Fake It Til You Make It! Tips & Styles for Multiple Textures

Sometimes, it beez like that, yo!

My scalp is schizophrenic.

I know somebody out there understands the sheer frustration of having multiple hair textures going on. Somewhere between my heat damage, new growth, and my scalp's own identity crisis, I have about 4 textures going on in my head. Each texture likes to annoy me in its own special little way -- my super straight left side refuses to naturally curl, my right side forms perfect ringlets (but makes my hair look lopsided, juxtaposed against the left), the front of my hair likes to wave instead of curl...and my crown has a mind of its super-coarse own.

With that being said, I have learned that the "n' go" part of a wash n' go is actually a no-go for me. Not with my uncooperative crop. As I delve further into my haircare journey, I learned that to achieve the look that I want (nice, uniformed curl or wave pattern....heck, anything uniform), I have to start the night (or a few nights) before. Here are some of the prep-practices that have given me the best results:

I covered this one a while ago, and you can catch all the detailed instructions here. Sure, they're a pain to sleep in, but the inconvenience pales in comparison to the cute super tight (or super loose, depending on how big your knots are) ringlets you emerge with. Perfect camouflage for multiple textures -- it stretches my more shrink-prone textures while giving definition to my straighter side.

Give this protective and simultaneously camouflaging style a lift with some curls on the end! Although I will probably never do them again, mini twists have many benefits. All your hair is stretched (twisted), so your lengths are more identical. And because you can style them differently, you can  cover up uncooperative areas with a few bobby pins.

Braid out are probably the least complicated of all the prep practices, and will produce anything from tiny crinkles to gentle waves, depending on how small are large your braids are. Just prep with your favorite moisturizing product(s), braid, cover, and undo the next morning!

#2: Flat-Twist Out (Or Regular)
Admittedly, I am still trying to master this one. Since flat twisting is just like cornrows (with two pieces of hair instead of three), I pretty much suck at it. Even with my sub-par twisting skils, I manage to get some great, cooperative curly waves all over, instead on just 1/4 of my head. Stay tuned for my how-to (once I perfect the craft)!

Admittedly, I am still trying to master this one too. As you can see in the pic below, Flexi Rods make you look absolutely ridiculous. They are a complete and utter pain to sleep in (worse than the Bantu Knots), and you definitely have to take the time to learn how to get your hair around the rod correctly to achieve the uniform curls you seek. But once you do all that, the result is well worth it. I rocked my very first Flexi Rod set this past weekend, and although the curls came out bigger than I wanted, and wouldn't separate (I haven't gotten my methods down yet), I loved the uniformity, body, and versatility of my curls. As a matter of fact, I recently went to Sally's to get smaller rods (and hopefully get it right this time). Stay tuned for my post about my first Flexi Rod set!