Based on this title you may think that I have something against stylists. I don’t. No really I don’t. It’s just the ones I have come across so far have not impressed me enough for me to put my head within reaching distance of their salons.
I came across Renice’s website years and years ago at the beginning of my hair journey. I remember the crushing disappointment when I realized that she was based in the US. I actually credit her in part for introducing me to weaves as protective styles. In fact it was within a week or two of visiting her site that I purchased my first weave and started wearing sew ins exclusively for my protective styles. Length retention was a breeze.
Anyway, I came across her video showcasing the success that she’s had on her clients’ heads of hair using her techniques and I’m sure you will agree that some of the results are simply mouthwatering! I know we tend to prefer curly hair in these parts but bear in mind that most of these women in the video are natural ranging from 3a/b to 4c and have come in to have their hair flat ironed or just for a length check.
Actually the fact that she prefers to take on clients who are looking to have healthier hair rather than just someone wanting their latest curly brazilian weave installed, speaks very well for her. She calls it ‘hair revitalization’. So if you live near Rockville, MD you should definitely consider using her services. I will admit that she is not cheap but clearly she get’s results and I would love to get my hair trimmed and styled by her.
I also couldn’t help but notice that Mwedzi, a popular long haired 4b natural vlogger, was also in the procession of women who’d had their hair flat ironed (even though I don’t think she wears weaves). In the past she was always heat shy. Hmm interesting . . .
Dislcaimer – I’m sure that there are lots of good stylists out there but I have a huge phobia of stylists (and scissors) in general and due to the success I have had with my home hair care regimen, I haven’t really made a huge effort to find a stylist. Of course I’m sure that not everyone has the time or patience to learn every aspect of hair care including how to sew in their own weaves like I did in which case feel free to do some serious research before settling on someone.
Anyway back to my regimen; I cheated on the lion hair that I was supposed to be trying out. I got rained on last Monday and my roots reverted so much that I was forced (forced I tell you!) to flat iron my roots so my hair would lay flat again. I didn’t flat iron the length of my hair but braided it in 3 large braids. The curly affair was well worth it, who could argue with this?
The affair was short and by the following day curl definition was gone. I moisturized and sealed at night followed by a low ponytail and banded the length of my hair. I promise any waves you see in the next pictures are the indents from the hairbands. I did absolutely no re-braiding last week at all. I didn’t really get Simba hair as expected, the banding worked too well.
One downside is that retaining moisture in my hair felt impossible. it’s much easier to retain moisture when it’s either completely straight because the cuticles are slammed shut or when my hair is curly and clumped because the bunched hair holds the moisture in better as a ‘group’, if you know what I mean. I actually had to dip the bottom couple of inches of hair in water and apply some wash out conditioner last Thursday because my ends felt like straw! After rinsing out the conditioner I braided the bottom two inches while my hair dried.
The water made my ends pretty frizzy on Friday but by and large because I was sleeping with it banded down, my hair didn’t expand too much which is just as well because I’m pretty sure I would have given up and put it in a bun until wash day. Sigh, my hair was so easy to look after with back when I was BSL.
My verdict on big undefined hair?
The moisture issue isn’t quite enough to have me running for the hills just yet so I may still attempt to wear my hair like this again in the future although I noticed that my compliments cycled down to practically zero this week. I don’t keep track of them you understand but I can’t help but notice when I don’t get a single one. Hmm I think that I blend into the crowd too much with hair more straight than curly which can be a good or a bad thing depending on who you ask. I don’t think I will be giving up my curly hairstyles any time soon.
Because my hair was pretty much already detangled on wash day this past Sunday I washed and deep conditioned in 6 braids so I didn’t have to do any comb detangling at all! The wash was followed by a tension blow dry and a light flat iron (all with no combs) so my hair still has plenty of volume. I have a wedding reception on Friday for which I plant to wear the gorgeous curly style from last week. Here’s the mane today . . .
I am bored of playing in my hair for the moment and I am seriously considering throwing my hair in mini braids until just before a hair show that I’m attending at the end of next month. I’m still undecided but I guess it depends on what the weekend brings . . .
