TWA Support Thread

[Smiley79]

I have been banding my hair each night and this has helped me dramatically in handling my shrinkage and dryness. I'm gonna keep on with the banding until my hair gets to a stage where I can start twisting it with better results.

I'm also happy to announce that my whipped shea butter and coconut oil batch that I put together is a heaven sent treat for my hair. My hair looks and feel like cotton candy! Soft and fluffy and the comb just glides; I am so happy because I remember coming on here a couple weeks ago ready to throw in the towel on my natural hair, lol. I still need to seriously work on the definition of my hair so my Cassia treatments or other protein treatments are in order for every Friday night and hopefully I will start to see a difference.

I wonder if there is such thing as banding my hair too often? I have been doing it ever night in about 6 big sections.

(excuse my all-over-the-place post)

 

[LdyKamz]

Twists take too long. Forget those things. I'm doing finger coils instead. So much easier for me. I don't think I've ever tried a finger coil out before.

 

[iVR]

Must knit faster. My hair is becoming a bush and I despise when things fly/blow into it!

 

[Cocoloves]

So I have read through this whole thread. It was very inspiring. I now realize I can do more than WNGs as my hair grows out. I am 2 inches or so (stretched), medium to low porosity, high density and my strands are medium. I want to get to 6-7 inches and stay there. I like the short natural look but I want some versatility in styling.

 

[hnntrr]

I think I am getting breakage along my hair line from twisting it so much because I can't do anything with it.

 

[LdyKamz]

So I have read through this whole thread. It was very inspiring. I now realize I can do more than WNGs as my hair grows out. I am 2 inches or so (stretched), medium to low porosity, high density and my strands are medium. I want to get to 6-7 inches and stay there. I like the short natural look but I want some versatility in styling.

I feel the same. My hair shrinks so much I could probably be BSL and still wear my hair in a cute twa.

In other news, my hair is starting to hang when I wash it and I'm so happy. I haven't trimmed my hair since I big chopped though. I'm afraid to do it myself and I don't trust ANYONE not to cut too much. I'm about 4 months post BC (9 months post relaxer.)

 

[hnntrr]

So I had been using a denman brush on my hair for the past week and it ripped my hair out and thinned it out so much. I took a picture for reference and some of it looks like it’s got some damage. more on the top than in the very back.

Good news at least you can see where the curls are starting to form more in the back which is exciting because this is my hair no product after a fresh shampoo (which oddly did not strip my hair as much as I thought it was going to). Going to do a DC over night to try and get some moisture back in my hair cause this weather is killin me.

Denman brushes and brushes in general are the bane of my existence, just sticking wth finger combing from now on. Or until it gets too long and I need to comb through it with maybe a wide tooth or a seamless or something.

In other news I think I will make my partial SL by one year mark. Its getting long in the back, and my front is past my eyes now which is exciting minus the breakage.

I think my new diet change will help as well, lots more fruits and veggies less carbs and more water and tea.

 

[Rocky91]

Still going strong with my weave. I need a protein treatment after I take it out and a trim. My ends are still rough from the barbers clippers when I originally got my fade.
I think I'll be done with weaves and braids by summer, at least for a while.

Sent from my iPhone using LHCF

 

[nisemac]

so, did a blow out to see my length...then i wore that in a puff, then i did two strand twist out in a puff. made it 4 days and then back to wng.

everyone thought i got my hair cut.

thinking of trying one of the at-home keratin treatments. i've done lots of research and read lots of reviews. any thoughts or experience to share?

 

[Smiley79]

Well folks I can officially say that the changes to my regimen are definately producing results. I did my first full head of twists last night and all the twists stayed put, they were not bushy and fuzzy like how I described a few weeks ago when I came on here venting about my lousy twists attempts. I started them at almost 11pm last night and finished after midnight so I was too beat to take any pics before any of you send me a: , lol. I'll try to take a pic later. They arent suitable to wear out so I put a plastic cap on and wore a half wig to work. I'm gonna do that just for today because the Cassia really dries the hair and I want to help keep some moisture in.

