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16 January 2012

my best braidout yet!

i've only ever done a braidout once, during my 2011 summer styling circuit. now that my hair is a little longer and i've perfected my wash routine i wanted to try again. my last braidout came out pretty good (did one last week) and i could immediately tell that my results from braidouts would be a lot more consistent than my twistouts, since i haven't yet nailed the perfect twisting method. i've been wanting to try it on blow-dried hair for a while now, so i finally got to it last night. 

i washed and deep conditioned thursday, so when i sat to do my hair sunday night, my scalp and hair were still clean and my hair was already stretched, which would make blowdrying easier. i started by parting my hair into small, workable sections, about 6-7 all over my head. i detangled each section with a wide-toothed comb, then with my denman. this helped the comb attachment glide through without any snags (i have a conner yellowbird, with i LOVE, it's an awesome blowdryer and super affordable, for anyone looking). i applied a tiny bit of grapeseed oil and blow-dried on low heat. i was surprised at how easy it was and how straight my hair got. if i ever wanted to flat iron on my own, my yellowbird would definitely get me halfway there.

and just for fun, here is a pic of my fro four months ago and how it looked last night! huge difference, right?!



i then took out all those little sections and then sectioned my hair according to how i wanted it to fall and began braiding with saravun's broccoli butter. i "sealed" my ends with a little eco styler olive oil gel before setting on sponge rollers.




the next day (today!), i smoothed a little argan oil over the braids before taking them down. as i took them down i couldn't help dancing! first off, my braids were soft as fugg, shawty. i couldn't believe it, it feels like silk. it's so touchable, light, and bouncy! i had originally wanted a bang, but decided to flat twist the front.

but even more importantly, i found the length and shape i've been DYING for. i'd been mulling over getting a trim to shape my afro but now i won't have to. having super stretched hair was the key i'd been looking for. my hair is just as big as i want it! eeeeeeee!



of course, there are a few things to tweak, but i feel like this is a real breakthrough moment. the broccoli butter didn't give me the definition i was looking for, but it's not a product for hold anyway. next time, i'll pair it underneath a gel. i also think that the straightness was a factor. so next time, i'll stretch it out a little less or just do it on detangled hair. since the light is so hold, i don't expect this to hold up very long but it survived through a nap earlier so we'll see. since it is so floppy and fluffy, i think it'd be super cute pinned up as well, we'll see :)