Hi Gorgeous!
I’m sorry I’ve been away so long! This heat that has come through has really got a curly girl down. And my hair has shown it!! I had to do some major deep conditioning (overnight), and I may even need a protein treatment (which I’ve never done before). Either way, your girl is going to get right and keep it tight!
But right now, I’m in a fro kind of state of mind. Simply put, I’m tired of styling my hair. All the twisting, braiding, and trying to perfect my wash and go’s are really getting on my nerves and becoming a moot point since this humidity is swelling up my efforts at every turn. So you probably are wondering what’s left to do besides get a sew-in or braid it up?
Well, I am conducting my own little experiment. When I was a twa, life was good. It was easy. It was fast. It was simple and didn’t require much thought. No, I am not going to cut off all of my hair again. But I am going to adapt that same routine I had when it was that short. At least through the rest of the summer, if I can stand it. The above and below pictures are a representation of that routine, and it’s simplicity. The details are as follows:
1. After washing and conditioning (deep conditioning) my hair in sections (about 6), taking 1 section at a time I applied a hair milk as my leave-in and raked it through the section. This has become great for me during this summer heat!
2. I then took a thicker butter and raked it through the bottom 1/3rd portion of my section. The purpose of this is get extra moisture towards the ends so that they do not tangle and/or knot as it dries and as the days pass. I did not apply to the entire section because I did not want my hair to be weighted down since this is a heavier product and it is summertime. I may re-evaluate this to see the difference.
3. I twisted my hair back into that same one section, and applied a pomade (or oil) to the end of the twist only to seal in the moisture. Your ends are the oldest part of your hair and dry quicker than any part of your hair. Many people do not retain length because they allow these old ends to become brittle and break off. Proper moisturizing of the ends will prevent this.
That’s it. Just 3 steps. Or you can make it 4 steps by twisting your hair with a light gel-based product, and then adding the oil or pomade to your ends. That will give you more hold (and that is what I did in the pics.) Not a heavy gel, just enough to see some definition.
I left my hair in these twists while I continued to get ready for my day. I probably left them in for about 1 ½ hours. I then, gently separated my twists as they were still VERY wet. And I went on about my day making sure NOT to touch my hair. By the end of the day, my hair is still very soft. It had swollen in size and shrunk in length, but it dried in the same pattern and direction I had it in.
Tonight, I will spritz it with a water-based spray moisturizer and put it back in the same 6 big twist, tie it down, and tomorrow fluff and go. I will repeat this night-time routine until I decide to wash again and do the same 3 steps above. Over the next few days, I may do a puff, or put some bobby pins here or there. But the purpose is to be VERY LOW MAINTENANCE. Because of the length of my hair, I at least have to do the 6 big twists.
But I think this will be a good thing. I am usually so caught up in having perfectly defined hair. So this will be an interesting experiment. I will however, put more effort into styling my hair when you see me at events. This is more so that I can show you what using the products from All Things Curly can do!
So if you want to know what products at All Things Curly can help you achieve this low-maintenance curly fro, check out the recommendations below in the 1, 2, 3 step order (Leave-in, Butter, Oil)
Darcy’s Botanicals
- Coco Bean Smoothing Cream or Peach Kernal Hydrating milk
- Madagascar Vanilla Styling Cream
- Coconut & Cupuacu Butter
Bee Mine Products
- Luscious Balanced Moisturizer
- Bee Hold Curly Butter
- Be Love Hair & Scalp Moisturizer (oil-based)
Pura Body Naturals
- Sapote Hair Lotion
- Cupuacu Hair Butter ( You can stop there!) or
- Sapote Hair Oil
That’s it gorgeous! I hope this takes some of the frustration out of some of your routines, so that you can enjoy a carefree summer (or what’s left of it)!
Stay Gorgeous!
