Committing to Curly Hair: Shaping, Regimen, Styling, and More

Napp said:

ok im back. I want to wear my hair loose for a long time. its starting to get warm and im itching for summer ready do!

This weeks cocktail is as follows

Shampoo with Vitale pro resurrect (clarifying) shampoo
Condition with Nexuss Humectress
Leave in: Creme of nature honey curl activator
Styled with Xiomara gel and miche anti humidity gel

This wash and wear was a surprise. initially i was using the creme of nature and the mich but it loooked like it would curldle on me so i put the xiomara gel on top to save it.

When it dried i have so much hold and shine i was surprised. Ill update on how long this lasts.

I also haven't done hair botox since last year and was giving a break from heat. I put in a fresh botox with no heat and the results were excellent. It gives me more of my natural curl but smoother and more pliable. I'm in love!

View attachment 508246

Currently going no heat in 2026 with the exception of the hair dryer to be on the lowest setting when i dry my wash and wears.

Click to expand...

That definition and shine is popping off! I love it! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the Miche anti humidity gel needs a helping hand.

I've heard of the Xiomara gel last year, but I'm not paying £25 for a what is essentially a cheap gel that retails for so much cheaper in the States.

I wouldn't want to fall in love with a product that I have to import, been there done that. I need off the shelf availability or delivery within a couple of days.

If you've tried Wetline extreme gel, how would you say that compares to the Xiomara? I hope they're not too dissimilar, I have the extreme gel but have yet to try it.

I’m getting the air light pro with my tax refund lol

Napp said:

I’m getting the air light pro with my tax refund lol

Click to expand...

If I buy another hair dryer, I want it to be this, if I buy another multi use air tool, it'll probably be the GHD Duet.

At the moment, I have a multiple tools, including 3 I'm yet to use, so I'm going to be good for now.

Angel of the North said:

That definition and shine is popping off! I love it! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the Miche anti humidity gel needs a helping hand.

I've heard of the Xiomara gel last year, but I'm not paying £25 for a what is essentially a cheap gel that retails for so much cheaper in the States.

I wouldn't want to fall in love with a product that I have to import, been there done that. I need off the shelf availability or delivery within a couple of days.

If you've tried Wetline extreme gel, how would you say that compares to the Xiomara? I hope they're not too dissimilar, I have the extreme gel but have yet to try it.

Click to expand...

The Xiomara gel is similar to wet line but mixes well with many products. Wetline was my bew until I found the Xiomara and I like it better. I think every curly should always have a cheap gel back up in their back pocket!

I like the Miche gel but it needs something thicker along with it. I have a ton of them because I always buy when they are on sale. I just need to slowly work them in until I finish so I can try new gels. I need something cheaper for a staple gel

But I do notice I didn’t have to use as much gel as I usually do so hopefully I can finish by the end of the summer

Angel of the North said:

If I buy another hair dryer, I want it to be this, if I buy another multi use air tool, it'll probably be the GHD Duet.

At the moment, I have a multiple tools, including 3 I'm yet to use, so I'm going to be good for now.

Click to expand...

My boyfriend stole my dryer! He took it instead of my Dyson lol

Napp said:

ok im back. I want to wear my hair loose for a long time. its starting to get warm and im itching for summer ready do!

This weeks cocktail is as follows

Shampoo with Vitale pro resurrect (clarifying) shampoo
Condition with Nexuss Humectress
Leave in: Creme of nature honey curl activator
Styled with Xiomara gel and miche anti humidity gel

This wash and wear was a surprise. initially i was using the creme of nature and the mich but it loooked like it would curldle on me so i put the xiomara gel on top to save it.

When it dried i have so much hold and shine i was surprised. Ill update on how long this lasts.

I also haven't done hair botox since last year and was giving a break from heat. I put in a fresh botox with no heat and the results were excellent. It gives me more of my natural curl but smoother and more pliable. I'm in love!

View attachment 508246

Currently going no heat in 2026 with the exception of the hair dryer to be on the lowest setting when i dry my wash and wears.

Click to expand...

So shiny and defined!

I'm so glad you love your hair, @Napp!

Napp said:

My boyfriend stole my dryer! He took it instead of my Dyson lol

Click to expand...

