The awkward phase after the TWA

[brown_skin_poppin]

Hey naturals i am currently transitioning. I hear a lot of naturals talking about the "awkward phase" after your TWA grows out. Can you please describe this phase and how many months natural you were or are when you encountered the "awkward phase". I hope this makes sense .

Thanks

 

[~~HoneyComb~~]

I went through an awkward stage when my hair was between 5-8 inches of hair. It was getting too long for a decent wng and I couldn't pull it back in a ponytail.

During this stage I wore my hair in fingercurls for almost a year until I got more length.

 

[Charz]

It's when your hair is too long to be in a TWA but too short to be pulled back into a decent ponytail.

For me it was 9-16 months after I BCed

 

[keykee]

i am going through this right now.. just do a lot of braid and twist outs.. and do what i need to do to encourage growth.. vitamins, water, etc.

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

^^^What they said^^^ I'm a little awkward right now because I can't really do a ponytail without some sticking up. (layers) I've been wearing twists, twist-outs, puffs, and wigging it.


EDTA I'm between 5- 6.5 inches due to trimming. I'm at 54 weeks post BC

 

[melissa-bee]

Lol, I'm in it now. I can just about pull it in to one... my hair is about 6 inches.

 

[Nonie]

I only found it awkward when I wanted to wear a style like hanging twists. You see, my hair isn't cut in a fashion for hanging hair (like how relaxed hair might be cut to fall to one length or the Miss Jessie's cut) but is cut in a fashion for wearing an afro (where all strands are the same length), so there was a time when twists along the perimeter looked way too long compared to the others and so wearing them down looked weird. Then they were too short to make a pony tail for a puff or bun. But I soon realized I could pull them back as far as they could go and cornrow them at that spot in a circle and the cornrow could then be hidden under the phony puff.

​

Otherwise because of shrinkage, 4B hair doesn't really have to have an awkward stage as long as you're not too lazy to plait it every night if you then comb it out in the morning, if want to wear it out. Or just braid and forget about it (which is what I did coz I'm lazy). My puff when my hair was shoulder length looked the same as when my hair was 3 inches long, thanks to S Curl shrinkage. The only thing that tells you that my hair is longer in the SL hair puff is I could wear the puff further back. So I really I could (have) rock(ed) a puff all through w/o any awkward stages if I wanted:

3 inch hair puff:

SL hair puff:

 

[brown_skin_poppin]

thanks for all the responses ladies

 

[natura87]

Hey naturals i am currently transitioning. I hear a lot of naturals talking about the "awkward phase" after your TWA grows out. Can you please describe this phase and how many months natural you were or are when you encountered the "awkward phase". I hope this makes sense .

Thanks

I'm still in the awkward phase...and I will be 2 years natural next week (3 years post in May or June). I just suck at styles and shrinkage is a beast. I am beyond APL stretched but shrunken it hovers around my ears.

 

[Evolving78]

i'm in that stage now. i wear wngs, twists, and puffs.

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

I'm still in the awkward phase...and I will be 2 years natural next week (3 years post in May or June). I just suck at styles and shrinkage is a beast. I am beyond APL stretched but shrunken it hovers around my ears.

Girl same here. I can't braid/cornrow for heck and my parts are... well... a bit wonky (read: not super cute like some of the hair art I see on here and on YT) I can do twists though (as long as they're not small), twist-outs, and rock a fro like nobody's business.

 

[Evallusion]

I'm currently in the awkward phase. I'm going to try and keep my hair in PS until it grows out. I wear: cornrows underneath wigs, box braids, mini twists and hopefully I'll be getting my first weave soon.

 

[LovinLea]

Still in that awkward phase and it's not fun enough that I wish that I hadn't BCed. Basically I've been in it since 6 months post. THe only style I can do is WnG's because twists are too short and thin, it's too short to pull back into a puff, and now my twist outs/braids outs are at this weird length where it's too long to look cute sticking out but it's too short to look nice by laying down. I have a ways to go.

 

[GaiasDaughter24]

I'm at the awkward stage......I guess. I just got my hair into a ponytail but it's with a lot of gel and it's a bit tight for my liking (I'm still proud, though!!). I'm a stay at home mom that barely leaves the house since it's so friggin' cold in my state (this is due to winter and a newborn) so my hair is in box braids ALWAYS. This way when I decided to go out I just do a braid out. I basically live in braids and braidouts. Here's my style for the last 3 months.

I do cornrows occasionally but my hair is super fine so I ca't do them often. I'm waiting for a bit more length for a decent twistout.

ETA; I have about 6 1/2-7 in of hair.

 

[MzSwift]

I'm currently in the awkward phase. I'm going to try and keep my hair in PS until it grows out. I wear: cornrows underneath wigs, box braids, mini twists and hopefully I'll be getting my first weave soon.

Sounds like we're on the same journey! With the exception of mini twists (they wreak havoc on my hair), I'm doing the same thing.

 

[Shay72]

Exactly what everyone is saying. I'm in it now. I will be 8 months post bc on Thursday.