Some transitioning styles I've tried....

“…..My hair is my play ground” lol!!  That was what I told a friend of mine recently (who by the way is natural). I said this because I was showing her pictures of styles I’ve tried and she was like “You’re really into this”. Well yeah I am really into the whole natural hair, healthy hair and nappy hair thing. So I think this write up will be more on pictures of some of the styles I have done in the recent past, what I think of them, products I used and whether or not I will be trying them again. So let’s go!!

The first transitioning style I tried was the bantu nut out. I tried this style immediately I learnt how to twist my hair in the right direction. The products I used for this were…..oops!! I can’t remember correctly but I’m sure about these ones though:

                                        Pink Eco Styler Gel (Level 8)

Raw shea butter

Shea Radiance Maximum curl defining cream

                                                               

Well I think it was okay. I think the problem I had with it was that the curls looked a little unkempt, do you think so? I liked it but not that much. I will try this again to see if I’ll do something different to make it look better. I pinned it up in an updo. 

The second style I tried was Senegalese twists. I DID IT MYSELF!!! I just came back from church, fixed lunch for my husband and had this gut feeling that I should try doing my twists myself, and I did, lol!! So I dashed to the beauty shop around my house bought my expression attachment (hair extensions) and got the party started!! So before trying this, I had watched a ton of videos on how to do the twists by myself, so I would say I had prepared ahead of time. These were the results.. 

It took me about 4 hours. I started at the back and then worked my way through to the front. I think next time I would do it the other way round; because I got tired by the time I got to the front so it didn’t turn out nice enough. The products I used for this style were:

Carol’s daughter mimosa hair honey

Shea radiance whipped shea butter

I was really proud of myself for doing this, but I thought the front part was a little unkempt. On the other hand I think we've been spoilt in Naija (Nigeria) by the kind of hair we get at the saloons at the price we do get them for. However I think that as a natural, I am the only one who can handle my hair with the TLC it deserves lol!! Just saying.

 Well it would surprise you to know that I wore this style for just THREE DAYS!! Yes!! But I had a reason for it. I was going to the Enugu for my brother’s traditional marriage, I felt the hair was not good enough for the special occasion. When I took the twists down, I co washed my hair and tried another style.

The third style I tried was curl formers, and I must say that this was by far my most favourite style so far. In my opinion, it turned out really nice. Do you think so?  I think the reason it turned out “great” is because I had learnt a little about my hair, having tried a couple of other styles in the recent past. For this style I used

The curl formers (got 2 packs of 18 each at N3, 500 from Balogun market)

Pink Eco styler gel level 8

Raw shea butter

 So these were the results. I pinned it up into an updo and I absolutely loved it!!! The curls lasted for 4 days, I actually let them loose myself, so they could have lasted longer. I pin curled every night and wrapped my hair with a silk scarf to preserve the coils/curls (still don’t know the difference, lol). I think this is going to be my go to style anytime I let my hair out during this transitioning period.

Currently I am wearing Ghana Weaving corn rows, I really love them. If you look closely you'll see that I have rough edges, yeah that's one of the things I'm battling with right now. In my previous article, I listed a couple of things I am doing to grow them back to a healthy state. Please feel free to drop tips on how to take better care of them in the comment box below. What’s funny is that the day I went to get my Ghana Braids done at the salon, the lady said “Hmmm this your hair is so due for relaxer, you should retouch it (i.e. get a relaxer)” I was like, NOOOOO WAAAAYYYY!!!! Lol!!

So what do you think about these styles? Are you also transitioning to natural hair? Do you have any other tips you can give me on styles to try out while transitioning? Please feel free to put them down in the comment box below. Stay blessed!!!

Hugs of love

Acharacha