You all have no idea how happy I am. I took the advice from several of you regarding regular protein, daily moisturizing, sticking to products to watch what really works and so much more advice. And most of all, listening to my hair, paying attention to how it behaves, all this has been a great help and I gradually see changes that are heading in the right direction. I am so excited; I feel my hair in a different way for the first time, and I am getting to understand how to handle it. The heat damage is still my biggest battle but I will continue the treatments and trim them as I see them. No point holding on to them. They're dead. Later on down the road as they grow out I'll deal with evening out my hair, but for now, I dont care, I'm just trimming them anywhere I see them.

Alright folks, that's my update. LHCF has done it again, y'all never fail me.

 

[Smiley79]

hnntrr Your hair looks great and is progressing real well! I see those cute curls. Great job!

 

[faithVA]

So I had been using a denman brush on my hair for the past week and it ripped my hair out and thinned it out so much. I took a picture for reference and some of it looks like it’s got some damage. more on the top than in the very back.

Good news at least you can see where the curls are starting to form more in the back which is exciting because this is my hair no product after a fresh shampoo (which oddly did not strip my hair as much as I thought it was going to). Going to do a DC over night to try and get some moisture back in my hair cause this weather is killin me.

Denman brushes and brushes in general are the bane of my existence, just sticking wth finger combing from now on. Or until it gets too long and I need to comb through it with maybe a wide tooth or a seamless or something.

In other news I think I will make my partial SL by one year mark. Its getting long in the back, and my front is past my eyes now which is exciting minus the breakage.

I think my new diet change will help as well, lots more fruits and veggies less carbs and more water and tea.

Sorry for your comb issues. You may want to give yourself a light protein treatment at least on your ends to help them manage the stress of the denman. If there were any tears or breaks, it may help hold them together until you are ready to trim.

Your hair is coming along nicely.

 

[Smiley79]

Okay, silly question, but I need help. I would like to do more wash and go's but I am in the phase similar to the pic above. It's not that easy TWA that you just co wash and style and go but it's not a whole lot hair to easily do big twists and keep it moving either. So how do you do wash and go's at this in between phase of a TWA? Especially when the hair isn't really curling up like it used to? What styling options are there for a wash and go at this point?

*The videos that I found online are of girls who's hair immediately curled up once they applied gel after their cowash. My hair unfortunately isn't doing that yet.

 

[DarkJoy]

Smiley, your hair might not curl if it's that longish in the avatar. You might just have a cotton puff. Mine is mostly cotton and long ago had to give up the idea of wash n go with curls. However, it used to when it was damaged so the damaged curl pattern fooled me for a while after the BC. Oh well.

I literally just wash, moisturize and seal then let it do what it do. No amount of gel or product makes it like those yt type 3c ladies

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

 

[Smiley79]

Thanks DarkJoy. Boy I tell you, a natural journey from a BC is like walking through a maze, you never what turn your hair is gonna make next. Each phase of my hair journey has been something different. My initial TWA got me used to one thing and now I am in PUFF land trying to figure this out. smh. I can't keep up with my hair and her diva ways sometimes. lol.

I'm really interested in wash and go's because I would like to lay off of weaves, wigs and even braids so I can give my tender hairline a break but styling has been a beast. The only thing that looks cute is the puff. But that gets boring. I'm just stuck at this in between phase now and I feel myself tempted to get a weave or braids again because I'm bored. But I can hear my edges begging me to give them a break for a little bit.

 

[nisemac]

Smiley79 focus on more accessories. you got the cute flower in your pick. check out combs with beads or other cute designs. somtimes i would pull my puff on top and use those cute clips all the way around to decorate.

joanns and michaels have cute ribbons you can use. your puff is so pretty!

 

[faithVA]

Smiley79;19205057[/USER]]Thanks DarkJoy. Boy I tell you, a natural journey from a BC is like walking through a maze, you never what turn your hair is gonna make next. Each phase of my hair journey has been something different. My initial TWA got me used to one thing and now I am in PUFF land trying to figure this out. smh. I can't keep up with my hair and her diva ways sometimes. lol.

I'm really interested in wash and go's because I would like to lay off of weaves, wigs and even braids so I can give my tender hairline a break but styling has been a beast. The only thing that looks cute is the puff. But that gets boring. I'm just stuck at this in between phase now and I feel myself tempted to get a weave or braids again because I'm bored. But I can hear my edges begging me to give them a break for a little bit.

I understand your pain but try to tough it out for 60 to 90 days. When I am going through a rough patch, which is often I just find some type of hair experiment to work on for 60 days until I'm through that patch.

