This post was really supposed to be a video, but I’ve been on a serious uphill battle with time these past few weeks since starting my new job (but I’m not complaining, praise Him!). Regardless, I’ve been getting some questions about the various styles I’ve accomplished so far with my Haute Kinky Hair, so I thought I would try to quickly give ya’ll the scoop before I fall asleep in preparation of another busy week! If you missed the post about the HKH install process, or the coloring process, go check those out before leaving questions. I will probably (I must!) do a final review video and post within the next two weeks about my overall experience with the hair, and then it’s back to my basic, normal, non-divalicious self!
Washing & Drying my Haute Kinks
So I really meant to videotape this because I know it’s a crucial part in the decision about whether or not to buy a weave. But unfortunately I washed my hair at 9am on a day I needed to be at work at 1pm, and forgetting that I also needed to get my hair dry and blown out! Le struggle. My original plan was to detangle the hair before getting in the shower like I do with my real hair, but that went out of the window as I left the wash until the last minute. So in the shower I went, armed with a wide toothed comb, my own hair braided up and the HKH sectioned into 8 or so sections, an applicator bottle filled with water and shampoo, and a bottle of Trader Joe’s Nourish Spa Conditioner. I applied the watered down shampoo liberally on my scalp underneath and between my braids, and gently massaged my hair underneath the weave to try to encourage more distribution of the shampoo. After very diligently rinsing out all traces of shampoo, I picked up my comb and a huge glob of conditioner and began trying to detangle my Haute Kinks. Operative word is trying… I got through only 2 sections before I gave up on the comb and just started using my fingers.
For one, I figured I’d get out any knots while blow drying, but more importantly, I realized I should treat my Haute Kinks as I would my own hair, which I no longer comb. With the shedding considerably reduced, I was able to get through the rest of the sections relatively quickly.
Even though I have really limited experience with weaves, one thing I do know is that you HAVE to let them dry properly after washing, or they can smell bad or even get mildew-y. If I was on top of my game, I would have washed my Haute Kinks the previous day and let it air dry overnight, but alas, I instead sat under the dryer – keeping my hair and the HKH twisted up – for a good hour making sure I wouldn’t have scalp issues. I couldn’t be trying to look cute at my event and vigorously scratching my scalp at the same time! I somehow managed to remember to get a shot of the Haute Kinks in their natural post-wash texture, which is surprisingly not really what my hair looks like immediately after washing.
Blow Dry & FlexiRods
Once my scalp was dry, I began the long and tedious process of blow-drying my Haute Kinks. Full disclosure: this was a STRUGGLE. I needed to use like 3 different methods in order to get the knots out of the HKH. To start off with, I lightly sprayed the Carol’s Daughter Tui Moisturizing Leave-in Conditioner all over, then used a heat protectant – the Got 2 B Blowout Lotion that I used the last time I blew out my own hair. Then I finger detangled some more, used the tension method and a nozzled blow dryer to stretch it out a bit, followed by a paddle brush to remove some knots, and finished off with a different blow dryer with a comb attachment, this time with warm heat. Before I was even halfway done I was tired. Tiyad as my people in Nigeria would say. At this point I decided that I was probably not going to make it another year of being natural without cutting my hair again, because there is just no point in having hair that is as long and as thick as the Haute Kinks. I’ll say it in proper English so it’s more meaningful: Nobody has the time for all this hair.
I would be trifling if I didn’t tell you guys this; there was hair EVERYWHERE. I didn’t even fully sweep and had a huge ball of hair, so big that I had to document it for proof! I was surprised I had any weave left, but it still looked nice and thick.
To set my hair for A Summer Protective Styling Brunch, I put a wee bit of Carol’s Daughter Healthy Hair Butter on the Haute Kinks, focusing mostly on the ends, and rolled it on medium/large flexirods. I sprayed the slightest bit of water just to help the hair set a little better, as I needed it to last me through the whole event, as well as for a few days afterwards! Essentially this whole process is the same as the one in this video I made a few months ago when I blew out and rolled my own hair.
No Twist Bantu Knots
After rocking the big hair, I maybe re-rolled it one night but didn’t keep up with it, so my hair very quickly landed itself in a bun. Someone suggested that I use a curling wand on the hair, which sounded like a great idea besides the fact that I don’t own one. I did want to achieve big, wavy/curly hair though so I decided to attempt a bantu knot out. This time, I had time to record but wasn’t sure it would turn out well so I didn’t bother. Unfortunately, I knocked this look out of the flipping park huntey!! Products used were some water and the Texture my Way Easy Comb Leave-In Detangling and Softening Creme Therapy (longest name ever), for which I owe you guys a review. Normally when I do bantu knots, I two strand twist my hair first. However, because I wanted to minimize tangles, I decided to just do the knots on the HKH without twisting. AfricanExport has an awesome video that shows bantu knots done without twisting, done on stretched, flat-ironed hair. The knots that were done on my hair in the back and sides were done my normal way, with a two strand twist first. The only change I would have made would be to flat twist then bantu knot my leave out, because it didn’t get enough of the curl pattern action as the rest of the hair. Regardless, I did the damn thang.
Sadly my bantu knot out didn’t last too long, despite me pineappling and scarfing (sounds gross but I’m sticking to it) up my hair every night. In fact, it kind of only lasted a day or perhaps two. What do I do when my hair isn’t acting right? An updo. The awesome thing about a partial weave with enough hair left around your perimeter is you can put it up and off your neck, and the style will still look natural.
Spray & Go
Despite the ease of my updo, I wanted my hair to be big again. To make that happen, I simply took a good 5 minutes out of my life and spritzed it with a mixture of water and oil at every which angle I could imagine. I made sure to flip my head over and spray underneath, and lifted my hair in layers to get in between tracks. Every minute or so, I would scrunch my hair to further distribute the moisture. As for my real hair, I simply braided it – after moisturizing of course – for stretch. I then pineappled and went to bed; by morning, my Haute Kinks had fro’d out back to its original glory for this past weekend’s festivities!
Ijeoma, I left a comment on your youtube page talking about my experiences with the hair. I didn’t see this before but now I see that you too had the detangling and shedding as well. Good to know I’m not crazy! I should have done a partial weave as well, it would have given me more room to do different hairstyles like you did.Thanks a lot for your honesty, you look fantastic!
would you recommend straightening the hair?
I didn’t straighten it but I know other bloggers have straightened the collections, including the Haute Kinks, and it reverted back. Check out hkhblog.com for more tips on how to use the hair.
The Bantu Knot Out was my fav! You look amazing! I would love to see you try some crown braids with HKH.
I love the idea of showing your shoe to give a size reference. It reminds me of what’s referred to as a “tumbleweave.” lol
Hahaha! So true