Mini Twisted My Hair

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Hi everyone,

Happy wear your hair curly day! Unfortunately, though my hair stayed in it's natural state, it wasn't "out" all day.

Anyways, as you read above, I got my hair mini twisted today, It took just about an hour - an hour and a half, I guess that's 'cause they lady twisting it up for me today at the hair salon was shuffling between sewing in someone's weave and twisting up my hair.

I detangled, deep conditioned, cleansed (with amla), conditioned, did another deep condition (2 days after wash day, but not a DC that necessarily needed to be washed out), stretched, ensured my hair was tangle free, kept it in a style to keep it stretched and tangle-free and headed to the salon (best thing to do before having someone twist you hair or style it any ways for you) and guess what happened once I got to the salon, lady landed with a spray bottle and before I knew it, half of my head of hair was damp (wasn't looking when she came) and of course, it reverted. I was like, "Sam, stay calm, half has reverted, let her just make everything revert so the twists look the same and then you can stretch. She went through my hair with a comb after getting it damp and only very little hair got on the comb (really little shed hair). I guess she remembered that the last time I was there (quite a long time ago), I asked her not to comb my hair dry if she wanted the comb to easily get through. I brought latest hair product along (if you've been following my tweets, you'll know that I made a new product on Monday) and I was glad when she thought of sealing in the moisture with that. Afterwards, she started talking in an African language and sometimes switching to English (not talking to me) about how soft the product made my hair and that the lady twisting my mum's hair (with extensions) should use it on my mum's hair to soften it up (also, the owner of the salon's sister liked the product, I gave her to take a look at it). The lady began mini twisting my hair and didn't touch that comb again (oh! and she used my wide tooth shower comb when she went through my hair earlier with a comb (while, after telling not to by my mum, the lady working on her own hair combed her hair with the teeth of a really tightly spaced rat tail comb and yes, my mum lost some hair (and she detangled this morning - comb pulled out her hair))). She finished it up and then I held my hear in something like a low bun with some parts bobby pinned backwards (to stretch a bit). I

I got home and after supper, I got my homemade aloe vera gel out of the fridge, got some out and rubbed it between my palms, flipped my hair over, raked and smoothed the gel over my hair, got some more out and repeated this process with my hair not flipped over anymore then I scrunched some more gel in. I held my hair in something like a bun around the crown area of my head (like a pineapple without the ends sticking out) and bobby pinned the flat parts of my twists down and hand stretched the few that didn't stay up with the rest holding them in place with bobby pins. 

I'm going to keep my hair in this stretching state for some days, maybe even during my flight to England this weekend (I don't really like having to do anything to my hair in planes and I'm going via Qatar Airways (so, I leave sometime in the afternoon on one day and arrive during the evening of the next day 'cause of the stop in Doha). Max., I'll refresh my twists when I wake up or before I leave the plane, but I'm not taking them down. I'll keep them up as much as possible to not have to manipulate. Somedays, I might take it down and work on the versatility of my twists (style it in a new way), but I'm going to manipulate them as little as possible so they can last till mid-September at least (I might get them redone in October (when I can get down to my aunt's place and she's free) just as a low-manipulation protective style).

My twists look good, I'm really happy with them. The last twists I did, while I was transitioning didn't look good and my dad asked me to head back to the hair salon the day after I got it done (once I got home) and get it all taken down and done up in something else (which ended up being cornrows/flat-braids). He's seen my hair today and he doesn't hate it like he hated the twists I had in back then (back in the days..... :) ).

Oh! and yes! I whipped my hair back and forth! ♫ I whip my twists back and forth, I whip my twists back and forth.....♫ 

♫ Just whip it, whip it real good.♫ 

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Wash N Go PERFECT: NO MATTER THE LENGTH or CURL PATTERN

This is a featured post by someone who's blog you have got to check out. Her blog is great and has helped me quite a bit. I read this post and knew I had to feature it on here. So, here's the post:

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By Tia of AngelsRinglets

 Immediately after my big chop, I began defining coils for a wash n go. I remember using Kinky Curly Curl Defining Gel. I got lots of shrinkage. Of course I knew NOTHING about defining coils. I still loved my coily, springy hair though.

When I started to experiment with Braidouts and Twistouts, I stopped doing wash n go's as much. I was working with about 6'' of natural hair, and my hair was just about to enter the "awkward" stage.

Too long for wash-n-go's (but not long enough to hang). Short, but not short enough to be put into a cute hair clip-free wash-n-go styling. The great thing about natural hair is the versatility. When I felt that my hair was not looking good in a wash n go styling, then I did braidouts/twistouts.

 So these next few pictures show me playing with Eco Styler Gel. One thing I love about Eco Styler Gel (well, I love a few things about Eco Styler Gel)--but the main thing is how it can help stretch coils. I wasn't used to the shrinkage that I was getting with my wash-n-go's, and the Eco is great for stretching. It washes out easily, and doesn't dry the hair.

I mostly did some sort of pinned back styling, not loose like I wear my coils now (for my w&g). For this post, I'll share the "good, the bad, and the not so good" LoL!

 I still didn't have my wash n go technique situated yet, but I was having fun. I was playing around with product combinations, and application techniques. Today I can say that I understand the wash n go texture pretty well (from wash to finish). There are a lot of factors that can effect the outcome of a wash n go. 

Figuring out my wash n go step-by-step works out great for me. I avoid white product build-up, can avoid too much shrinkage if I want to. I know how to avoid puffy wash n go's (if I want to).

In 2013, I'm about to start learning how to style on a wash n go! It may be easier now that I have about 17'' of hair to work with.

But enough about that, lets get back to our walk down memory lane...

The great thing about wash-n-go's is that the hair is kept in it's natural state. Usually no heat involved (although some people stretch the roots with heat). Wearing the wash n go is an opportunity to keep the hair moisturized. Don't get me wrong, there are products that are used for w&g's that are drying. Stay away from those products (for instance, hair gels/curl definers with alcohol or mineral oil).

In the next few pictures (below), I definitely notice length. I also notice that I start getting the "hang" of laying down my hair. It doesn't hurt that the new length is adding weight and assisting with the "laid down" look.

I start to use less clips and styling accessories to wear my w&g at this new length.

It seems that I'm past the "awkward" length for wash-n-go's, so I start to focus on perfecting the curl definition, the shine/sheen, the way the hair lays, and the texture (I don't like hard-hat curls). I don't mind some crunch to my hair (matter of fact, I need a bit of crunch to hold the curls for a few days), I just don't like when it feels like my hair is glued together.

I love to define curls and then use the ponytail to display them! It's a break away from wearing my hair down--especially when the time is hot. In the above picture, I defined my coils with Jane Carter's Curl Defining Product (can't recall the name right now). It's really great! It's just super expensive. But the ingredients make it pretty worth the money. When you rinse out a product like this from your wash n go, your hair is left soft and ready for it's next style!

By late 2012, I can say that I figured out the wash n go on my hair and on Dimple's hair. Her coils are pretty similar to mine.

So I encourage you to keep searching for your hair's favorite base ingredients to define your coils. No matter the length or the curl pattern (you just have to have a curl pattern). If you don't have a curl pattern, no worries--you can create them (that's a whole different post)!

Take the mystery out of defining coils. Yeah, I slowed down on doing w&g's when my hair was a difficult length, but I didn't rule them out. I'm glad I picked them up again, because I wouldn't want to miss out on yet another one of the MANY versatile and beautiful ways to wear coily hair.

GIRLS WITH COILS HAVE MORE FUN