Hi peeps, what's been on?
Hope you're having loads of fun with your curls and kinks and loving your baby hair and baby fro! #Formation

I love that with natural hair, I can change my hair as fast as my mood changes!
 Speaking of changes, I remember noting on Instagram that last year, I had tried all natural hair styles but weaves, cornrows, tapered cuts and teeny weeny afro.

Truth is, every other style ( updos, bantu knots, twists, curly sets etc) were styles I could easily do myself without breaking a sweat but weaves and cornrows were styles I would need to go to the salon for....and when I think about the stress of booking appointments, sitting down for hours and fretting if my hair is well taken care of, I just bun and go!

On Saturday, I was taking inventory of my hair products and I spied a bag containing 4 bundles of 16" virgin body wave extensions I had purchased almost 2 years back. I had bought it thinking it would be a very good alternative to straightening my hair. If I wanted curly, I would wear my kinks and if I wanted something straighter, I would fix the weave.

I finally used it once (full sew in, no leave out). I enjoyed it but the full sew in afforded me very limited styling options and I got bored quickly and took down the hair with a note to get a multiple part closure.
I didn't really like the closures I was seeing and tucked the hair in my cupboard until I discovered it again.

I had a conversation with someone about weave extensions on natural hair and she got me excited enough to start prepping my hair for a weave install....this time with leave outs.

Blending natural hair leave outs with extensions that are not kinky curly can be very tricky. The hardest is if the texture of the weave you're planning to use is silky straight.

Since I've had good success using Beautiful Texture Manageability System for long lasting straightening, I decided I could safely do a leave out with my hair.


I was also going to the salon... #sigh.

HAIR PREP

I wasn't going to a natural hair salon so I had to cowash, deep condition and blow out my hair so braiding it would be stress free.



I first deep conditioned with my all time favorite deep conditioner, Shea Moisture African Black Soap Purification Masque using my portable heating cap for deeper conditioning. Then after 15mins, cowashed with As I Am Coconut Cowash Cleansing Conditioner.

Then I applied TMS leave in to the section I wanted for my leave out. For the rest of the hair, I applied Cantu Shea butter Leave In Conditioning Cream and a little heat protectant by Biolage and then blowdried my hair in sections using the tension method.
I also washed and blowdried the extensions.



I packed my salon bag containing
- red rattail comb (this has wide tooth instead of the usual close teeth)
- heat protectant serum
- paddle brush
- flat iron ( I love my flat iron. It's by TONI & GUY. It gets my hair straight in one pass without any damage. I don't trust any other flat iron).

At the salon, my hair was braided down and about 3 bundles sewed in. I have got 4 bundles and even with the close sewing, I never manage to use all four....me and my small head.


For the leave out, I insisted on flat ironing it myself. I do hate more than one pass . I've had heat damage before so I know how bad it can be and I take all precautions to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The precautions are:-

- Hair should be completely dry. Flat ironing wet hair leads to heat damage. If the hair crackles, pops and smokes excessively while you're straightening, STOP!!! 

- Heat protectant should always be applied. Oils aren't heat protectants because they don't distribute the heat evenly. Your best bet are silicones...dimethicone, cyclomethicone etc. 

- Apply heat protectant before blowdrying the hair. Don't apply it when you're flatironing the hair or you'll hear crackle, pop and sizzle. 

- Don't flat iron often. I try to limit it to once a month or better still once or twice a year during dry season. Reason being during wet season, it's easy for your hair to revert and you'll find yourself tempted to retouch. This was the reason for my heat damage eight years ago. I was retouching every weekend.

MAINTENANCE

I will maintain my hair by bantu knotting my leave out at night. It's easy to do, easier to sleep in, quick to take out and effective in keeping my hair straight.
I will not straighten my hair for the 3 weeks I plan to have the weave in.