Hair

Twist Fail: Last Night A Beanie Saved My Life

twist length check twist out afro hair woeful to frofull

This is my first official twisting of my hair since I shaved it all off in November 2016. I say official, because I have twisted it as a way to section my hair before braiding a couple of times. But this was the first time it was the intended style. Although it took me a little getting used to, I really liked it! I liked how it felt to run my hand through my hair. And it also felt great knowing that this protective style was going to keep my hair moisturised and well looked after for at least a couple of weeks. Or was it?

I hadn’t done an official length check but as you can see my hair has grown. It’s a nice change to actually be able to STYLE my hair. That versatility the natural hair community is always going on about is finally within my reach. I know, I know, I could have always had a fade, dyed my hair, had my name shaved into the back but I didn’t want to do anything that would remove length or damage my hair. The paranoia of breakage is lifting a little but it’s still there.

asda smart price gel cantu coconut curling cream woeful to frofullTo twist my hair, I tried to keep it fairly simple. I sectioned freshly washed hair. Sprayed each section with water. Added my current oil mix (Castor Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Tea Tree and Peppermint Essential oils and Vitamin E). And finished it off with a layering of Cantu Coconut Curling Cream and then Asda Smart Price Styling Gel. The gel is literally the cheapest of the cheap. I have no idea why we have it in the house but I thought adding a gel to my twists would really help it hold. And also if I was feeling fancy, I could make any twistout that I might do more successful.

Moisturising my hair on a day-to-day basis was super simple. As anyone who has worn a protective style on afro hair, taking detangling out of the process is a huge deal. I mean huge! Again keeping it simple, spraying with water, Jamaican Black Castor Oil on my scalp and the above mentioned Oil Mix on the length (ha!) of the hair.

I was hoping to keep this style in for 2 weeks with a wash day after 7 days. I noticed after 3 or 4 days that some of the twists had unravelled but because they were so small I don’t think anyone else would have noticed so I didn’t stress about it or re-twist, I just left it be.

On day 7, my hair did feel super dry because that was the first day I didn’t follow my fairly strict daily moisturising regime. I assume the gel, something I don’t normally use, was the main culprit for my dryness. But it was wash day the next day so I didn’t think much of it.

Wash day went off without a hitch. I used the Afro Hair Solutions Scalp Reviver Mask, which is quick becoming a favourite of mine, as my pre-wash treatment. Cowashed and deep conditioned with Eden BodyWorks products and moisturised like I did through the week. I went to bed, got up in the morning, hurried the kids out of the house and went to work. At work, I ran my hands through my hair and those beautifully separated twists and twistout curls didn’t feel so beautiful.

I went to the bathroom to check what was going on and I couldn’t believe I left the house looking like this. My hair was a fluffy mess with a few twists spread about that had survived the wash and the inevitable shrinkage. Realising my hair was in quite a state, I thought I’d try to salvage it by re-twisting some loose bits during breaks at work. But the new twists seemed super long in comparison to the old twists and I started to have an unruly Edward Scissorhand Afro thing going on. Not good. Luckily, I think most people I work with probably assumed it was the look I was going for! I’m not sure what that says about me.

beanie natural hair woeful to frofull protective styleI felt I was letting the side down though. Natural hair is not professional. Natural hair looks unkempt. Natural hair can’t be elegant. I needed to get my sh*t together. To be fair, it probably didn’t look as bad as I thought it did. However, I wasn’t taking any pics with it looking the way I perceived it to look, which was awful. Probably not that bad, but then again maybe…

After recently seeing a post by Pursuit of Natural I was going to take out the front few rows of twists, hide the mess under a hat and do a large flat twist with the leave out. But the same time restraints that had me leaving the house like a crazy person meant that I only had time, after moisturising my hair, because you have to do at least that, I just threw the hat on and went about my day.

I think it worked out pretty well. It was nice and simple. I got several compliments and that was just from wearing a cheap beanie from Ebay that cost less than £1.

The only thing that could make this better is if it was silk or satin lined. And I suppose if I’d also had time to do my flat twists. I also want to say, it looks like my edges are going a little bit in this pic. But those are just naturally thinner patches I’ve always had at the front. I’m seeing if regular JBCO massages could help those areas out.

Anyway,  the moral of the story is if you’re having a bad hair day, hide it. JUST HIDE IT!!!!

And don’t use cheap blue gel!

Let’s keep growing together!

xx Lee xx

Comments welcome below. How do you deal with bad hair days?

 

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