Hi people, what's been on?!

Yeah I haven't blogged in a while....I know, I know....I have been offline because Airtel network decided to be really sluggish and epileptic in Lagos!
Please techies, tell me why????

So, what was I doing in Lagos?

I was going for my first natural hair meetup ever.....and my first public speaking on natural hair related matters ever...NITC7!

When NaturalNigerian invited me out of the blue to speak at the event....I missed several heartbeats!

In my mind, my first meetup was going to be sitting with the beautiful people , getting to know my left and right neighbours, nodding and smiling shyly at the presenters, listening to questions asked and answered ... and finally getting my fill of new hair products to try out....
.....so it was like a 'sorry, what???' moment.
 I let her know in advance that although I was honored by her invitation, did she really want to risk having a presenter that gave the audience the 'stunned cat look'???
But she told me I could do it and I wouldn't be alone...I think NN has a calming effect on stunned cats like me because somehow I agreed and found myself in Lagos.....

I still had my yarn wraps in and everyone in my family suggested I take it down and go with my own hair.....which further added to my nervousness!!!
You know how when you are at home and your hair gives you the perfect twistout....but when you need your hair to be fly on that important date, your hair decides to give you the 'what da what??'.....well I was scared of that moment.
Remember my post of 'How to Prepare Your Hair for a Special Event' and all the lovely tips??? Well, that went outta da window because I didn't have the time to take down my wraps and deep condition and all that...( I had an event to attend back to back with the Lagos meetup, so no time!)

So it was with trepidation I took down my wraps just two days before the meetup. The wraps had stayed on for nearly a month... and I only washed it once on the second week...and I hadn't really moisturised my hair in a week!
 This meant dryness for my hair but I was hoping it would be at least grateful that I kept it warm, cosy and protected within the wraps...

Yeah right...my hair was dry but not crunchy dry...thanks to a good dose of NappyGirl Pudding prior to wrapping.

Here's what saved my hair and cut detangle, wash , deep condition time to a mere 30mins (minus the 7hrs+ I took to take down the yarn completely....that's why I don't like styling my hair...seriously!)......LOOSE TWISTS.

For every wrap I took down (thankfully my hair was stretched), I applied NappyGirl, fingerdetangled, snipped off split ends and twisted loosely. I twisted loosely to keep detangled sections detangled and also so I don't have a mass of loose unpredictable hair to deal with!
I did this all over my head....then washed my hair with the twists in using Keracare Cleansing Cream.
Then I blotted the twists dry, applied coconut oil and a generous amount of Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Repair Cream and covered my hair with a showercap overnight.

The next morning (day of the meetup), I loved the look of the chunky, full twists that I decided to retwist again loosely for the meetup.....it was really frizzy from the wash.... instead of the twistouts I planned initially.

Here's the loose twists after washing

I love love loose twists!
I think it's a wonderful style for fine haired naturals who are tired of scalpy, limp, hungry twists.
I've read about it on UrbanBushBabes.com several months back. The blogger, Cipriana styles her hair this way and it's gorgeous.

Cipriana Source: urbanbushbabes.com

She says it reduces tangles in her long fine 4c hair and gives her flexibility with styling. I tried doing it 'consciously' after seeing her results but it was an epic fail....my hair was just messy and frizzy....until I rediscovered it 'accidentally on purpose' when trying to take down my yarn wraps.

A clearer pic of the loose twists. Ankara Bow by Yvonne Ahmed

Now, I'm a believer...lol!
It's also quick to put in and even quicker to take down. It's really as light as a feather and if done on wet to damp hair, it shrinks up to look like you have locs....at least that's how mine turned out!
Finally, I had locs without the weight and the commitment....and best part is, I can touch my hair without barriers of wool!

Here's the link to the video tutorial

Gotta go for now.

Till I spill again,
Live Beautifully. Naturally.
Hadassah.