soooo naturals...who is still keeping their hair stretched?

[youwillrise]

those of you natural heads who keep your hair stretched...

can you attest to more length retention than when you didnt keep it stretched?

what are your stretching methods? blow dry? banding? both? something else?

have you encountered any issues by stretching your hair out?

do you find that you can achieve more styles? what styles do you wear most often?

i know we had a post on this a while back (well, im sure there have been more than one post on it)...but i want updates, i guess...how's it continuing to work for those who use the method.

im thinking i might go the stretched route more often...i mean, ive done it kinda half-butted (keeping my hair in a KINDA stretched state), but im looking into making it a permanent part of my regimen.

 

[leiah]

I always dry my hair in one or two braids or a banded pony tail. I have a lot less single strand knots now and excellent retention. When I left my hair in its natural state it stayed the samel ength and had lots of knots.

no issues stretching my hair, except the very long air drying time. It's wet for over 24 hours. if i try to put in product and do a braidout it could be wet for like 3 days!

 

[Blairx0]

I stretch weekly by rollersetting. I am still new in the game, but I am loving it.

Sent from my PC36100 using LHCF

 

[coyacoy]

I stretch by blow drying on cool after every wash. I recently found that bandu knots are great to keep my hair stretched during the week. I have th stretch otherwise my hair curls up on itself creating tangles and knots galore

 

[westNDNbeauty]

I still stretch every 7-14 days by blow drying with after washing. I prefer to let it air dry a bit before doing so. My hair is primarily twisted afterward. My length is maintaing based on the compliments I get about growth.

 

[longhairdreaming]

My hair is always in a stretched state. I used to stretch with twists but switched to blow drying then braiding for 2-4 weeks at a time. I've retained much better with the change in routine. I still wash just in the cornrows till it's time to take them down and start again.

 

[naturalmanenyc]

I have stopped wearing wash & go styles since my hair shrinks so much. I have been stretching my hair by wearing twist outs for a few months.

I do not think I have more retention from stretching my hair, but I do have less single strand knots and less tangling in general.

It's easier to achieve styles with stretched hair, for me at least. I mostly wear twist outs but do bun sometimes. My bun is easier to create on stretched hair.

 

[MzSwift]

Me! Early in my journey I noticed that many of the long-haired natty ladies mentioned not allowing their hair to shrink, I started doing it. I keep my hair in braids or cornrows. Every now and then I'll throw in a twist set. When my hair is loose, I band it at night to keep it stretched.

 

[youwillrise]

thanks for the responses so far!

im thinking mainly to avoid as much tangling. i usually band after a wash, but i dont band my hair extensively...ie...i only use 2 bands down the length of each section (one at the base and then i stretch the other one down the length)...i did try using more bands (5) on each section and it does give the sections a longer stretch, so i think i'll do this from now on.

my hair tends to tangle quite a bit. i mean, when it's tangling a wholllle lot, i know it's time for a little trim, but still i want to further reduce tangling. i seldom wear my hair in a completely shrunken state or in "out" styles...i usually wear twists or i do a flat twist on both sides of my head...lately ive been wearing pinned up styles and bun-like styles.

im finding it harder to retain length lately. im coming up on 7 years natural...with my last bc (ive done 3 or 4 of them) having been in 2009 and partially because i became ill some months back and was too tired to do *anything* let alone keep my hair in tact, my hair has kind of stalled at the same length (a teensy bit past apl in the back, a little just at apl on the sides and around my chin in the front)...ive been trying to get back into the groove of caring for my hair now that ive been feeling much better for a while and im trying to think of things i can do to improve retention of moisture as well as length...also learning to be more gentle with my hair because i get really frustrated when i do get those tangles and knots and i tend to just kinda rip through them when i know i shouldnt. im just thinking maybe stretching my hair out a bit will kind of help me in my quest to be more gentle and also, to reduce the occurrence of those tangles and knots.

also wanted to ask, how often are you stretched hair wearers detangling and what tool do you use? fingers? wide tooth comb? brush? tangle tamer or teezer? do you do it dry? wet, while in the shower? damp or with conditioner, out of the shower?

ive always preferred detangling under the running shower water...and for a long time i finger detangled only, but went back to comb/brush detangling because i got lazy and wanted a quicker method. i think i want to go back to fingers because that was also a time i retained more length...ya see? me and my lazy butt self. tryna get back into the groove again.

i know im talking about more than keeping hair stretched lol...im just trying to think about the whole picture and how everything fits together.

 

[Lylddlebit]

those of you natural heads who keep your hair stretched...

can you attest to more length retention than when you didnt keep it stretched?

what are your stretching methods? blow dry? banding? both? something else?

have you encountered any issues by stretching your hair out?

do you find that you can achieve more styles? what styles do you wear most often?

i know we had a post on this a while back (well, im sure there have been more than one post on it)...but i want updates, i guess...how's it continuing to work for those who use the method.

im thinking i might go the stretched route more often...i mean, ive done it kinda half-butted (keeping my hair in a KINDA stretched state), but im looking into making it a permanent part of my regimen.

Probably, the biggest advantage is less hassle detanglingI. guess as a result as the detangling being quicker and easier I loose less hair.

Twisting braiding and straightening are my stretch methods.

No issues stretching.

I dont know if it gives me more or less options. If I want to wear my hair a certain way on a given day I stretch or shrink my hair as necessary to achieve that. the same hair still looks different on kinky, vs stretched vs straight hair though. I wear twists most often

 

[RegaLady]

I do. Mostly via twists after washing and then put in to a bun. Every couple of months I tension blowdry, but only on special occations.

 

[FoxxyLocs]

I always keep my hair stretched and I almost never wear it loose unless it's straight. It just makes things easier for me as far as styling and detangling.

Go to styles - twists, buns
Occasional styles - flexi rods, mini braids

I blow dry about once a month on average.

 

[NappyNelle]

Me!! I keep my hair stretched by air drying (or sitting under the dryer) in braids. I style my hair after that initial drying session.

 

[Sunbeam]

I stretch mine with twists. The most mine is ever "out" is with a twist-out and at night I just re-twist larger sections before putting on a satin cap. If I'm too tired to twist after washing then I'll stretch it with a bun & style with twist later. I air dry most of the time & have noticed a huge reduction with ssks & tangling. I think it's due to keeping it stretch along with ACV or AVJ as a final rinse.

 

[greenandchic]

can you attest to more length retention than when you didnt keep it stretched?
I do have better length retention, less tangles and less knots.

what are your stretching methods? blow dry? banding? both? something else?
After washing, moisturizing and sealing, I twist my hair in about 8 twists until its air dried. My hair stretches very easily and hardly takes much effort. I retwist as night.

have you encountered any issues by stretching your hair out?
Never

do you find that you can achieve more styles? what styles do you wear most often?
I mostly wear my hair in buns most of the time these days as PS.

 

[tiffjust2002]

I stretch my hair almost 95% of the time for styling. In the fact the only time I don't stretch is when I am wearing a wash n go . I stretch by bunning, I just smooth my detangled hair out in my hands and wrap like you are wringing a towel but now too tight or hard then I just circle it in a bun and put a ponytail holder and it takes about 2 days to dry but then when I unleash the bun and fluff I get this look




A nice fluffy full ponytail, I can then go from this to an updo or a twist out or braid out