Oh dear Honestly now that they got that comb attachment the Air Pro is in my horizons. It's funny because the first time I searched for it couldn't find it anywhere, when I looked the other week, there are a lot of them and well below half price BNIB.

I've just had a birthday and I got everything I wanted and I think I only spent £50 towards it. I usually buy myself something nice/expensive for my birthday, this year I've not done that, so that hair dryer should be my birthday gift to myself, it's actually a lot cheaper than what I would usually spend.

I have just got the TYMO Ionic Plus, the TYMO Flipro, and the WavyTalk Air Sculpt, I've not used any of those yet, I'm just playing it by ear until I feel like straightening my hair. I've heard nothing but good things about the GHD Duet, I have the regular straighteners and the glide smoothing brush, I don't really rate the GHD products, but I am willing to give the Duet a chance.

Hey y’all! I’m peeking in to see if anyone has tips on wearing their hair in an undefined fro (not a wash n go, but a twist/braid out that’s picked/combed out to full length) that doesn’t result in tangled city come wash day? I tried searching for older threads about it, but from what I found, the recommendations are exactly what got me in trouble this time.

My method was to put freshly washed and detangled hair in 12 plaits using a leave-in (seht conditioner) and a styling pomade (the doux’s bonita Afro balm). I let it fully air dry, then picked it out. I didn’t pick it out all the way though, I liked the defined curls at the end, so I only picked through the roots and ends. At night, I rebraided, then in the morning, I spritzed the braids with water, took them down, and picked them out. I only left the style in for 3 days. But on wash day, I had knots down to my ROOTS which I’ve never had before. My hairball was almost all breakage and it was 3x the size of any hairball I’ve had in recent memory.

Do I have to detangle each night? Do I need to blow it out first? I have suuuuuuuuuper tight 4c coils, so I’m wondering if it’s bc I’m leaving too much texture in for a loose style? I tried wearing a shrunken fro for a little bit a few months ago and had similar problem, but nothing this bad.

Or maybe the cause is something I’m not seeing? Idk. Hoping that someone here might!

Napp said:

I’m getting the air light pro with my tax refund lol

Click to expand...

Oh gosh, I saved one in my basket yesterday, it was already heavily discounted and today I was sent a further discount.

I'm here yall!

did my BC this morning and got a curly cut.
most of my heat damage is gone but there's a little bit still left to be trimmed in 12 weeks.

I'm using my current stash up and then I was recommended to try camille rose products. I have the curlaide butter and spiked honey mousse

My stylist told me to wash & condition twice a week because my hair is severely dehydrated & make sure I dc and keep my hair moisturized.

I flat twist my hair now and pretty much only do low manipulation styles. No more straight hair.

excited for this new hair journey & will be growing my hair back long. She'll shape it for me as well

CoiledOrchids said:

I'm here yall!

did my BC this morning and got a curly cut.
most of my heat damage is gone but there's a little bit still left to be trimmed in 12 weeks.

I'm using my current stash up and then I was recommended to try camille rose products. I have the curlaide butter and spiked honey mousse

My stylist told me to wash & condition twice a week because my hair is severely dehydrated & make sure I dc and keep my hair moisturized.

I flat twist my hair now and pretty much only do low manipulation styles. No more straight hair.

excited for this new hair journey & will be growing my hair back long. She'll shape it for me as well

Click to expand...

Yayyy!

I'm so excited for you!

i4ani said:

Hey y’all! I’m peeking in to see if anyone has tips on wearing their hair in an undefined fro (not a wash n go, but a twist/braid out that’s picked/combed out to full length) that doesn’t result in tangled city come wash day? I tried searching for older threads about it, but from what I found, the recommendations are exactly what got me in trouble this time.

My method was to put freshly washed and detangled hair in 12 plaits using a leave-in (seht conditioner) and a styling pomade (the doux’s bonita Afro balm). I let it fully air dry, then picked it out. I didn’t pick it out all the way though, I liked the defined curls at the end, so I only picked through the roots and ends. At night, I rebraided, then in the morning, I spritzed the braids with water, took them down, and picked them out. I only left the style in for 3 days. But on wash day, I had knots down to my ROOTS which I’ve never had before. My hairball was almost all breakage and it was 3x the size of any hairball I’ve had in recent memory.