Maybe you can change up your puff and put flat twist in the front or back or both. Maybe you can try a rod set. Your hair is definitely long enough for twists outs. You can do like a 8 week period where you alter 3 styles: week 1 (puff), week 2 (twist out), week 3 (rod set) and then alternate.

 

[Smiley79]

nisemac and faithVA Thank you girls!!! I really like those ideas and they are doable. I will give them a try.

 

[hnntrr]

Okay, silly question, but I need help. I would like to do more wash and go's but I am in the phase similar to the pic above. It's not that easy TWA that you just co wash and style and go but it's not a whole lot hair to easily do big twists and keep it moving either. So how do you do wash and go's at this in between phase of a TWA? Especially when the hair isn't really curling up like it used to? What styling options are there for a wash and go at this point?

*The videos that I found online are of girls who's hair immediately curled up once they applied gel after their cowash. My hair unfortunately isn't doing that yet.

Co-sign what everyone else says. I personally just do wash and go's (use a LOT of gel). Sometimes I will puff it, or flat twist it back into a small pony tail. I usually twist or make my hairline flat because it doesn't curl at all.

I tried a twist out once and it was nice because there was length but I could do things I could not with my WNG...like pin one side up and leave the rest down. You could bantu knot it, wear hats, scarfs etc. Thats what I plan on doing while its cold. There are several cute straw sets you can try, rod sets, curl formers any heatless curl method. I admit I have to work on those myself though. I feel your pain though. Ive been hiding under hats cause I don't know what to do with it, but I might try bantu knotting it this weekend since it is getting long enough to do something with.

 

[Smiley79]

Thanks, yes, I undertstand what you all are saying and I like the suggestions. you all are great.

 

[nisemac]

So, i said i was planning to try an at-home keratin treatment and i did. I used the Silk Elements Kera-treatment. Got it from Sally's online. i chose it because:

--no formaldyhyde, sodium hydroxide or other 'scary' stuff
--of the brands i researched it had pretty good reviews
--the straightening time was 48hrs before washing
--simple steps/process
--only one pass of the flat iron and a lower heat setting than most brands

i consider myself mainly a 4a, with fine and medium coarse texture, with the front and nape being very fine and the crown the coarsest part. my best curl definition is obtained when medium to heavy products are applied to dripping wet hair. my shrinkage is maximum. my overall curl appearance is alike the tiny coils you see in a pen, formed easiest at the top and nape. the front and nape may lean closer to 3C to some, but i don't think so. the hair is just fine and straightents very easily. i tend to keep my hair short because the curl pattern is more consistent and easy to maintain. as it grows out, the coarser parts need heavy product and tend to knot easily.

That said, i followed the intructions to the letter. The shampoo was like a heavy duty clarifying shampoo. left my hair squeaky clean, but i was scared the detangling would be hard. i left my hair soakig wet, detangled, then blotted dry for the next step, the smothing solution. unlike others that i read about (watery and hard to apply) this was the consistency of a conditioner. and went on just as easy with no irritation--didn't even use gloves. it had a tingling sensation not unlike peppermint or eucalyptus. my application method is where i deviated. i started at the crown, my coarse part, then did the nape front and sides last, instead of starting at the nape, as processing time is different depending on texture.

when i rinsed my hair, it felt the same as after the shampoo, but i could feel that my curl had loosened. i was still concerned about the matted-feeling, but as soon as i applied the deep conditioner, there were no worries. any tangled matted feeling hair loosed like butter and i finger detangled and rinsed easily. No different from my usual cowashing.

next step was the smoothing leave in conditiioner. again, the consistency was just like basic conditioner. i towel blotted ir and worked it through my hair sectioning like the initial application. there is no clear guidance as to how much you should use so i tried not to be too liberal but made sure my hair was thoroughly coated.

the instruction say to use a paddle brush to blow dry hair. i dont have one and am not proficient with the technique so i used my comb attachement. my hair stretched more significantly than if i just did a normal blow out. i could also feel the product on my hair. kinda like, if you put too much leave in on your hair then blowed dryed. sort of a waxy feel.

i should note that, if your ends need trimming, you will definitely notice it at this step. the very tips of my hair tangled a bit, but the rest of my hair was smooth and felt almost relaxer-like.

