Quick transitioning styles

sooo... i'm kinda getting tired of the maintenance involved in doing my flat twist outs (i can't sleep in any style so i have to retwist EVERY night) even though i LOVE the way that they look. does anyone have any good ideas for really quick (like 15 mins or less)/low maintenance styles (very little to no nighttime preperation and morning styling). that i can do? just to give a better idea of what i am working with..after about 5 1/2 months of transitioning I have discovered that my hair is about shoulder length now. not really sure how much new growth i have as it is difficult to measure. any ideas ladies?????

PLEEEASE help! i posted this same thing on another board and my comment just went completely unnoticed...smh... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Seems like every style (that I can think of) other than braids will require some type daily grooming/maintenance for a decent outcome....but good luck.

When I'm looking for a quick style I use one my hair zings to create a little updo. It's super quick and cute. Sorry I don't have any pictures but the website is www.hairzing.com if you don't want to order online they sell them at Walgreens and another version at Walmart for $5. Hope this helps [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I know what you mean candigyrl. I feel like I have to do homework with my hair every night. I did 2 strand twists in the front and bunned the back this morning. It looks like it will hold for a few days-maybe-hopefully. I'm right at 5 1/2 months too and was thinking about bc'ing because I'm so tired of fooling with my hair each night. I'm thinking about getting braids, but I ususally don't like to wear them. Have you thought of getting your hair braided?

I am so glad u feel my pain freckledmom, now i know i'm not alone! LOL. Did u do a twist out in the front, or did u leave the twists in?? either way, it sounds cute. My SL transitioning hair looks stupid in buns but sometimes when my twist outs don't look the way i want them to in the morning I take some jumbo braiding hair and roll my hair around it to make a nice full looking french roll in the back and leave a rwist out bang in the front. I suppose I could just try to do that at night and wrap it up like that instead of saving the style for a failed twist out... yea, i think i may actually do that. I think about BCing like everyday, but I know I am still not brave enough. I got braids like 10 weeks into my transition and i hated them.. AND they took me TWO WHOLE DAYS to take down because they braided WAY smaller than i asked them too...smh... I was thinking about getting some senegalese twists somewhere around month 8. I had those about 2 years ago and i liked them MUCH better than the braids, and it only took about 2 hours or so to take down. If you do BC u have to share the pics! I love bc pics!!

hi natural nance! thanks for the reply. I will have to try those. I think I have seen them before in Sally's or something.

have you thought of a big, U shaped, corn row? I mean, part your hair in the middle. comb it down so it hangs down. then start at one side of the part, and braid (like in a french twist) until you get to the other side. at the end, you have a braid hanging down, near where you started. use a bobby pin to pin it back, or curl it.

still figuring out how to sleep in it so it doesn't get fuzzy the next day.

yes, i got tired of 'homwork' on my hair every night

I'm having the same problem myself. My hair was cut short in the back and the majority of the back is natural with most of the top and back being relaxed. I've been rocking twist-outs mainly but yes I have to retwist every night (at least the sides and most of the back) because if I don't the relaxed portions flatten out completely. Haven't found the cure yet but more and more it makes me want to BC.

@candigyrl I'm not going to bc any time soon. I stalked youtube vids of bc's for 2 days trying to get up the nerve, but I know I would absolutely hate not being able to put my hair into some kind of ponytail/bun. So it looks like I'm in for the long haul.

Aroung Easter I did a flexi rod set that didn't flatten out. It lasted a week, but it took a long time to put in and even longer to dry completely-maybe I'll revisit that next week. Right now I have henna in my head and I know I won't have time for anything but a bun after I rinse it out in the morning.

HappyCurly wrote:have you thought of a big, U shaped, corn row? I mean, part your hair in the middle. comb it down so it hangs down. then start at one side of the part, and braid (like in a french twist) until you get to the other side. at the end, you have a braid hanging down, near where you started. use a bobby pin to pin it back, or curl it.

still figuring out how to sleep in it so it doesn't get fuzzy the next day.

I tried something like that a little while ago, i have thought about revisiting it. I may try it again and see if i like it better this time. I do think that look looks good if pulled off right. the last time i tried it it wasn't quite right.

Candigirl: I'm glad you think it's pretty!! braiding around the back takes a lot of time to get used to. It's what I used to wear when I was little...going forward involves going backward!

