smooth my hair. I always direct the water down too.

I agree with you. I think that what mom and sis are doing is helping.

I can't see any mentions on my IPhone. PM me if it is a must see. Allons y

So I tried shingling last night......
Here are some horrible pictures of the results. about 30 minutes in I had only finished the back part of my head and all that was left was the top and crown...and that part did NOT want to curl it was sad. I duno what to do with the top of my head, its all s curl patter or no pattern at all.

I used creme brûlée...i forget who the manufacturer is but its a no hold curl creme....anyway this morning it felt hard and gross so I am going to rinse it out my hair tonight and just prepare it for wigging this week.

I dont know if I like the results or not, my curls were pretty from what i could see of them...

 

[HanaKuroi]

Do you spray with water?

I apply product,smooth, spray,smooth, oil or grease,smooth and more product sometimes more water.

If you were closer I would do your hair!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh one thing that I failed to mention! I use vinyl gloves! Vinyl not nitrile or latex. That makes my fair super smooth!

I can't see any mentions on my IPhone. PM me if it is a must see. Allons y

 

[HanaKuroi]

So I tried shingling last night......
Here are some horrible pictures of the results. about 30 minutes in I had only finished the back part of my head and all that was left was the top and crown...and that part did NOT want to curl it was sad. I duno what to do with the top of my head, its all s curl patter or no pattern at all.

I used creme brûlée...i forget who the manufacturer is but its a no hold curl creme....anyway this morning it felt hard and gross so I am going to rinse it out my hair tonight and just prepare it for wigging this week.

I dont know if I like the results or not, my curls were pretty from what i could see of them...

You curls are popping! I think it is a technique thing now.

I can't see any mentions on my IPhone. PM me if it is a must see. Allons y

 

[hnntrr]

Do you spray with water?

I apply product,smooth, spray,smooth, oil or grease,smooth and more product sometimes more water.

If you were closer I would do your hair!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh one thing that I failed to mention! I use vinyl gloves! Vinyl not nitrile or latex. That makes my fair super smooth!

I can't see any mentions on my IPhone. PM me if it is a must see. Allons y

I sprayed and applied product. I got lazy and tired and didn't finish all of it hahahaha. I need to get some eco styler, that worked out well when I used it, I dont know if the creme brulee is going to work out.

And your in gallifrey! THATS REALLY...wibbly. hahahaha Maybe ill try it again when Im not tired and frustrated.

 

[Blessed&higlyflavoured]

Hmmm, didn't think about that. The hair bands are not silk, just normal cotton bands without the metal bit.

I have just started using Scurl a month now and I really like it.

Your right, when wearing a bun or puff the back of my hair takes the most damage. That's why I cut back on wearing them. I'm going to continue using the s curl and see if that helps with keeping it supple.

Thanks for your help Faitva

@NefetariBlu

I had something similar going on with my nape.
Can I make a couple of suggestions.
Instead of twisting,I would plait my nape. With no added hair. I would moisturise daily and redo them once a week to get rid of lint and wash them in the plaits. even if my hair was in extensions, put them in plaits before adding the hair. This worked a treat.
once it gets a little bit of length, it'll stop breaking

 

[HanaKuroi]

I sprayed and applied product. I got lazy and tired and didn't finish all of it hahahaha. I need to get some eco styler, that worked out well when I used it, I dont know if the creme brulee is going to work out.

And your in gallifrey! THATS REALLY...wibbly. hahahaha Maybe ill try it again when Im not tired and frustrated.

Haha. It is wibbly-wobbly. Timey-wimey.

Don't do hair when you are tired and frustrated.

I can't see any mentions on my IPhone. PM me if it is a must see. Allons y

 

[hnntrr]

So I finally washed my hair, even though I was gonna do it yesterday but whatever.
Sitting in a DC, remind me to never run out again, even washing it tonight it felt bouncy and thick and curly, and I think shingling did help. (one n only hydration masque...my hair loves you)

I will probably do it again later this week, to help some of the curls form better. Especially in the top. I may braid or flat twist the crown to start training it into a curl patter and shingling the rest. Thankfully when I washed they didnt break up too much.

Gonna DC overnight and rinse in the morning, seal and go about my day. Hopefully by december I will have something to work with. Right now I am at about 2-3 inches all over, hopefully by then I will have at least 2 1/2 inches of NG and can do more with it...thats if all goes as planned with no set backs..which I dont anticipate since I am lo-maintenance....may invest in some JBCO for my edges until I can grow my hair out long enough to do crochet braids.

I wish i knew someone I could trust to braid my hair for me up here, otherwise I would do it now. Wigs are getting tiring.

