I am here to report myself for a crime in the hair world. I'm a first-time offender for this particular offence..not particularly proud of it.
Erm...
welllllll
I uh...
I Kinda, sort of removed my twists and installed braids the next day *hides*
Why is this wrong?
Long term protective styling is meant to protect the hair from the elements as well as aid in retaining length. However the hair goes under some strain during the braiding process. And although you wash and deep condition in a protective style, you still need to give it at least one to two weeks of deep conditioning, moisturising, tlc, pampering, loving and to assess your hair for any damage or areas that you need to pay special attention to. After this period, you can rebraid, put a weave, do cornrows etc. Therefore your hair needs a break between styles.
Why did I do it?
Well I just finished exams on monday 17 November, and we were going to travel to Zambia for my older sister's graduation on wednesday 19 November. The trip to Zambia is 2 days by road (2000 km journey y'all) , and I wasn't ready to deal with it on the road, and would be tired in the evening we would arrive to prep it for the grad which was supposed to be the next day (21 November). Plus I wanted a nice hairstyle that would be hassle free the day of the event. So after thinking it over, I decided on the unthinkable. I undid my hair the very day I finished with exams, washed it, deep conditioned, tension blow dried on low heat and had it braided up again the next day.
Show and tell time
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| Tension blow dry on low heat. 3 am sleepy face... |
I put my hair in twists after I blew each section to prevent reversion. My aim was stretched not straight hair, so I didn't blow it very straight. Also to minimise the damage since I was really pushing it.
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| Back view |
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| Put my hair in these four buns to keep it stretched overnight. |
Worked like a charm. My hair was still stretched in the morning.
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| I took the opportunity to give myself another trim. |
I have been battling splits of late. I don't think I will retain that much length this year and will hover around APL cause of my trimming. But yeah healthy hair is good hair.
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| Large box braids |
I got photo bombed by my sis and cousin. We all travelled together with my dad. Don't you just love road trips when you have good company?
Will I ever do this again?
HEELLLLL NAAW! I slept at 3 am cause of my wash night! And that is punishment enough. Also it is waaay too much stress for my hair. Rest assured that I will definitely give my hair a good time out when I undo these braids.
On the bright side, at least my hair is in a protective style *face palm of shame*
Have you committed any hair crimes during your healthy hair journey?
I'm sure you have a good braid maintenance regimen so let's see how it turns out. *fingers crossed* I think my biggest hair crime was not trimming often enough. Having to cut off all that hair made me smarten up. Now I dust every month or so and I plan to really assess my ends when I relax again.
ReplyDeleteYeah, fingers crossed. Though im already bored of them lol.
DeleteI can share your reluctance to trim in the beginning, it used to be so hard. Nice that you have a regular dusting schedule to keep it on top of them. I may try that next year cause im tired of removing these splits honestly.