Banding: Stretching hair without heat

I finally took LA's mini braids down. That was a long process.  I was going to do a post on LA's hair care regimen and how I was a detangle her hair but I forgot to take pictures.  I'll do that post next week.  This post is about how to stretch hair without using heat.  Heat can be very damaging to hair and can permanently change the curl pattern.  I have NEVER used heat on LA's hair.  There are alternatives for achieving a blow-dried effect. Take a look.  First, I washed LA's hair.

I used Kinky Curly come clean shampoo. It's sulfate free and costs $12 at Target.

Then, I conditioned and detangled her hair with Herbal Essences hello hydration conditioner. I LOVE this conditioner.  It is not all natural or anything like that but the way it makes my fingers glide through her hair is like nothing else. You can buy it at Walmart for $3.  

After I rinsed out the conditioner, I applied Cantu Shea Butter leave in.  I sectioned her hair off and put a generous amount on each section I was working with.  This is another product that is not all natural but it works for us.  Keep in mind that not all hair is the same and what works for us, may not work for you.  As with many things, you will have to try it out for yourself.  You can buy this at Walmart for around $5

Here's what banding looks like.  I section her hair off and wrapped hair bands around the sections, stretching her curls out.  I do this before she goes to bed so that her hair will be dry and ready to style by morning. You can make as little or as many sections as you would like, there are really no rules except do not use rubber bands or hair bands that have the metal piece connecting the elastic.

This is how her hair looks when I take the bands off.

After I ran my fingers through it a couple times.  You can see that her hair is stretched and has minimal shrinkage.  I achieved this WITHOUT heat and so can you.

As we know by now, you should never style dry hair so I oiled her hair and scalp really well with coconut oil.  I think I paid $8 or so for the one I use.

I then moisturized her hair with Shea Moisture Smoothie.  You can find it at Target, Walmart or Walgreens. It usually cost $10 but sometimes it might be on sale for 1-2 dollars off.

This is the finished look.  My child was not in the picture taking mood today so this is the best I could get out of her.

I didn't realize how much the front of her hair had grown so now I have to pin her braided bangs out of her face because she keeps pulling at them.  I wet her puff on top and used some eco styler gel to define the curls. And there you have it. :)

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them below.  Thanks for reading.

Nace

Defining curls

Before all this natural hair talk, I had never heard of defining curls and for the longest time I had no clear understanding of what it meant.  I always noticed that LA's hair would curl when it was wet but I just assumed all natural hair does that when it's wet.  I had never really considered finding a way to keep it curly.  I used to spray her hair with water and oil and fluff her hair out with my fingers.  I thought her afro was the cutest.

This picture is how LA's hair looks when it's wet.

This is a picture of LA's hair dry with no product.

It was only after I discovered there were different types of hair (see what's your hair type page above), that I learned what products are best to use and how to define her curls. LA has 4a hair, which means it is full of tight springy definite curls that are the circumference of a crochet needle (very tiny). Teeny weeny spiral curls is what I like to call them. I started doing some research on what products other people with 4a hair use on their hair and I found Eco Styler gel.  There are many reviews on this product from the natural hair community and I figured I'd give it a try.

I chose to go with the one with olive oil.  This product costs $2-3 and you can find it at your local beauty supply store.  

 Description: Eco Styler Olive Oil Styling Gel contains 100% pure olive oil for deep down conditioning. Maintains maximum hold. Contains UV protection and helps your scalp regulate. Natural moisturizing system. For all hair types. Used by professionals.

       Ingredients: Water , Carbomer , Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein , PVP , Glycerin , Triethanolamine , Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate , Polysorbate 20 , Tetrasodium EDTA , Olive Oil , Fragrance , Blue #1 , Yellow #11

This is a picture from the first time I used eco styler gel in LA's hair and I LOVED it.

In order to define her curls, I washed her hair and conditioned it well.  After I rinse the conditioner out, I did NOT put a towel on it.  Rubbing a towel on her hair would have caused a great deal of frizz and that is not what I wanted.  I started in the back of her head and with her hair soaking wet, I apply the gel in small sections.  It is important to do this on soaking wet hair so make sure you have a spray bottle handy.  I smoothed the gel over small sections at a time and made sure I not to touch it after that.  Unnecessary touching will cause the hair to frizz and become puffy.

When working with kinky curly hair, you have to learn to accept shrinkage.   Shrinkage is what happens when the hair curls/coils and makes the hair appear to be a lot shorter than what it truly is.  There is really no way to combat shrinkage.  It is just something that is unique kinky curly hair.  It is way better to embrace the shrinkage than to fight against it.  Blowdrying and flat ironing excessively will cause heat damage which can not be reversed.  (You will have to transition that heat damaged hair the same way someone who is going from relaxed to natural would.   The hair is permanently altered) 

Product Review: I love eco styler gel.  The price is right and the results are wonderful.  The gel does make the hair a little crunchy but I found if you mist it with a little water, the crunchiness is manageable.  I would also recommend this product for people who have other hair types as well.  I have seen where some people use this gel to achieve a more defined twist out on 4b/c hair. 

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment.  If you use eco styler gel after reading this, send me a picture to naturalhairrelaxedcare@gmail.com and I may feature you on the blog. :)

Nace