Happy Sunday!
As promised, I am writing a blog about how I stretch my relaxers 13 weeks. I know it sounds impossible, but trust me it can be done. This blog might be a little lengthy but I do different things at different stages of my stretch.
Weeks 1-8: My hair is pretty easy to deal with at this point. I basically do the following:
1) Wash hair and DC hair 1x/week
2) Wet wrap my hair and sit under hooded dryer for 1.5 hours
3) Flat iron
4) Wrap and cover with silk bonnet at night/ moisturize when necessary
Weeks 9-13: Between weeks 8 and 9 my new growth decides to really make itself known. It is really thick and impossible to deal with while it is dry. For that reason I have 2 options.
Option 1: Flexirod set (this can be really time consuming!)
1) Wash and DC hair 1x/week
2) Set my hair on flexirods using Kinky Curly spiral spritz (takes about an hour)
3) Sit under hooded dryer for 2 hours
4) Remove flexirods and style hair
5) Cover with bonnet at night/ moisturize when necessary
**Note: I love flexirod sets, I really do. They take so much time though! However, once you have your curls in, you can do a fro-hawk, a puff, or even a fro. I love the versatility of it!**
Option 2: Wig it up!! ( Yes what you see is a wig)
1) Wash and DC hair as needed
2) Oil scalp with Wild Growth Oil ( helps me get through the new growth)
3) Flat twist my hair (I usually make 6 really sloppy twists)
4) Place wig cap on top of twists
5) Put on wig and go!
**Note: I love this option! You are able to take care of your hair but not necessarily be worried about your hair looking a mess. Believe it or not, wigs can look really natural and are a perfect stretching style*
That is pretty much how I stretch. As a matter of fact, my most current stretch will end Aug.1. Next blog, I will write about wigs--what wig to chose, how to wear them...everything!
Hi, I am a fellow KISS sista and came to show some love. I LOVE your blog, so I will definitely start checking this out weekly. I am new to the whole stretching thing since my hair gets out of control around week 7. I used to get relaxer touchups every 6 weeks, now I stretch to 10 week and hope to go to 14 weeks after that. I love the styling ideas you gave. I have always hated wigs since I am used to seeing the ones my grandma used to wear, but when I saw yours I couldnt believe it was a wig! Wigs have come a LONG way and I will definitely be looking for one to wear this winter. Thanks again for this posting!
ReplyDelete@Age: Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog!! I understand that stretching can be difficult...especially when you're first starting out (before my journey, I relaxed every 4/5 weeks!). I definitely feel you on the wig thing too. I used to think that wigs looked...well wiggy. However, when I found the right wig my mind was changed forever!
ReplyDeleteDo you ever "halo" just relax the edges and neck? I've been doing "halos" since my hair is short too and relaxing I think 8 eights out.
ReplyDelete@ Nadege: I don't halo relax. My edges and neck don't grow as fast as the crown so those two areas are fine for the majority of my stretch. In fact, those two areas are the reason why I stretch for 13 weeks (I wait for them to catch up!)
ReplyDelete