Wash and NO!!!!

Hey ladies,

Sooooo I just recently took down my sew-in, and unleashed my natural hair to the world. Being that this was already diffcult, I was totally disappointed when my twist out turned out a mess, so I tried a WNG yesterday, which was ok for uhhhhh about 4 hours. Once my hair dried it went bananas! I have a wierd but even mixture of sporadic curls and just plain ol frizz. I slept with a satin bonnet and tried to revive my WNG for work this morning, but I find that it's just keeps shrinking and the frizzy parts get more frizzy as the curly parts get more curly...what in the world is going on with my head?! I will attempt to post pictures.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Nik E

So I think our hair types are similar, I'm not much for typing. But the best wash n go happens when you use a shower comb, style in the shower and DO NOT touch your hair while it is drying.

I like to co-wash, leave some conditioner in, and apply gel (with some oil mixed) to my hair. And I do all this in shower.

Unfortunately I just realized that I don't have any pics of my WnG's.

ditto to what tiashuantee said ^^

what did you do to try & revive your WNG in the morning? i usually spritz some water all over to dampen it (but not soak it...you shouldn't be able to feel water on your scalp). then i put some oil on my fingertips & work it through my hair to loosen up all the packed down hair...

Thanks ladies!

@ Tiashanutee I'm definitely gonna give up on this whole typing thing, and try to figure out what works best for my specific hair, cause typing has gotten me no where fast!

@Keacurls I tried to revive it with some water and EVOO in a spray bottle but because I did'nt soak my hair the outcome was different

Last night I tried saturating my hair with water and condiditoner, and this morning it was better but not great, I also sealed my ends with Shea butter that worked pretty well.

I'm glad to hear it was better. That hair typing thing had me miserable, nothing that was suggested for my type actually worked. Keep experimenting with it, you'll get it how you want it sooner than you think.

I've never done a WnG. Sometimes I wish I'd BC'ed earlier on in my transition so I could've tried it. But after washing my hair with 5+ inches on it for the first time, I quickly decided WnG's were NOT going to be part of my styling repertoire!

Good luck!!

Thanks! In all honesty I have no business trying a WnG I live in Chicago and it's been snowing for the last 2 days, so I'm gonna continue my search for a style that I can wear on a weekly basis, but like Tia said I just have to keep experimenting.

Maybe try cowashing at night, then wearing a plastic conditioning cap (Sally's: 10 for $2.99). I mix my favorite moisturizing conditioners (DevaCare & Nature's Gate Hemp) together in an empty plastic jar, then add oils like sweet almond, Wild Growth, extra-virgin olive, castor, or jojoba. I put the lid on, shake it, and let it sit until I'm ready to cowash in the morning.

I'm definitely gonna try co-washing at night and see how that works, but I really think my underlying problem is moisture...which I'm working on as well.

Oh, NikkiE...I meant to add that I thoroughly wet my hair, massaging my scalp in the process, then add the conditioner/oil mixture. I let it sit on my hair until I'm done showering, then I push out all of the excess conditioner. I don't rinse again after the initial wetting of the hair. Your hair will be white, but it when you wake up in the morning, all of the conditioner should be mostly absorbed. I had the same problem with dryness until I started using this method. Also, I baggy every weekend from Friday night to Monday morning, wearing a beanie, newsboy cap, or whatever when I go out. You could try baggging your hair with conditionr in it whenever you possibly can. My hair is so incredibly soft now. I'll have to post new pictures. This avatar shows my hair two months ago and it was DRYYYYYY then! LOL! It seems that the trick to obtaining and maintaining moisture when you have a twa is to leave a LOT of conditioner in your hair at all times, baggying whenever possible, and covering your hair when you go out into the cold.

Yes please post the pics! I definitely think your method will work for me as well, because I noticed a difference from saturating my hair with conditioner and water last night. How exactly does the baggy method work? Is it just leaving conditioner and a baggy on your head for a couple of days?

Okay...I'll post pic ASAP!

I've also been on a no-comb 30-day challenge. I haven't touched my hair with anything except my hands in the last two weeks. As you can see, I have type 4a/4b hair, but since I've been wearing plastic caps (baggying), leaving conditioner/oil in my hair, and not combing it, it is super, super curly and super, super soft! I'm SO happy I finally found a way to have soft, curly hair. My hubby said, "WOW, your hair is beautiful!" this morning and I'm still smiling from that two hours later! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Nice!!! I bet you are smiling! I gotta try this bagging thing.

Ok, sorry for all the questions, but one more...

I bought some "raw" shea butter and I'm trying to figure out how to use it and make it more creamy...do I need to melt it in the microwave?

NikkiE, when I use raw unrefined shea butter on my hair, I just scoop some out of the jar and rub it back and forth in my hands. This melts the shea butter and makes it easy to apply to my hair.

I wouldn't place it on the microwave. Your palms will do the trick. I place some in the microwave the first time I used it. It turns gritty....I never did that again.

Cool, I'll have to try rubbing it in my hand, I was just looking at the shea butter thread, and I definitely want to try some of the whipped shea butter recipes. Thanks ladies! I don't feel so defeated anymore!

