Now for those of you ladies who are rocking the natural hair and LOVING IT there is a factor of natural hair that some of you ladies don’t like what so ever SHRINKAGE!!!
Yes the dreaded word which you either embrace or try to prevent (sometimes impossible). To be honest though I love it and it amazes me how my hair can go from shoulder length to just under my ear, with not a pair of scissors in sight is AMAZEBALLS!! I think the reason why some natural haired ladies aren’t loving shrinkage is because the whole having long hair aspect is highly focused on these days.
PREVENTION
So for yall who are running scared there are ways to prevent or should I say alter the shrinkage.
1. Twists outs – This is my fave style and a MUST, I do this simply because my hair is easier to maintain and lasts longer. In my opinion this is best done when your hair is wet/damp this is because the hair is easy to manipulate and less frizz will form. If you want smaller more defined curls do small twists, if you want bigger curls but still defined do big twists. Once twisted it is good to keep them in overnight or over the course of a day. The longer you leave them the more defined they will be. Once taken out If you retwist your hair at night the hair will become more and more stretched over a few days.
2. Flat twist – These are also another one of my faves as they give definition from the root, so if you have straight areas flat twist are good to form a curl pattern on these areas.
3. Braid out – This is the same concept as a twist out but instead you braid the hair. A braid out gives a more relaxed looser curl and not as much definition. This is a good method/style to do if you don’t like tight curls and want your hair even more stretched.
4. Blow dryer – This is another method which I am not much of a fan of but it may work wonders for you. The blow dry method involves using a blow dryer to apply heat at the roots whilst pulling the hair out gently. This should elongate the curls for a more stretched out look.
For the ladies who wash and go (I don’t as my hair freaks out) shrinkage will be the norm to you. If you wash and go but don’t want shrinkage this is when you can use the blow dry method.
So ladies don’t run and hide from it face it head on..
Our hair is amazing its our crown so say it loud and wear it PROUD!!
LB