Do I have to detangle each night? Do I need to blow it out first? I have suuuuuuuuuper tight 4c coils, so I’m wondering if it’s bc I’m leaving too much texture in for a loose style? I tried wearing a shrunken fro for a little bit a few months ago and had similar problem, but nothing this bad.

Or maybe the cause is something I’m not seeing? Idk. Hoping that someone here might!

Click to expand...

Man! So sorry your hair tangled this way. I don't know much about this. If I find something potentially helpful on YouTube or here at LHCF, I'll share.

@Chicoro, do you have any idea why this might have happened?

@i4ani

Have you considered doing six (6) braids instead of twelve (12) braids? The thought behind suggesting the decrease in the number of braids is that this may add more ‘weight’ or a heftiness to the sections. Hence, fortifying and maintaining more of a stretch on the hair throughout the day.

Are you lubricating your braids with any oils after you spray them down with water after that first/initial wash, which begins your process?

The leave in conditioner is water based, right?

I see that you are greasing your hair before you braid it up ( first water, then leave in, then Afro balm [the Afro balm is a type of grease, right?]).

Is there something in your night time process that allows for detangling and that stretches the hair out again [to counteract and reverse the shrinkage you may have gotten during the day from wearing your fro out?]

Are you patting down the fro or pushing up the hair from the ends up when styling your hair?

——-
Would it be possible to do a 2 step process? For example, wash the hair and use your water-based leave in and let the hair dry completely for step one.

Then once hair is completely dry, undo braids, then spritz lightly with water then put on your Afro balm and braid the hair tightly and let it dry completely for step two. Then, unbraid and pick it out and style in your Afro.
——
At night, are you stretching the hair and adding any lubricating products to the hair such as an oil, a butter or grease?

What are you doing with the ends of the braids? Are you wrapping them? Stretching them? Braiding them only?
——
In the morning, you spritz with water, unbraid and leave the hair out, right? The water you are putting in the hair in the morning may be counteracting the stretching you did the night before. Thus, nullifying and voiding all that stretching you did the night before with the braids overnight.

So, what may be happening is extreme shrinkage. The hair is wrapping on itself at the ends at the root and from root to tip in between.

It looks like there are only a couple of things you may want to consider to tweak or modify to get you the look you want and to minimize knots and tangles.

I think you are very close to your desired style. And you are close to maintaining the health of your hair and managing the tangles in your hair.

What are your thoughts?

CoiledOrchids said:

I'm here yall!

did my BC this morning and got a curly cut.
most of my heat damage is gone but there's a little bit still left to be trimmed in 12 weeks.

I'm using my current stash up and then I was recommended to try camille rose products. I have the curlaide butter and spiked honey mousse

My stylist told me to wash & condition twice a week because my hair is severely dehydrated & make sure I dc and keep my hair moisturized.

I flat twist my hair now and pretty much only do low manipulation styles. No more straight hair.

excited for this new hair journey & will be growing my hair back long. She'll shape it for me as well

Click to expand...

I can feel your excitement!!! I'm excited for you . . . and with you!: I'm on the same journey, and I am so satisfied and grateful and happy to be growing back my long, curly hair.

I'm so glad you have a great stylist.

Do you have any inspiration pics for your goals length, color, and look?

Chicoro said:

@i4ani

Have you considered doing six (6) braids instead of twelve (12) braids? The thought behind suggesting the decrease in the number of braids is that this may add more ‘weight’ or a heftiness to the sections. Hence, fortifying and maintaining more of a stretch on the hair throughout the day.

Are you lubricating your braids with any oils after you spray them down with water after that first/initial wash, which begins your process?

The leave in conditioner is water based, right?

I see that you are greasing your hair before you braid it up ( first water, then leave in, then Afro balm [the Afro balm is a type of grease, right?]).

Is there something in your night time process that allows for detangling and that stretches the hair out again [to counteract and reverse the shrinkage you may have gotten during the day from wearing your fro out?]

Are you patting down the fro or pushing up the hair from the ends up when styling your hair?

——-
Would it be possible to do a 2 step process? For example, wash the hair and use your water-based leave in and let the hair dry completely for step one.

Then once hair is completely dry, undo braids, then spritz lightly with water then put on your Afro balm and braid the hair tightly and let it dry completely for step two. Then, unbraid and pick it out and style in your Afro.
——
At night, are you stretching the hair and adding any lubricating products to the hair such as an oil, a butter or grease?