Finally, time for the flat iron. As my hair is pretty fine, i opted to use a setting of 350, figuring if i needed to do a second pass, i could. the box said 410-450. my coarse parts needed 2 passes. no burning smell and no odor. my hair was uber straight and it was very easy to see my ends that needed trimming. so i trimmed each section right after the flat iron.

my hair is pretty straight and the waxy feel is pretty much gone. i took just a few pics: before, after the blowout, and my straightened trimmed hair. i ended up trimming about 1/4 all around. I will wash my hair on Monday and deep condition so see how my curls behave.

my sole purpose was not to staightent my hair, but to see if i could reduce my shinkage, smooth my coarse curls, and the need to have to style with so much water, as its getting cold. right now, i have no idea what to do with my hair. i'm going to see if i can curl it a bit and just wear a head band. right now, i look like a jacked up extra for Tina Turner's "Private Dancer" video.

my daughter, who has about shoulder length hair might try it. She has very little curl definintion, but still gets a good amount of shrinkage. her curl size is more like a 3C with some parts being baby fine and some coarse texture as well as coarse wiry texture. her hair holds twists very well and a twist out will last her a week with minimal frizz.

forgive my pics and the way i look. i didn't start the process until well after 10:30pm after a long day, but i really wanted to share.

 

[soulglo]

Hairfinity vitamins are definitely messing up my bodys balance despite taking them with food and upping my water intake smh how do people do this

 

[Smiley79]

I cannot stress enough how much I love stretching and/or twisting my hair on dry hair.

 

[hnntrr]

Guys. I wanna flat iron my hair so bad. Its almost been 6 months since I BC'ed and I just. I am itching sooooo bad. I am planning on DC'ing tonight....and I might paddle brush it to blow dry and wrap it but if it doesn't come out smooth enough I am going to hit it with the flat iron and I just. Omg...I don't want damage, I just got my curls right but I am itching SOOO bad.

I have a heat protectant and everything I just. I am itching but I'm scared to scratch it (plus my hair did so well last year in the winter when my hair was straightened. I retained a lot of length....but I had really bad heat damage from flat ironing with oil and a ton of stuff on my hair. I know better now but...)

(Plus I really need to do a proper LC and check my ends)

 

[iVR]

Guys. I wanna flat iron my hair so bad. Its almost been 6 months since I BC'ed and I just. I am itching sooooo bad. I am planning on DC'ing tonight....and I might paddle brush it to blow dry and wrap it but if it doesn't come out smooth enough I am going to hit it with the flat iron and I just. Omg...I don't want damage, I just got my curls right but I am itching SOOO bad. I have a heat protectant and everything I just. I am itching but I'm scared to scratch it (plus my hair did so well last year in the winter when my hair was straightened. I retained a lot of length....but I had really bad heat damage from flat ironing with oil and a ton of stuff on my hair. I know better now but...) (Plus I really need to do a proper LC and check my ends)

Don't do it. No point in taking a risk that could potentially end with a major trim. Your hair is still recovering from previous heat damage.

 

[iVR]

Got my final shape up until SL. Still going to have my hair dusted, but I'm just going to chillax until then.

 

[Smiley79]

hnntrr girl think it over real hard before.you do it. Heat ruined my hair and I didnt even use it often. Just think it carefully and if you do be very protective of your hair.

 

[hnntrr]

iVR, Smiley79

Thank you guys. I was on that ledge really about to jump. I am just going to DC overnight and then probably put it under a hat for a few days or maybe just puff it for the weekend (maybe thats why I am itching to straighten it, I haven't seen my hair out in like 2 weeks).

Plus I noticed my curl pattern is a lot looser? Potentially from the denman, so yeah I need to chill on the crazy stuff for awhile. At least I can claim NL now (my hair grows really layered so even though my crown isn't at NL most of it is and thats good enough for ME). Maybe ill do a protein treatment tomorrow...

 

[Smiley79]

Protein treatment sounds good! Give your hair a spa day.

 

[nisemac]

UPDATE: two more pics of my hair straight post treatment. i'll wash on Monday to see my curl pattern. so far, my hair feels fine, very soft and smooth. the part i feel best about so far, was being able to really trim my ends well. no shedding, and all my knots and spit ends are gone.

close up of hair texture


how i'm wearing hair for 48 hrs