Straggly straight ends ruining your styles?
Twist/braid-outs are a simple go to style for most naturals but this style can be very hard to achieve for us naturals experiencing heat damage or for some of us who are transitioning. There is always a risk that the style won’t hold and you’ll end up with a puffy-straight hot mess on your head. Dealing with two different textures can be very difficult at times but i’t not impossible to trick and train your hair into getting the styles that you want.
Since going through my experience with heat damage in October of 2012 I’ve had to become very creative with my styles and become more attentive to how I treat my hair. I started wearing my hair in more protective styles and using products that would help to nurse my hair back to health. After doing some cutting, beer rinses and protein treatments, I started to see my hair returning to it’s normal state but I did notice that the hair towards the front of my head, and my bang area weren’t recovering a fast as the rest of my hair (probably from continuous use of heat tools when I’d get sew-ins). Selfishly wanting to keep my length in the front of my hair I decided to manipulate my style regimen.
The trick is learning how to blend the two different hair textures together. I’d use perm rods or sponge rollers on the on the ends of my hair to hide my stringy ends and give me those perfect curls I so desired. If you don’t own rollers or perm rods you can also wrap your twist around itself, creating a bantu knot. You have to remember to twirl the ends of your twists in between your fingers very tightly to prevent unraveling. Using ECOCO Eco Style Gel
in combination with Cantu Shea Butter Moisturizing Twist & Lock Gel
creates a stronger hold. When unraveling your twists make sure you add a little coconut oil or raw shea butter of your choice to give you a great shine.
Also check out this video from tangelsandbeyond on YouTube for a better visual aid.
Although, the stylist kind of bashes the end result I think it looks way better than a twist out without using these techniques.
Happy Styling Naturals!