Diary of an Honest Naturalista: Week 14

If there was a time I was tempted to put my hair in weaves, it was last week. I remember deciding to pause on weaves and extensions for the time being, because I was on a journey to completely recovering my one full edges. And for quite a while, I've been successful at it.

My hair just refused to behave. After my experience with Yemisi in this post, I silently vowed to be more stylish in the way I present my natural hair, so I increased my research on natural hair styling, rather than just hair care. Let's just say its been a bitter sweet experience. I have tried out several styles that have ended up being epic fails, even though I did it exactly the same way I was instructed in the videos, even using the same products.

The first was wash and go. I got a curl defining product, and followed the directly by shingling each strand, as instructed. My hair never fell down and clumped into beautiful curls. Instead, it stood like an afro rock on my head. and shrunk terribly after 30 minutes. It was then I remembered the parody music video, 'Wash and go don't work on 4C hair'. Although, let me quickly say my hair is not fully 4C.

Then I tried a bantu knot, which was beautiful. But when I tried to turn it into a knot-out the next day, it didn't look good at all. I think I sectioned my hair too large (it was 16 parts). Was I supposed to section my hair into a million for ordinary bantu knot out?

Last but not the least, I used the famed curlformers. I did this twice, using different combination of products. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. My hair didn't form those luscious curls I saw in the videos. The curls didn't last for more than a few hours, and they were kind of dull. I thought about all the money and time I spent buying and using the curlformers, and I was pained terribly.

Out of frustration, I verbally joked about getting a weave. That way, at least, I would be able to predict how my hair would look at the end of the styling process. Guess who told me not to even let the bad experience weigh me down? Yes, none other that Dimeji. I was so surprised. It seems he's now a fan, even getting more fascinated than I am.

Talk about crying more than the bereaved, lol.

Anyway, if there's anything I learnt last week from styling my hair following several natural hair gurus' directions, it was that I should lower my expectations.