Frecked Mom: I know what you mean about not having a ponytail being odd. I had planned to bc near the end of June. So today I was picking up some new accessories, found the cutest little tiny bobby pins at K mart! They have a lot of new ones. I can use the pins to pin up the braid left over after my U. I didn't buy any pony tail holders , even though I wanted some. But I figured that I wouldn't have enough hair after bc to pony tail, adn then new holders would be bad! So then I thought 'am i really ready to bc? ' I won't have enough hair to do much. i can't do wash and go with the scab hair.

If your hair is shoulder length you should be able to do a bun. On nights when I need to shampoo but don't have the energy to style I do my normal routine but after applying leave in cond. I'll pull it into a bun, then apply something to the edges for hold before wrapping w/a scarf. The scarf really helps to set it. It's not completely dry in the morning but it doesn't really matter since it's in a bun anyway.

Have you tried a bantu knot out? I dont like styles that require a lot of time to do.

When I bantu, I wash, condition, detangle,put a scarf around the hairline, and allow to air dry for one hour. Then I put shea butter on my shaft/ends and start sectioning and twisting, I do 6 knots and secure with bobby pins..By the next morning it was dry. All I had to do was unravel, pick and shake!

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theres a pic a few hours after i took them down..

what do you do to make the bantu knot? do you make six twists first, then twist them into the knot?

Great set wtfshanee!

update!

so i have made an appt to get flat twists tomorrow so i can have a stress free style when i go to essence festival next week (WHOOP WHOOP!!)..LOL). But this week, i was too lazy to do my twists outs and i just did two big cornrows going back and added a little mini pomp in the front and then used a head band to add some flare. I wore this style fron sunday to yesterday without having to redo it and just wrapping it up and brushing down the edges before leaving the house and switching up my headband. it wasn't great but it was cute enough for me to rock it for the week and i was so thankful for the much needed break from retwisting every night. I washed my hair last night to prepare for tomorrow and i just threw in a french braid with a pomp in the front wrapped it up went to sleep, woke up, gelled the edges down, and then ran out the door. i am so glad that i have discovered something else i can to that doesn't take up all my time every night/morning.

has anyone else discovered any new quick styles for the transitioning hair????

I am struggling with styling my hair also. I like to wear buns but now that I have about an inch of curly hair and my relaxed long hair idk what to do. When I try to put it up into a bun I want to use a brush because I looks horrible at where my relaxed hair and natural hair meet. Plus idk what gel to use. I was told not to use a brush so does anyone have any ideas?

@ Beautifully... I still use a brush and use ecostyler gel or ic fantasia gel because they don't have alcohol. Then I put on a scarf to leave nice smooth edges. It's much eacher to do when my hair is wet. HTH

@freckledmom4... TY! Okay, then i'm going to keep using my brush since it sounds okay. Where do you get the ecostyler gel or ic fantasia gel at? & do you use a silk scarf because they fall off my head at night.

I've read that using a brush is very bad. I will say, since I stopped brushing my edges are growing back very nicely. @Wtfshanee - I'm going to try the Bantu-Knot out the way you described. Maybe it will dry better.

@CurlyChefRobin... That's what I heard also. I'm torn between the two [to use or not to use]? But I don't understand how to do the bantu knots at all, i've tried and I don't understand how to get them in a knot lol [I know I sound so young & dumb]?

@beautifullymeh-I did wet buns all last week, and they came out really good. I would get in the shower and completely soak my hair, I used my wide tooth comb a little just so it wouldn't be lumpy, but mostly let the water do the "combing" for me and put my hair in a ponytail under the shower stream. Then as soon as I got out I put shea butter or leave in on my hair and ends, then I applied ecostyler gel with my palms only to my edges (I used waaaay too much, but I'm still working on the perfect amount lol). Then I used a soft toothbrush (yes a toothbrush, I saw someone do it on Youtube and it definitely works) on the tiny baby hairs in the front that always stick up like crazy, put my scarf on, and bunned my ends. About 1.5-2 hrs later, after I got to work I took the scarf off and my hair stayed put all day long.

I did this every other morning, and on the days that I didn't completely soak my hair, I would spray a good amount of water and just a little gel and then scarf until I got to work. I'm sure you can tweak this method to your liking but I think the key is to use water, toothbrush and the scarf. You can get ecostyler @walgreens or Sally's.

Sidenote: My avatar is a day old bun, so its not as smooth, and I didn't scarf it as long either. Also Youtube has really good bantu knot tutorials

@BeautifullyMehh - I just kept watching You Tube videos til I got it. It's not too bad once you get it down right. I really like how it turns out, it just seems to take forever to dry but I like the idea of letting my hair air dry for an hour with the scarf on the front to flatten the front.