Thru braid outs
The Background Story:
In my hair's natural state, it's in between the TWA and beyond. Back in the spring and early summer, wash n go's were my favorite styles but as the summer burned on, fairy knots started paying me lots of visits and detangling started to become a mutha.
I just have coily hair that likes to coil on itself.
The Revelation:
I realized then that I had to wear hairstyles to stretch my hair to thwart the uninvited pests. I started getting into braid outs and found that if you re-braided your hair every night by the 3rd day, your hair was very stretched, fairy knots were practically a thing of the past and your styling options increased.
Bring It Home:
Just last week, on a 3rd day braid out, I was playing with my hair and combed (I applied moisturizer to my hair when I did this so that I didn't have major breakage) all the waves out. Viola! Heat free, stretched hair! The pic above is how big my fro is, at the moment, when I do this.
TIPS
- Make sure that you have moisturized (with a hair lotion or cream) or oiled your hair before you attempt to comb the braid out, out. It makes the hair soft and more pliable so that you can comb or (paddle) brush the hair with little to no breakage. Dry hair and combing/brushing can equal a lot of breakage
- This should be obvious but for those who it may not be, comb out the hair IN SECTIONS. Do NOT take all the braids out at once and just run a comb thru all your hair. I can promise you, especially if you have Type 4 hair, it won't be a pretty experience
- It's best to re-braid every night to get the hair to stretch more
- I like to wait till day 2 or 3 before combing it out
- Keep your stretched hair moisturized!: It still has the propensity to get dry. Only moisturize as much necessary but there's nothing worse than a dried out braid out. =( I moisturize my hair every night before re-braiding it
- How many braids you want to do is up to you: I usually do about 8 braids (4 on each side)
Another heat free way to stretch your hair is through banding but I don't care for this method personally. I'm lazy and don't feel like putting all those scrunchies in my hair. LOL. I'm just sayin.....
Oh yeah, HAPPY TURKEY DAY! Enjoy the great food and be thankful for your life, family and friends.
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