 

[NefertariBlu]

@NefetariBlu

I had something similar going on with my nape.
Can I make a couple of suggestions.
Instead of twisting,I would plait my nape. With no added hair. I would moisturise daily and redo them once a week to get rid of lint and wash them in the plaits. even if my hair was in extensions, put them in plaits before adding the hair. This worked a treat.
once it gets a little bit of length, it'll stop breaking

Hiya,
Thanks for the suggestion. I used to do this before l put my extensions in, but l wasnt consistant. When l take them out l may try it again. Right now l have just been keeping it moisturised.

 

[DarkJoy]

hnntrr that's plenty length for crochets. I was doing mine shorter than that. For my edges safety I just leave them out and m/s every few days and laid them with a thick butter... You don't have to be a master braider. As longs they don't unravel it's all good.

____________
*.~.*Sent from a distant Galaxy in the Unicorn-verse*.~.*

 

[MileHighDiva]

hnntrr, why are you leaving the DC on overnight? You previously stated it made your hair mushy when you DC'd overnight with the One n Only.

 

[hnntrr]

hnntrr, why are you leaving the DC on overnight? You previously stated it made your hair mushy when you DC'd overnight with the One n Only.

Because my hair is really dry, if I dc overnight with it too much it gets mushy. So I am only doing it once to get my hair back on track from not having the correct moisture for the last 4 weeks.

I am planning on doing a protein conditioner today as well so I over moisturize to avoid protein overloads...since its easier to deal with that way than getting a protein overload.
I do everything bassackwards.

 

[hnntrr]

hnntrr that's plenty length for crochets. I was doing mine shorter than that. For my edges safety I just leave them out and m/s every few days and laid them with a thick butter... You don't have to be a master braider. As longs they don't unravel it's all good.

____________
*.~.*Sent from a distant Galaxy in the Unicorn-verse*.~.*

I cant cornrow tight with it that short

 

[Cruzankink]

Ladies, I finally put in a sew in weave. This is my first sew in evah! Love the look. I think I'm gonna rock weaves once in a while to give my hair a break.

 

[DarkJoy]

This ain't struggling but...

I just realized dry stretching gets my fine hair the most straight and kills most frizz and is relatively smooth. I have been banding single strand twists and it looks great this way. Wet banding was scraggly and still managed to shrink.

However I get near relaxer straight on wet sets. Go figure.

____________
*.~.*Sent from a distant Galaxy in the Unicorn-verse*.~.*

 

[hnntrr]

Curl update, this is what my hair looks like with no product what so ever, fresh out of the shower.

I think its looking better. I think people were right when they said it will look better as it gets longer, some of the curls are starting to form but its still really undefined cause its so short....but progress.

Something weird happened my last wash though, I did a overnight dc same old same old, but I used a sample of some Lush conditioner as a leave in (mostly by accident and was too lazy to rinse it out) then sealed with oil, flat twisted and then took some more oil and patted it all over my flat twists, and tied it up.

My take down tonight was awesome, my hair felt soft and bouncy and great.
I think my water here is hard so it did feel kinda something today in the shower . So i did the same thing again tonight except i put a little rosewater/glycerin on with everything else to see if that helps since its been so humid lately. Going to probably wash again on thursday so we will see how this went.

Part of my hopes its not the Lush conditioner I used as leave in...cause thats a 30 dollar 8 oz jar. The shampoo I use from them (the only shampoo I can use) is 25 for a 8oz bottle. Even so, if it is that and meh it probably is.... I will strictly use for leave in and and keep my little 7 dollar co wash burts bee's and my bomb 11 dollar dc

eta sorry the pics are so poopy

 

[Cruzankink]

My Weave Experience ​

As I stated in my last post, I recently put in my first sew-in weave. I loved the look! It made me miss my long hair. Although, I thought I would like the process/style so much that I could weave my hair more often, after my experience, I don't think I could.

The weave process was uncomfortable. First, the cornrows were too tight. I mentioned this to my stylist while she braided my hair but she said since I've never done the process before my scalp wasn't used to it. The tightness/pain intensified when she sewed in the weave. The pain didn't go away until about a week after I put in the weave. (I don't know if that is normal.) It was so bad I had difficulty sleeping, concentrating, blinking, etc., but I looked good .

Furthermore, I couldn't cleanse my scalp properly. I knew going into it that I would not be able to wash my hair 1x a week or more as I'm used to. So I modified to once every 2 weeks. Well, by the time my wash week came, my scalp developed such an incredible itch. Then, when I wash my hair, I couldn't work my scalp because of the cornrows and tons of hair (4 bundles kinky/curly hair) so my scalp was still itchy after the "wash". I know now that I have to cleanse my scalp properly at least once a week.