What are you doing with the ends of the braids? Are you wrapping them? Stretching them? Braiding them only?
——
In the morning, you spritz with water, unbraid and leave the hair out, right? The water you are putting in the hair in the morning may be counteracting the stretching you did the night before. Thus, nullifying and voiding all that stretching you did the night before with the braids overnight.

So, what may be happening is extreme shrinkage. The hair is wrapping on itself at the ends at the root and from root to tip in between.

It looks like there are only a couple of things you may want to consider to tweak or modify to get you the look you want and to minimize knots and tangles.

I think you are very close to your desired style. And you are close to maintaining the health of your hair and managing the tangles in your hair.

What are your thoughts?

Click to expand...

Woo, @Chicoro, thank you for your care, thoughts, and time!

Yvette 2.0 said:

I can feel your excitement!!! I'm excited for you . . . and with you!: I'm on the same journey, and I am so satisfied and grateful and happy to be growing back my long, curly hair.

I'm so glad you have a great stylist.

Do you have any inspiration pics for your goals length, color, and look?

Click to expand...

I do have some inspiration pics. I was supposed to do much shorter but I got in her chair and was scared so we went with a safer option to start with.

I'll be posting pics later today.

my goal is a healthy fro...no more heat damage & lots of volume
just like this:


this is the style I got yesterday:


inspo for yesterday's hairstyle:
I found the style on pinterest & thought it was cute


my hair goals: a healthy BAA & no more heat damage. I want big hair & lots of volume!

CoiledOrchids said:

my goal is a healthy fro...no more heat damage & lots of volume
just like this: View attachment 508320


this is the style I got yesterday:
View attachment 508322

inspo for yesterday's hairstyle:
I found the style on pinterest & thought it was cute View attachment 508324


my hair goals: a healthy BAA & no more heat damage. I want big hair & lots of volume!
View attachment 508320 View attachment 508326

Click to expand...

Your hair is so cute! Your stylist did a great job bringing your inspirational photo to life!

I love the photo that captures your vision for your hair in the future. Beautiful!

CoiledOrchids said:

my goal is a healthy fro...no more heat damage & lots of volume
just like this: View attachment 508320


this is the style I got yesterday:
View attachment 508322

inspo for yesterday's hairstyle:
I found the style on pinterest & thought it was cute View attachment 508324


my hair goals: a healthy BAA & no more heat damage. I want big hair & lots of volume!
View attachment 508320 View attachment 508326

Click to expand...

This is my goal length. I want to have blond and brown and red highlights.

Yvette 2.0 said:

Your hair is so cute! Your stylist did a great job bringing your inspirational photo to life!

I love the photo that captures your vision for your hair in the future. Beautiful!

Click to expand...

@yvette thank you. I'm quickly discovering how easy my hair is to care for now. I'm excited to see how my hair takes to being washed twice a week instead of biweekly.

Hopefully cuts my detangling in half since my hair is a lot shorter. Excited to see how good my hair will look!

I feel so much better now that the heat damage is gone. I still have some straight ends but I'll get them trimmed every 12 weeks until the rest of the damage is gone.

my hair felt so much lighter as soon as my stylist cut it. I almost cried at how soft and light it felt. I felt the weight of the hair being lifted. It really was a transformative experience.

It was also my first curly cut as well. Once it grows out longer, my stylist agreed to shape it for me

I want some more cute hair flowers and accessories. Been looking at curly hair tiktoks all day.

I feel so free now. I guess I didn't realize I carried so much weight in my hair. I also discovered I'm not as attached to my hair as I thought I was. I was ready for it to go.

Excited for the growth to come.

HHG to all

Chicoro said:

Have you considered doing six (6) braids instead of twelve (12) braids? The thought behind suggesting the decrease in the number of braids is that this may add more ‘weight’ or a heftiness to the sections. Hence, fortifying and maintaining more of a stretch on the hair throughout the day.

Click to expand...

There was no real rhyme or reason for 12 braids, it’s just what I settled on. Your point about weight definitely makes sense; I’m gonna try it that way next wash day.

Chicoro said:

Are you lubricating your braids with any oils after you spray them down with water after that first/initial wash, which begins your process?

