Friday, March 9, 2012

NEW STYLING THOUGHT PROCESS FOR COILY/CURLY HAIR

NEVER GONNA CONFUSE COILY HAIR WITH STRAIGHT HAIR!

Enjoying a Sweet Coily Girl Hair Style!


For over 10 years, I've been styling straight hair. 

Straight hair 

lays flat. 
Detangles easily (for the most part), 
is comfortingly predictable, 
has shine, 
is easily parted
is easily moved around (braided, styling, etc)
is very "blow in the wind"


Curly/Coily hair:

Gets tangled easily
Is not very predictable
is hard to part
isn't easily manipulated into styling
doesn't move with the wind so much

With that in mind, I do this post about styling curly/coily hair. I had to change  my mind-set about the hairstyles that will "work" with coily hair. I kept thinking of styles that I used to do with my straight hair, and my efforts left me frustrated. I know that my coily hair won't "hang" like my straight hair used to, so I need to remember that when selecting styles that require hanging hair. ESPECIALLY AT THIS LENGTH. 

Also, I embraced my hair with the knowledge that it will "stand up" with most of my styling. I've come to love that about my hair. 

Before, my expectations left me frustrated. Once I realized what my hair is designed to do, and learned how to work with it, then it became BEAUTIFUL! The mind is a strong force. This healthy hair journey encompasses way more than the right shampoos and leave in's. It requires a "make-over" of the mind. Why did it take me so long? Especially since I've been in love with my hair from the day that I saw it in it's raw, coily state. Well, there are still some things that I'm learning, and it just so happened that my mind is still set in some of it's straight hair days.

Long Curly Hair Requires Different Styling Preparation than Straight Hair
And with that knowledge, I will use this Spring/Summer to learn new styles for my 2012 coily hair (un-stretched). Knowledge is Power.

4 comments:

  1. When T was transitioning, did you notice if her curls were much more coily when she started out? Or did her relaxed ends weigh it down? I'm 2 months into transiting and I have around 2-3 inches of new growth and my curls are very hard to determine the type. Will they get looser as it grows or is this going to be my destined hair type?

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    Replies
    1. Hey Kaycee! The relaxed hair weighed down our natural hair so the coils were elongated. Mines especially b/c it's a tighter coil than T's. As my hair gets longer, my coils seem to be laying looser than when cut off my relaxed hair. T's hair has a looser coil pattern, so it wasn't easy to see the difference, but I suspect it's the same rule for everybody (relaxed hair will weigh down the coils--cut the relaxed hair off and the coils will spring back to their true constricted shape--as the hair gets longer, the weight will again loosen a bit. HTH Have fun with your transitioning!

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  2. hi im trying to transition to natural hair and ive not had a relaxer for 6 months, do u have any tips

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  3. You can't have blow in the wind hair if you got a perm. Because the perms stiffens your hair so that it doesn't move. It is so thick that it doesn't curl. That's how it's straight.

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