Helluurr babies!
You know how they say “Necessity is the mother of invention”? Recently I was reminded of the truth in this statement.
Last Thursday, I just didn’t know what to do with my hair, but I needed to go out and I didn’t even have a headscarf to match my outfit. I had no choice but to get in there like a true gladiator.
How I Set Myself Up
See, the day before, I had lost a lot of hair trying to brush my hair into the perfect halo. After 20 minutes of brushing, I still didn’t achieve “perfection”, so please ask me why I even bothered! For the rest of the day, the lost hair kind of haunted me. After doing all that damage in the day, at night I still had the mind to be too lazy to twist (on the bright side, I wore a satin bonnet!) so Thursday morning, I woke up with a flat, very shrunken, super DRY and tangled mess.
I was conflicted. Whenever I don’t know what to do with my hair, I just ‘fro it. I could have shut my eyes and let Wednesday repeat itself, but I could not BEAR to even look at my comb or brush. Any comb activists in the building? *In Stacy Dash’s voice* Combs and brushes don’t cause breakage, kinky girls cause breakage when they use combs. Meh. So, after standing in front of the mirror for minutes waiting for a sign, I decided to tackle the dryness first.
How I Made It Out
In sections, I spritzed my hair with water, applied a lot of my Cantu leave-in, chunky twisted, and went into the shower- to let it soak in [like seasoninggg]
By the time I was done getting dressed and doing a little makeup, my hair was super soft again. Yay!
I just stood there. I still couldn’t bring myself to reach for the comb. Next thing, I saw myself using my fingers. Like I actually didn’t know when I processed the thought, it was super spontaneous. When I say I saw myself, I really mean it. I was already putting my fingers through each section from ends to roots, detangling as I went, in a shingling motion (the way people do Wash N’ Gos) before my consciousness caught up with the girl in the mirror like ohhh that’s what we are doing! I did this over and over until I was happy with the outcome. I held the left side back a little with a styling comb.
[I’ve said this before: Youtube videos aren’t helpful to me when I need them right away. So I’ve taken to watching them for entertainment, as I’d watch the Food Network or any other How-To channel or even Telemundo sef, no pressure. I’m not trying to study these girls but somehow, their lessons are embedded in my mind, and come to the surface when I desperately need them. Isn’t it amazing how the brain works?]
It was my first time ever shingling and I loved the result. Honestly I was in disbelief for a while. Like, my fingers did this? So why the heck do I keep using combs and brushes? I even noticed some curls in the back standing out, they were clumping! Clumping! Few things give my 4C curls natural definition, so maybe I should look into this shingling thing? Wash N’ Go next, like the curlier girls do? I wish I could have taken photos but, it was a super busy day and I had to be out the door.
This is the end of the story guys. I happily went about my day, comb-less. Few strands were lost. The lesson from this is, Maybe I SHOULD ditch my comb and dear detangling brush. Because the truth is, I usually use them when I’m in a hurry and you know how that goes. Unnecessary breakage.
P.S. If you’re going to try this sometime, know thy leave-in. My good old Cantu is very moisturising but it takes a while to absorb. When I left the house, my hair was white, but I knew it would dry before I arrived at my destination, 20 minutes away.
And oh, here’s a quick Shingling tutorial below. It’s really simple, you just repeatedly rake your fingers through slightly wet hair with product in it. Most tutorials have the naturals working with soaking wet hair, but as I said, I simply spritzed with water, didn’t soak my hair in it.
Alright guys. Have you had any Aha! moments lately? Do you shingle your hair? Tell me about it in the comments! 🙂
Love,
AB,
xx
Nice work AB. I finger detangle a lot and I also finger comb my hair when I want to fro it out. I don’t do the shingling motion though, I simply pick out the strands with my fingers and pat it down for a supreme fro!
How to make your own floral headband
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Thank you 🙂 and your tutorial is pretty awesome!
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Lol. It turned out really well :). I think cuz I’m still in the kinda twa stage, I don’t really have to even consider using a comb to get a fro, and I’m not sure how Instagram has been capturing that (See my sneaky way of directing you to my Insta pics 😉 Lol). All I do is spritz with my water and glycerin mix to soften and I fluff out with my fingers. My hair doesn’t need any further encouragement to go up, she just stays that way. Utterly gorgeous (Me talking like a proud mama. Rofl).
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Lol you’re a proud mama, it’s allowed! When my hair was a twa I was in Law School and not combing wasn’t even an option. Will go to your Insta now lol x
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Lol.
Thank you for sharing your aha moment.
I wish you’d had time to take a pic.
Defined curls in 4C hair is a huge accomplishment. I have yet to get there.
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OmG. This is an awesome video… I sooo want to try this method.
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Ah love eet! Definitely not a fan of combing. When my hair’s out I often go without combing at all. Too much hair loss.
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Did it flake or leave white residue after it dried!
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Hey, no flaking, no residue whatsoever 🙂
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Awesome, thank you dear, gotta try this shingling method, YouTube, here I come!!
Smiles!!!
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Really looks good. I always comb mine and I noticed how much sheds off *teary eyes *. I think im going to change that.
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Thank you! 🙂 Yes oh come over to the finger Detangling side. I’m q
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Kai! You’re slaying in that pic. Going to check out that shingling. This is why I gave up combs (although I combed recently after a long time)- breakage city.
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Thanks geh! 😀
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This was a great read: funny thing is I too last night went out without combing my hair, like you I spritzed my hair and put in my Cantu…i didnt even know what I was doing, I just knew that out of my products thus far, Cantu leaves my hair the fluffiest! So great to see what the effect looks like with someone with longer hair- loooove how you look, super cute!
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Thanks Biki! 🙂
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I kip wondering how this whole “wash n go” thing works. Now I HAVE to try it.
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I fully ditched combs this year, and it feels great! Been so lazy, but seeing results of less shedding (from someone who sheds like a cat normally) in mere months (after almost five years of enduring molting urggh), i’m done with the combs!
Great blog, by the way!
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Thanks Seyi! Ditching combs is truly the right thing to do for our texture! I did not think I could do it but it’s working so far. Will continue and see what happens. ^.^
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