If you have a food processor (I have one that I use exclusively for making my own products), then you can whip it in there, otherwise, just emulsify in your hands. On cold days, I put my hands underneath very warm/hot water first, then emulsify with ease.

krenea wrote:If you have a food processor (I have one that I use exclusively for making my own products),

I have been searching for a cheap one for that very reason. I guess I need to find a thrift store.

The one I use for hair products is an old one from the kitchen. The blade was too dull to use for food, but it's perfect for hair products! I purchased it from Bed, Bath & Beyond, using the 20% off coupon:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12400330

Here's another one for less:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=12924194

Oh cool!! I definitely need to invest in one of those.

krenea wrote:Okay...I'll post pic ASAP!

I've also been on a no-comb 30-day challenge. I haven't touched my hair with anything except my hands in the last two weeks. As you can see, I have type 4a/4b hair, but since I've been wearing plastic caps (baggying), leaving conditioner/oil in my hair, and not combing it, it is super, super curly and super, super soft! I'm SO happy I finally found a way to have soft, curly hair. My hubby said, "WOW, your hair is beautiful!" this morning and I'm still smiling from that two hours later! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

You did??? Wow, do you have pics of how your hair progresses over the 30 days. I might try this one day. I've read that the less you use combs and denman brushes or brushes period on your hair, the more your curls form and clump together.

Sooooo glad I found this post lol. So like many of the ladies on this post, I have "4" ish hair, on the more tightly coiled end of the spectrum. I'm about 1 1/2 months post-BC, and as my micros start to look raggedy, I've gotta say, I'm not so enthused about dropping all my hard earned X-mas shopping money on a new set lol. I would love to just "eff-it" and rock my TWA, but since I over research EVERYTHING before I do it, i'd love some input @krenea and @Eden's suggestions about going brushless and baggying seem like fantastic ideas, and I would love to hear more about how you tightly coiled TWA ladies get some curl definition. This is what my hair looked like after my BC, before the braids:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So I've got about another half inch since then. any suggestions/help would be awesome

Thanks ladies!

krenea wrote:Maybe try cowashing at night, then wearing a plastic conditioning cap

I'm going to try this! I want to wear my WNG but didn't want to have a wet scalp going out into the cold, plus looking to add moisture!

As far as not combing or brushing hair for a period of time. I tried it this spring. I found I had to detangle but other than that could go with out combing and brushing. I only detangled or put parts in, with a wide tooth comb, when my hair was saturated mainly while co-washing. I did have to stop doing twist and braid outs during this time because I couldn't accomplish them without using a comb. I did notice a difference in my hair. I shed a lot and it cut down some. I would love to try this again but not sure if I could not that my hair is so much longer.

Okay, I've gotta post pics soon so you can see the difference in my avatar and my hair now that I'm not combing/brushing and that I'm leaving condish/oil in! I'll have pics up by the weekend.

Okay, so what I've learned is that you can get curl definition with any hair type. I thought that I couldn't achieve it because gel didn't work, cowashing, then rinsing it out didn't work. The only thing that has brought about amazing curls and coils is this regimen:

1) At night before bed, I mix Deva Care One Condition and Nature's Gate Hemp Conditioner together (about 3 T - 1/4 cup each) in an empty plastic container

2) I add one or more of the following oils: sweet almond, EVOO, coconut, Wild Growth, castor, jojoba, etc.

3) I put the lid on and swirl it all together, then let it sit overnight

4) In the morning, I get in the shower, wet my hair/massage my scalp for about 2 minutes, rinsing out the previous day's conditioner

5) I put the conditioner/oil mixture on my hair (it will be a LOT of conditioner), then gently tossle the curls. If there are areas where the curls aren't defined, I will smooth the hair straight with my fingers, then twirl the piece of hair until it curls

6) I let the conditioner set in my hair (about 10 minutes) while I shower

7) Right before getting out of the shower, I smush all of the conditioner out of my hair starting from the front and going towards the back. I keep doing this until I don't see much white conditioner on my hands anymore. Note that this is the LAST time I touch my hair EVER until the next morning (SUPER hard, y'all!). The whiteness from the conditioner remains for about two hours. I don't care. I go to work like that, too (I'm a hs math teacher).

So, I don't seal with shea like I used to because ANY touching after the shower scene is over causes frizz. This is why I mix the oils into the conditioners. I'm thinking about adding shea to the conditioner, though but that will require a bit more work (food processing it all).

On the weekends, I follow the same routine as above, except when I get out of the shower, I put a plastic cap on my head, then one of many of my cool, sexy hats! I baggy the WHOLE weekend!

I henna once a month, too. I also steam every two weeks on Friday nights while I'm catching up on my DVRed programs!

@ Apearl, yeah, when my hair gets longer, I know that I will eventually need to detangle with a comb. I actually do detangle with my fingers, but it's not much to detangle at this point, especially since my hair is only 3 inches stretched. I just wanted to see if I could go for one month without combing my hair, then I saw how curly my hair is from it!