Before washing out the SheaMoisture Souffle yesterday (see my
last post), I decided that I wanted to try flexi-rods. So I dressed my son and let him scooter to the beauty supply store with me :) I
really want to buy some
Curlformers, but I can't drive myself to spend $60 on them with shipping. I saw on YT and read reviews that flexi-rods produced the same/similar results, so I decided to give them a whirl. The prob with buying curlers is you never know how many packs to buy. I decided to go with 4 packs of the short
orange ones (5/8" wide) and 1 pack of the short
grey ones (11/16" wide) for the front since I didn't plan on doing small sections. The brand is Diane and they were $2.99/pack of 6, so that ran me about $15, not bad.
When I got home, I washed my hair with the SM African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo (had to get that sticky souffle out), then the SM Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo (my absolute favorite!!), then conditioned with the SM Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner. I decided since I was doing a roller set I would use light styling products to let it air-dry faster. So for each section of hair, I spritzed some water, then put some
Jane Carter Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner and her
Wrap & Roll setting lotion and combed it through end to root with a small tooth comb. I really had no curling method, I was just made sure to smooth the ends of my hair on the rod, then I twirled the curler and bent each side to keep it put. I didn't go in a uniform direction or anything, I just did it. I swear, these chicks on YT make it look so easy! It wasn't hard per se, but it was a little tricky at times, especially since my hair isn't long so by the time I got into a groove, I was at the end, lol! I used the orange ones on the back and sides and the grey ones in the first two rows in the front. I was left with about 3 or 4 orange curlers, so I used about 27. Not bad, better than not having enough. I let it air dry the rest of the afternoon and night. Slept with my bonnet as usual. I have to say, it wasn't as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. Though I did end up with a headache in the middle of the night that I'm blaming on them :P
This morning I took them out and the results were good. Not exactly the smoothest, especially at the roots, but I think that's because it was my first attempt. I also didn't do it to achieve a smooth look, just some curls. I think I'll try the little papers with them the next time.
The curls are tight and the only way not to look like a grandmother in my opinion was to do the mohawk look with the sides pinned back. That seems to be my go-to hairstyle since my hair is in that in-between length. This time I used hair pins instead of side combs. I separated each curl in 3 before doing that and used an afro pick to fluff the roots a bit. I sprayed some SheaMoisture Raw Shea Butter Reconstructive Elixir (LOVE!) throughout, put some Karen's Body Beautiful Hair Growth Serum on my edges and Jane Carter Nourish & Shine on my sides to smooth it a bit. Nothing with water to ruin my hard work! I ended up using Ecostyler Olive Oil Gel on my edges last minute to smooth them down as well. It looks cute...something I don't necessarily strive for, haha. I look like Little Bo Peep or something, lmao! As the week progresses, I'll pull it out more and mess it up a bit to create some volume and oomph.
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| Shirley Temple or Little Bo Peep? |
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| Close up, sides pulled back |
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| Bang area needs to be fluffed more |
