In case you haven’t seen my last several posts on Instagram and Facebook, my hair is back to it’s normal state! I wore the Haute Kinks collection by Haute Kinky Hair for a total of six and a half weeks, and I’d like to share my final thoughts on my experience with the hair itself, and with wearing a weave as a non-weave wearing person.

The Last Days

In my last update about the Haute Kinks, I discussed how I blow dried it out and how it reverted back to its kinks. I wore the hair out a few times after that, but since I never fully submerged it in water or washed it, the hair strands were unevenly clumped and fairly tangled. Work also got a bit too real so I decided to put my hair away in a flat twist crown updo variation that I’ve done many times before on my real hair. The only difference was that this hair was  longer so the ends wrapped around more and had to be tucked away. I recorded a video tutorial but I’m debating whether I should edit and post since it’s not that exciting (a comment saying you need to see it would motivate me!). When the style’s expiration date was quickly approaching, I decided to do the bantu knots again for video purposes. They didn’t come out as fabulously as the first time (and my video is absurdly dark), but I did get a fantastic updo out of it that worked for a work event and a Chrisette Michelle concert!

The Take Down

After assessing my weekend schedule, I realized the best time to take down my hair would be after the concert on Friday night, so I came back to my place around 1am and decided to get to work. My plan was to remove the weave and unbraid my hair before going to sleep, then wash and style in the early afternoon before I had to head to a graduation party. Luckily my local corner store had some razors so I bought a pack and slowly began cutting the thread used to sew the tracks to my cornrows. It was difficult to detangle the tracks to remove them because my hair was all clumped in the bantu knot out from the previous day. The process took much longer than I anticipated, so by 4am I was tired, impatient, frustrated, and lazy. Once I started unraveling my cornrows, I noticed a piece of my hair only 3 inches long, and then I proceeded to cry – no really, to ball and wail like a toddler – for 30 whole minutes. At 6 in the morning. Not pretty.

My takedown process was such a struggle because I didn’t follow my own rules for taking down a protective style. I completely underestimated the amount of time I needed and I didn’t have the right resources! I should have waited to take down my hair when I was more alert and when I had someone to help me. If I had waited until morning, my roommate could’ve helped and it probably would not have taken us so long, and I’d still have all my hair.

Quite a bit of the Haute Kinks tangled up and had to be yanked out, so I made two piles of hair – on the left is the reusable portion and the right is the thread, tangles, and any shed hair of mine. I decided to tackle washing the Haute Kinks at a later date, but couldn’t delay my own wash day for much longer. I used my Q-Redew and the Texture My Way Easy Comb to steam and quickly detangle my hair into my 6 wash braids. I still didn’t really feel like detangling thoroughly, so I simply shampooed and conditioned while in braids – as in I never unbraided my hair – which was the quickest process ever and is about to be incorporated into regular routine. However, my braidout was whack and my hair was shedding a lot so I was a bit concerned. Turns out I just needed a trim, as it had been 12 weeks since my last one. I will do a proper deep condition and detangling session during my next wash cycle, which will hopefully coincide with a new regimen video!

Final Thoughts on Haute Kinks

The Pros

Gives your hair a break

Versatile styling options

Getting daily compliments

The Cons

Isn’t a wake up and go protective style

Tangles if not well moisturized

Can’t get to scalp

While kinky textured weaves are a great way to give your hair a break, they are not a protective style that you can set and forget. Technically, there’s no protective style that requires zero upkeep – failure to do so is what causes breakage for lots of women when taking down braids or weaves. However, kinky weaves from human hair may actually be MORE work that your real hair. Why? It’s typically longer hair and it tangles in the blink of an eye if you’re not loading it with moisturizers and leave ins. I had visions of wearing this hair out big for a while, but it didn’t hold curls with pineappling like my hair does, and curly styles tangled before I could say pat your weave. I ended up wearing it in familiar updos for about the last two weeks, which was fine, but I could’ve done that with my own hair.

Nonetheless, I don’t regret this weave process, but I think I just don’t really like weaves. Now this hair wasn’t cheap so rest assured it’ll be used again. I’m hoping to make (ok, let’s be realistic here… I’ll have someone else make) a u-part wig with my Haute Kinks, which would allow me to get all the great benefits of it while addressing 2/3 of my cons: I’ll get access to my scalp and the hair can become a get up and go option.

Here’s a roundup of all the styles that I did with the Haute Kinks! Which are your favorites?

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