I took the weave out after 5 weeks. I noticed some breakage along the invisible part which was where most of the tension/pain was centered. I am not worried about it. The breakage is not severe and my hair will grow back. The one thing I was most surprised is the amount of shed hair I had during my first wash after removing the weave. If it wasn't that I went 5 weeks without thoughly washing my hair, I would be alarmed. It was the most hair I seen come of my scalp, evah!

Although my weave experience wasn't as pleasant as I thought it would be, I would do a weave again but its gonna be a once in a while thing like maybe 1x or 2x a year. I love the fact that I didn't have to think about twisting/bantu knotting hair and I love the look.

PREPOO: I know I sound like a broken record, but ladies prepooing is the bomb.com. After removing the weave I skipped prepooing and just washed and deep conditioned my hair. (Pure laziness). I did this 2x before I decided to do my overnite prepoo w/ Dessert Essence Coconut Con and EVCO followed by a wash and deep con. It made such a difference in the pliability and general feel of my hair. For those ladies who do not prepoo I highly recommend it. Just find ingredients/forumula that works for you.

 

[DarkJoy]

Thanks for that weave update Cruzankink! Ugh... when the braids are too tight it's rough and glad your breakage isn't so bad... think maybe that amount of shed might have been from the tight pulling too?

Crochet braids are a nice alternative if you wear kinky extensions. You can easily get to the scalp and it's way cheaper. Speaking of, about to start prepping my hair to do just that in another week or so... yay!

 

[Froreal3]

Curious... where'd Nonie go?

Sent from my Snow White Frost Galaxy S4

 

[HairPleezeGrow]

Curious... where'd Nonie go?

Sent from my Snow White Frost Galaxy S4

.......le sigh I know

HPG

Don't judge...Sent from my Galaxy Note II using LHCF

 

[HanaKuroi]

Curious... where'd Nonie go?

Sent from my Snow White Frost Galaxy S4

I was about to ask this today!

I MISS NONIE!

I can't see any mentions on my IPhone. PM me if it is a must see. Allons y

 

[hnntrr]

My hair is doing SO much better. I think shingling and shampoo'ing 2-3x a week, and dcing once a week is really helping a lot. Pre-wash tonight my hair was pretty bouncy and soft....I washed my hair tonight and oh man. It detangled without even putting conditioner in it. It felt amazing. I was like :OOOOO.

I did two strand twists all over my entire head and pinned them down so HOPEFULLY in the morning they will be dry. I havn't decided if I am going to take them out, hopefully they will stay stretched and I can just wear a cute scarf or something to work? If not. I am prepared to take them down and deal with whatever happens.

But yeah. My hair is doing so much better.
Also I took a pic of some shed/breakage (this was pretty much it? minus some longer pieces that look like they may have still had damage....and these are the sizes of curls on my head The biggest one is about pen sized. I don't know if you can tell that well but I tried the other two are coffee stirrer sized.

 

[faithVA]

My hair is doing SO much better. I think shingling and shampoo'ing 2-3x a week, and dcing once a week is really helping a lot. Pre-wash tonight my hair was pretty bouncy and soft....I washed my hair tonight and oh man. It detangled without even putting conditioner in it. It felt amazing. I was like :OOOOO.

I did two strand twists all over my entire head and pinned them down so HOPEFULLY in the morning they will be dry. I havn't decided if I am going to take them out, hopefully they will stay stretched and I can just wear a cute scarf or something to work? If not. I am prepared to take them down and deal with whatever happens.

But yeah. My hair is doing so much better.
Also I took a pic of some shed/breakage (this was pretty much it? minus some longer pieces that look like they may have still had damage....and these are the sizes of curls on my head The biggest one is about pen sized. I don't know if you can tell that well but I tried the other two are coffee stirrer sized.

Glad your hair is doing better. It sounds like your hair just needed to be hydrated and the extra water sessions seem to be helping.

 

[yuhlovevybz]

Massive shedding is starting back up... I've since ditched brushes and combs alike. Now I cowash daily with a suave conditioner, running my fingers through it as I do so, then push it into a bun with my fingers. I seem to be retaining more but when I'm co-washing I'm getting huge amounts of hair coming out in my fingers. I don't feel tangling or snagging, just run my fingers through and BAM - hair. I've tried clarifing with a sulfate shampoo just to get my scalp and hair clean and make sure that's not the cause, but it hasn't helped. I use a shampoo a couple times a week just to make sure.

I tried using onion shampoo to stop the shedding as well and that doesn't help either. I can't place what on earth would cause this, unless maybe it's seasonal? I think my hair did this in the spring too, if I'm not mistaken.