Leave it to the experts

I took my braids out the weekend before last and of course my hair was a hot-mess. Split ends, breakage, the works. I really need a haircut, but I'm too poor for that. Instead I washed it and tried to go with the 'fro for a few days, but my 'fro was unpredictable. I wouldn't know from one day to the next whether it would be short and sassy or wild and woolly. I figured I could "control" it a bit better by texturizing it. So I picked up one of those kits this weekend. The little girls on the box (I used a kiddie kind in the hopes of limiting the amount of damage done) looked so cute with loose tendrally curls. I didn't expect that since it was quit clear the young models had a different grade of hair than I, but I still though it would be better than what I had going on.

So I read the instructions and played Mad Scientist, mixing chemicals and measuring stuff. They estimated application time to be about 8 - 9 minutes and smoothing time about 5-7 minutes, so I set my timer and got to work. I think I was under the 8 minutes with the application. One isn't really supposed to "smooth" since that would straighten the hair too much (because really, the texturizer is basically a slightly weaker version of a relaxer kit), so I just sort of worked it through my hair with my fingers then hopped in the shower for the rinse. I still had 4 minutes left on the timer even.

Things were good when I left the shower and towel-dried my hair. I have a plethora of styling products , so I thought I'd try a bit of leave-in conditioner and some Be Curly (of which I have a free tube thankyouverymuch, Rebecca). Well, that is where things went downhill. There was very little curl happening. I had wavy-straight sections on the side with semi-curly sections in the back and practically stick-straight stuff in the front. It was a bad scene, man.

I could sorta work it into a semblance of an unkempt 'fro so I did that for a day. Last night, I decided that since I had basically relaxed my hair I'd try to work with it. I hot-combed it sorta straight then put curlers in. The results: could have been better. Needless to say, I am shopping for my next hairstyle purchase now. Shall I go with braids again? I like my braids, but I am kind of bored with that style and I might be a bit too old for it as well. I thought about going with the cornrows again since they are cheap and take less time to put in, but I don't know if the breakage in the front of my head can take 'em. I could go crazy again and try another weave, but those can be really static. I like to be able to pull my hair off of my neck and face, especially in the summer and with the kind of weave I can afford, I wouldn't be able to do that and hide the tracks at the same time. Ugh!

I kind of wish I had never made that first 'big-girl' trip to the beauty shop.