Re: MY HAIR DIDN\'T EVEN GROW HALF AN INCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Nessa
I'm sorry you are having such a headache. I wear braids and until I feel confident enough to take a chance at relaxing with my newfound knowledge I think I will be wearing them for quite a while. It's the only way I can manage and grow my natural Type 4A/4B hair. I am fortunate that I do my own braids coz that way I am constantly redoing them and thus taking the strain off the part I started the braid the last time and starting the attachment of my extensions on the new growth. Which is how I am able to wear braids for a year and to grow my hair with minimal breakage. I never relax my hair with chemicals before braiding thus I braid it when it's at its strongest. I follow more or less the same care routine as I would if it wasn't in braids. Wash twice a week and deep condition in a cap under a dryer. Of course the fact that I am constantly repairing the braids is how I can get away with washing so often without ruining the style. Sometimes I will use an oil on my hair and put on a plastic cap when I go to sleep the day before I wash it. How I oil the hair without using a spray is by putting my braids up in a pony tail using a scrunchy at the top of my head then pulling out one at a time and dipping my finger in a bottle cap of oil and smoothing that down the braid. This way I can be sure I cover each braid sufficiently, which is why I prefer this method than spraying. It's time consuming but I do it while watching TV or a video and it's less daunting a task that way. When deep conditioning, rather than dilute the conditioner and spray, I put my braids up again after shampooing them and rinsing and pull out a row at a time, rub a dab of conditioner between my hands and smooth it on the braids...sorta the way relaxer is applied to hair. Every now and then I will hold a bunch of them and squeeze so that I encourage the conditioner to soak into the braids. Rinsing does take a long time as I will keep squeezing sections till I feel confident that it's free of conditioner. I do sometimes sleep with a plastic cap on even on days I don't plan to wash my hair after applying moisturizer on my hair so that my thirsty hair gets a nightful of moisturizing. (I'm gonna try the curl activator idea; very ingenious, I say!)
Nessa, I know putting in extensions isn't easy for everyone. I wasn't very good when I started but I was about 13 and in high school when I started trying out what I saw hair stylists do in salons. It took me a long time to learn to attach the extension at the base of my hair without it sliding. But even if you don't learn to braid your own hair, a friend or family member can help you achieve a simple style without paying. Even though I grew up wearing cornrows, I love box braids/single braids probably because they are the easiest to do. And I used to wear them without extensions and coulda sworn my hair grew like weeds when I did. If you make the single braids small enough to be crowded, it won't matter if the lines aren't straight. No one will be able to tell. Of course they will hold better if your hair isn't relaxed. But you can still do it with your hair as it is. The idea is to minimize the combing you do to your hair so that it stops breaking and achieves length. If you do the single braids yourself or if someone initially does them for you to ensure straight neat lines, you can maintain the look by redoing one at a time as they get untidy or your hair grows. Doing them one by one is a good way to cheat and keep the partings as straight as they were done the first time and fool everyone into thinking you have a third eye. Also not having to undo all the braids at once makes the task less overwhelming. You don't have to do all at once. Just the ones that kinda stand out, but try to eventually braid all the hair. The reason I stress that (and some of you may know what I'm talking about) is that hair does sometimes seem to knot at the base of the braid if left braided too long and breaks when you try to untangle it. Oh another thing, if you can learn to undo your braids using your fingers and then sorta seperate with your fingers before rebraiding, it wouldn't be a bad idea. It's easier, I find, to avoid knotting up the hair that way. To be honest I have no idea where my combs are. Been so long since I used them. Yet, though my hair is natural and type 4, it's not tangled up or matted. The small braids seem to keep it as straight as possible without a relaxer, even after being washed...as long as I let the hair dry in braids (which I do).
Single braids will lie down/hang down when you wash them and air dry. And even hair just an inch short can start to move like locs if you wash with them in a few times. Tying a silk scarf when you go to bed can help keep your hair looking neat too.
I don't know if this is a style that appeals to you but I wore it in my teens and loved it and my hair grew a lot. I just got into the habit of running my fingers through my hair and checking for loose braids (depicting some growth) and then using my fingers, I'd undo one at time, separate the hair make sure there are no knots and then re-braid it before repairing the next one. This I did while watching TV. You can also wear big box braids and tuck in the ends for a different neat style that looks like little hills (LOL) on your head and keep that looking neat by tying a scarf at bed time. But why I prefer the smaller braids is because you are able to include more of your hair in the braid and thus not neglect the tiny shorter hairs. Am I making sense? I do tend to ramble on.
I don't know how much of this helps or if it does at all, but I'll be happy to answer any questions you have that I can. And I will work on being brief. LOL
Simplicity is a beautiful thing!
