Natural Hair: How to Make It Soft
If you have curls, coils or waves then you are probably very familiar with the term shrinkage. Most of us have it but the problem arises when your shoulder length hair turns into a TWA. As cute as the TWA look is, if you’ve worked hard to get the length, then you probably want to show it off from time to time. Here are some ways to stretch your coils and show off that length!
Banding
This method is great for stretching the hair without straightening it since it’s simple to do and doesn’t involve heat of any kind. All you will need are some small seamless hair bands.
- Start off by separating a small section of your hair and loosely securing the rest of your hair so that it does not get in the way.
- Then take your first hair band and secure it at the base of your hair.
- Take the next one and secure it around the same section about an inch above the first hair band.
- Continue to do this all the way to the end or leave about 2 inches of hair at the end to preserve the curl pattern if you are trying to stretch a wash and go or braid/twist-out.
It’s important to note that if you’re using this method to dry your hair or stretch it for a style like twists, then you should detangle first to remove any knots and ensure that the hair gets as stretched as it can. However, if you are using this method to stretch a wash and go or other style, then do not detangle before hand and try to do very little to manipulate the hair in order to maintain your curl pattern. Lastly, remember that the closer together the hair bands the more stretched the hair will be.
To be continued…