Click to expand...

Yep, the Afro balm I use has coconut and sweet almond oil.

Chicoro said:

The leave in conditioner is water based, right?

Click to expand...

Yep.

Chicoro said:

I see that you are greasing your hair before you braid it up ( first water, then leave in, then Afro balm [the Afro balm is a type of grease, right?]).

Click to expand...

I wouldn’t call it a grease bc it doesn’t use petrolatum, but it serves the same sealing function for me. It’s marked as a pomade and a texture cream.

Chicoro said:

Is there something in your night time process that allows for detangling and that stretches the hair out again [to counteract and reverse the shrinkage you may have gotten during the day from wearing your fro out?]

Click to expand...

I think this is the missing piece. I’ve seen others’ routines of doing some sort of stretching mechanism (braiding, banding, pineappling) and putting on a bonnet. But the silent step in the middle may be dry detangling.

Chicoro said:

Are you patting down the fro or pushing up the hair from the ends up when styling your hair?

Click to expand...

A lotta bit of both I suffer from an acute case of hand in hair disease and was reshaping my fro multiple times throughout the day. Got out of the car, needed to pick out then pat round. Worked out, needed to pat up the wet parts in the back.

Something I need to be more mindful about.

Chicoro said:

Would it be possible to do a 2 step process? For example, wash the hair and use your water-based leave in and let the hair dry completely for step one.

Then once hair is completely dry, undo braids, then spritz lightly with water then put on your Afro balm and braid the hair tightly and let it dry completely for step two. Then, unbraid and pick it out and style in your Afro.

Click to expand...

You know what, the Afro balm does say it’s best used dry. I feel like everything works best on my hair while it’s wet, but your suggestion is confirmation that I should try it dry.

Chicoro said:

At night, are you stretching the hair and adding any lubricating products to the hair such as an oil, a butter or grease?

Click to expand...

At night, I braided my hair up without detangling first (which I suspect is the culprit with ~79% certainty), but no, I didn’t add any additional products. My hair stays lubed up and soft from my leave-in and the Afro balm in between washes.

I’m wary of reapplying my products after wash day (the second ingredient in the Afro balm is glycerin and I feel like adding too much or a second application of it will just smother my strands and limit the amount of water it will attract), but I think that applying the balm dry will give me an undiluted experience of it, and that may help with the tangling issue.

Chicoro said:

What are you doing with the ends of the braids? Are you wrapping them? Stretching them? Braiding them only?

Click to expand...

I braid them and do a lil finger swirl with the hair on the very ends.

Chicoro said:

In the morning, you spritz with water, unbraid and leave the hair out, right? The water you are putting in the hair in the morning may be counteracting the stretching you did the night before. Thus, nullifying and voiding all that stretching you did the night before with the braids overnight.

Click to expand...

Where is the facepalm emoji when I need it. Lol.

In my head, I need my hair to be wet to shape it. I honestly didn’t even consider that that’s likely not the case.

Chicoro said:

So, what may be happening is extreme shrinkage. The hair is wrapping on itself at the ends at the root and from root to tip in between.

It looks like there are only a couple of things you may want to consider to tweak or modify to get you the look you want and to minimize knots and tangles.

I think you are very close to your desired style. And you are close to maintaining the health of your hair and managing the tangles in your hair.

What are your thoughts?

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for such detailed and thoughtful suggestions! I agree that the shrinkage is the culprit here and I’m letting it on two fronts (not detangling at night, and then wetting in the morning).

I want to have my fro out all summer so hopefully, I can nip this in the bud in these next few wash days. I’m gonna use the next few wash days to implement these changes, and report back with pitchas and progress.

Thanks again!!!

i4ani said:

There was no real rhyme or reason for 12 braids, it’s just what I settled on. Your point about weight definitely makes sense; I’m gonna try it that way next wash day.

Yep, the Afro balm I use has coconut and sweet almond oil.

Yep.

I wouldn’t call it a grease bc it doesn’t use petrolatum, but it serves the same sealing function for me. It’s marked as a pomade and a texture cream.

I think this is the missing piece. I’ve seen others’ routines of doing some sort of stretching mechanism (braiding, banding, pineappling) and putting on a bonnet. But the silent step in the middle may be dry detangling.

