Soaking wet, my hair is approaching my waist. This is awesome in and of itself, but care and maintenance have become rather cumbersome. The only thing I can do with it anymore is a wash and go, a la Teri's method. It works and now that I've gotten the hang of it, I can do my hair only once a week.
Yesterday I experimented - the wash-n-go works but I wanted to see if I could do something else. The answer is NO.
I washed my hair as usual and soaked it with conditioner before I got out of the shower. I've found that if I detange once I'm out of the shower with my vented brush I have virtually no shedding. After the hairball from Hell I was frantic to try something else that wouldn't leave me bald, so at least there's that.
I started by separating my hair into a bunch of sections and braiding them. There was no rhyme or reason, I just grabbed some hair and braided. I 'sealed' the ends with shea butter and twirled them around because I didn't want to hunt around for tiny elastics that would leave a crimp in my hair anyway. They stayed pretty well but my hair isn't curly enough for the ends to completely stay together. I don't sleep with a scarf or anything because I am a crazy sleeper and anything I put on my head ends up tangled in the sheets by morning. I also don't use a satin pillowcase because I'm way too OCD to have a non-matching pillowcase on the bed. So the picture above is of my braids after I slept on them, raw and uncovered.
That was around seven Thursday night. I had a dentist appointment this morning at 10:30, so I didn't take my braids out till about 10:15 - I wanted them to have as much time as possible to dry. However, all that time wasn't enough - my hair still wasn't 100% dry, which is crucial for braid-outs. Observe.
Kind of fuzzy - I like more definition than this.
The waves look okay, but this was seconds after I took the braids out.
Incidentally, it's really freakin hard to take pictures of your hair without looking like an idiot.
Notice the fuzz in the back - not awesome.
There wasn't the height at the front and crown like I prefer, so I tried to mess up the part I'd made so it didn't look so flat. I don't know if it's the nature of my hair or all the years of straightening it, but if I were to pull my wet hair into a ponytail, only the ponytail part would stay curly. That's basically what happened at the front of my hair. I'd pulled it to the side to start the braid and the two inches right in front were pretty much stick straight.
Puffy frizz at about nine pm
It wasn't even that windy outside today
Big nasty undefined fuzz
The key is to take the braids out when your hair is 150% dry. It can't be the slightest tiniest bit damp otherwise you end up with fuzz. However 7pm-10am? What is that? *counting on fingers* Fifteen hours? HOURS? And my hair STILL isn't dry? I don't have that kind of time and I am *not* going out of the house with a head full of braids! Not even a little bit! The other option is a dryer but I don't have one and plus, the whole idea behind curly/natural hair is to use heat as little as possible if at all. Besides, I can just see me having to sit still with a dryer/bonnet on my head - the dog would leave me/it alone for about 2.3 seconds before I'd have to shoo her away from me. Then she'd go off and rip/dig/destroy something and I'd have to chase after her.....
Nope, no dryers for me. I truly need a wash and go style. I would just like to do something different every now and then you know? For example, this style rocks my world and I would love love love to know how she did it.
image courtesy HoneyBrownSugar
And Mya's bi-racial so I know I could do it too! Maybe rollers or something?
See how her bangs are kinda straight - mine do that too.
Must. figure. out. hairstyle!!
Until I have more than fifteen hours in which I don't have to leave my house this marks the last braid-out I do. What do you think? Do you use bonnets? Dryers? Roller-sets? What are those anyway? And how do you sleep in rollers without them giving you a massive headache? Do tell!
It takes my hair 24 hours to dry if I do anything other than small twists, so I feel your pain. To get Mya's style, I'd suggest doing a rollerset. Since you're concerned with sleeping, try rolling your hair in medium sized sections on those padded flexirods. The more rollers you put in, the tighter the curls will be, so plan accordingly. Also, a satin bonnet will prevent some of that frizz and is much less likely to come off than a scarf. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteGirl please.....I haven't had a successful braid/twist/nothing out in 2 years. I even tried again this week....FAILURE. I really want a different style other than wash n go or to straighten it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
The only time a braid-out works on me is if I braid ONCE THE HAIR HAS DRIED which is kind of counter-intuitive. Braiding freezes the dampness in the hair, it has to be "open" to dry.
ReplyDeleteSo alas, I have continued the wash-n-go. I was getting in a rut but I recently switched to a side part instead of the middle part I had been working and was amazed at the difference. It's so bawse now. I have a widow's peak so middle parts never completely worked and it was kind of fuzzy in the front.
I concur, rollersets will get you that look above. Visit blackgirllonghair.com (I think that's the URL) for some similar styles.
Gem
Do you own a hairdryer- the kind that you actually sit under? I used to do braid outs all the time , when I had long hair and would either sit under there until it got fully dry (but my length was about 3 inches shorter than yours) or sit under it to let it dry partially, then let it air dry the rest of the way.
ReplyDeleteWOOOOOOOO a hair post! Thanks…sorry it didn’t work out but have you considered a dry braid out? Same look in much less time. It wouldn’t be a wash & go but it could prolong the time you would have to wash your hair with a nice style. If you try it some type of setting lotion/leave-in/gel would be good to keep the humidity or fly-aways at bay. I love aloe-vera gel for its holding capabilities and “nutritional value”. ( = That’s def. a roller set on Mya. Ashley
ReplyDeleteMaybe smaller sections would help it to dry faster. I have only done twist-outs, and Im still perfecting that action. But I will say that if you braid/twist after it's dry, use just a little bit of non-flaking (non-crispi-ing) gel and enough water to dampen it, instead of letting it be sopping wet, the results are gorgeous. Takes only a little bit of time to dry (compared to the HOURS it otherwise takes),and the waves are nice and defined.
ReplyDeletero
wow your hair is gorgeous! really! And I don't think i've ever found a style yet that will allow our hair to dry quicker than a million hours lol. And i've slept in rollers, but I hate rollersetting my hair because it takes to much time. I've been doing twistsouts and that's nice but they get boring.. you might could try bantu knots. I heard alot about those. check it out on youtube.
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA, i'm so late but i goggled dry braid out and found your blog. Twist outs, Braid outs, bantu knots....FAIL!!!! I'm desperate, so i straightened my hair..yes in the summer...yes in arizona...yes i have a huge frizzball lol.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried flexirods to get the Mya type of style...straigtened hair and/or flexi rods are the only things that work for me. I NEED HELP!
oooo....i thought i was the only person without a silk pillowcase bc it didnt match my sheets...SUBSCRIBED!
ReplyDeleteoooo....i thought i was the only person without a silk pillowcase bc it didnt match my sheets...SUBSCRIBED!
ReplyDeletewow your hair is gorgeous! really! And I don't think i've ever found a style yet that will allow our hair to dry quicker than a million hours lol. And i've slept in rollers, but I hate rollersetting my hair because it takes to much time. I've been doing twistsouts and that's nice but they get boring.. you might could try bantu knots. I heard alot about those. check it out on youtube.
ReplyDeleteI have fine hair that easily gets flat at the top. Have you tried wrapping your roots with foam rollers? When I do a braid out I do everything exactly the same as you do it but I wrap just my roots a couple of times with foam rollers. I usually diffuse my hair for about 15-20min. because I cant stand going to bed with soaking hair. In the morning I take out the rollers and braids and I am left with a crown full of volume and beautiful curls.
ReplyDeleteBut how is it sleeping on foam rollers? Do you get headaches ever?
ReplyDelete