A lotta bit of both I suffer from an acute case of hand in hair disease and was reshaping my fro multiple times throughout the day. Got out of the car, needed to pick out then pat round. Worked out, needed to pat up the wet parts in the back.

Something I need to be more mindful about.

You know what, the Afro balm does say it’s best used dry. I feel like everything works best on my hair while it’s wet, but your suggestion is confirmation that I should try it dry.

At night, I braided my hair up without detangling first (which I suspect is the culprit with ~79% certainty), but no, I didn’t add any additional products. My hair stays lubed up and soft from my leave-in and the Afro balm in between washes.

I’m wary of reapplying my products after wash day (the second ingredient in the Afro balm is glycerin and I feel like adding too much or a second application of it will just smother my strands and limit the amount of water it will attract), but I think that applying the balm dry will give me an undiluted experience of it, and that may help with the tangling issue.

I braid them and do a lil finger swirl with the hair on the very ends.

Where is the facepalm emoji when I need it. Lol.

In my head, I need my hair to be wet to shape it. I honestly didn’t even consider that that’s likely not the case.

Thanks so much for such detailed and thoughtful suggestions! I agree that the shrinkage is the culprit here and I’m letting it on two fronts (not detangling at night, and then wetting in the morning).

I want to have my fro out all summer so hopefully, I can nip this in the bud in these next few wash days. I’m gonna use the next few wash days to implement these changes, and report back with pitchas and progress.

Thanks again!!!

Click to expand...

Two (2) more things popped out at me:

1. Glycerin. You said your leave in had this. Glycerin can cause shrinkage. If it’s not inconvenient and not costly, you may want to consider getting a different water-based leave in without glycerin when styling for an Afro.
Im an SCURL girly, and glycerin is not ideal for stretched styles for my hair and it may be problematic for yours.

2. That balm may be too soft. I haven’t looked up the complete list of ingredients. In discussions with @Angel of the North in another thread, I discovered that I use my Shea butter and Cocoa butter mix to stretch my hair without heat. And it’s completely natural.

It’s a firm butter that I slather on my hair before I braid my hair up. It stretches my hair. My hair stays stretched with the butter. It dissipates into the hair and has great hold and leaves my braids beautiful and sleek.

The recipe is pretty simple. Let me know if you would the recipe. I can also share pictures of it stretching my hair.

Bonus thought:
Careful with those casual pats on your fro during and throughout the day. Those pats can turn those ends on themselves to create knots on the ends of the hair. Those new knots would be in addition to tangles.

Looking forward to those photos. You messed up now. I’m not leaving this thread until you show up with them pitchas.

Chicoro said:

Two (2) more things popped out at me:

1. Glycerin.

Click to expand...

2+2 really does equal 4 but sometimes I need the equation written out for me Lol.

I was a shea butter only girl (no leave ins, no nuffin. Just me, shampoo and conditioner, and my butter) for the first few months of covid. I would wash every 4 days, dip my hair in sections in my bowl of melted shea butter, braid it up, then sacrifice my scarf to the shea butter gods until my next wash day.

Detangling literally was a 2 second process bc my hair was so juicy and weighed down after it dried. The only reason I switched to other products (years later, but the next product I used was grease and now I’m using this balm) was bc of the absolute carnage it waged against my e v e r y t h i n g my head touched including my walls, lol.

How do you manage the mess?!

Chicoro said:

The recipe is pretty simple. Let me know if you would the recipe. I can also share pictures of it stretching my hair.

Click to expand...

This walk down memory lane is reminding me that my hair actually did really well for that period of time with just plain melted yellow shea butter that I got from my cousin who makes body butters. I’m getting the itch to see if that still works for me. But if it turns out that I do need something firmer, now I know who to ask for a recipe!

Chicoro said:

Bonus thought:
Careful with those casual pats on your fro during and throughout the day. Those pats can turn those ends on themselves to create knots on the ends of the hair. Those new knots would be in addition to tangles.

Looking forward to those photos. You messed up now. I’m not leaving this thread until you show up with them pitchas.

Click to expand...

I’m gonna have to train myself to stop patting lol. I loooooove when my hair is out and fluffy. Even when I’m not adjusting I just be pinching and poking it.

Gotta cut it out.

And I won’t forget the pitchas! I may need a while to figure my method out with a better suited styler (and then to convince my cousin to come bring me another free brick of shea butter ), but pitcha day will come in due time.

CoiledOrchids said:

my hair felt so much lighter as soon as my stylist cut it. I almost cried at how soft and light it felt. I felt the weight of the hair being lifted. It really was a transformative experience.

I feel so free now. I guess I didn't realize I carried so much weight in my hair. I also discovered I'm not as attached to my hair as I thought I was. I was ready for it to go.

Click to expand...

I love hearing people’s experiences with hair cuts.

There’s a unique power vested in the hair that’s so difficult to describe. I shaved my head completely bald almost 10 years ago, a few weeks after I graduated high school, and all these years later, I still can remember how much my energy changed in the span of minutes. I stayed that way for around 4 years.

The only thing more liberating than letting it go (for me) was finally deciding to let it grow, but with intentionality this time.

I’m glad you’re sharing this journey. Enjoy it!

CoiledOrchids said:

BAA

Click to expand...

In all my years of consuming natural hair content on the internet, I’ve never come across this glorious term.

I’m excited to use it as often as possible.

Napp said:

I’m getting the air light pro with my tax refund lol

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I just bought the airlight pro. The saving was too great, I knew I'd regret it if I didn't.

i4ani said:

View attachment 508332

2+2 really does equal 4 but sometimes I need the equation written out for me Lol.

I was a shea butter only girl (no leave ins, no nuffin. Just me, shampoo and conditioner, and my butter) for the first few months of covid. I would wash every 4 days, dip my hair in sections in my bowl of melted shea butter, braid it up, then sacrifice my scarf to the shea butter gods until my next wash day.

Detangling literally was a 2 second process bc my hair was so juicy and weighed down after it dried. The only reason I switched to other products (years later, but the next product I used was grease and now I’m using this balm) was bc of the absolute carnage it waged against my e v e r y t h i n g my head touched including my walls, lol.

How do you manage the mess?!


This walk down memory lane is reminding me that my hair actually did really well for that period of time with just plain melted yellow shea butter that I got from my cousin who makes body butters. I’m getting the itch to see if that still works for me. But if it turns out that I do need something firmer, now I know who to ask for a recipe!

I’m gonna have to train myself to stop patting lol. I loooooove when my hair is out and fluffy. Even when I’m not adjusting I just be pinching and poking it.

Gotta cut it out.

And I won’t forget the pitchas! I may need a while to figure my method out with a better suited styler (and then to convince my cousin to come bring me another free brick of shea butter ), but pitcha day will come in due time.

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Shea butter IS greasy. I've seen where people put arrow root powder in it to make it less greasy. But I ain't doing all that. I personally have my hair in braids. I roll up my braids and my hair is up off my neck and shoulders. See photo below.


And, I do a MIX! Shea butter melted down by itself is super greasy.



But if you mix with other things and..


and WHIP IT GOOD...

Then, it is less greasy. And you can throw your doo-rag or scarf on your head at night to also counteract some of the oiliness.




And shake the 'Grease' for once and for all.

Chicoro said:

Shea butter IS greasy. I've seen where people put arrow root powder in it to make it less greasy. But I ain't doing all that. I personally have my hair in braids. I roll up my braids and my hair is up off my neck and shoulders. See photo below.


And, I do a MIX! Shea butter melted down by itself is super greasy.



But if you mix with other things and..

and WHIP IT GOOD...

Then, it is less greasy. And you can throw your doo-rag or scarf on your head at night to also counteract some of the oiliness.

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I saw a video clip on YouTube and the OP mixed cocoa butter into their butter mix to get it to set firmer.

Angel of the North said:

I saw a video clip on YouTube and the OP mixed cocoa butter into their butter mix to get it to set firmer.

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@Angel of the North

How are you going to mention something that YOU know is of great interest to me, and not provide no details?

No video name.

No channel name.

No link.

No nothing.

Chicoro said:

@Angel of the North

How are you going to mention something that YOU know is of great interest to me, and not provide no details?

No video name.

No channel name.

No link.

No nothing.

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Alright, alright...

I'll see if I can find it It was very brief, but I was like, okay, so this is what @Chicoro does too, it's seemingly a thing.

Off to find it, I'm hoping I saved it lol.