wash day | Jennifer Abah

My beautiful people, I know you have missed me and I missed you too!

Don’t think it’s you oh. It’s me. I’ve been so stressed lately. I was just off the radar on basically everything: Instagram, BBM etc. I feel like I might be going through a mini midlife crisis or maybe I’m just exaggerating. It happens.

I kept planning to post but never actually posted. You know how life has a way of just getting in the way. (feeling like a literary giant)

So yeah, threading. I’m not talking about eyebrows. I’m talking about threading your hair like the way we used to as kids. These days, people sometimes refer to it as “African threading”.

Last washday, I decided “oh what the heck, I’ll give it a shot”. And I did.

I used regular sewing thread because I’m yet to find the rubber one more commonly used for threading hair.

I folded it in two and went to work on damp freshly washed hair right after moisturizing and sealing.

I did this at night and did not take pictures. However I threaded a section of my hair in the picture below as an example.

As you can see, the threaded section on the right is way way way more stretched than the twisted section on the left.

I took down the threading when it was dry in the morning and put my hair in a puff. The ends looked a bit stringy so I combed lightly.

And the result of my first time threading experiment was a mega puff!

Alas it lasted not! Later the same day shrinkage be like…

Possibly the shrinkage could have been avoided if I had not used products with humectants (ingredients that pull moisture into your hair e.g glycerine, propylene glycol) but I highly doubt I have any products without them.

I had intended to maximize the stretched hair all week by avoiding water/products with water so it would not shrink but I got caught in the rain the very next day and my dreams of stretched hair were literally washed down the drain.

Tips:

Avoid humectants so as to avoid shrinkage.
Avoid water/products with water to lengthen the time your hair stays stretched.
Make it firm but not tight (unless you like headaches and hate sleep).
Leave space in between as you thread.(As seen in the picture above where I threaded one section). You don’t have to wrap the entire hair in thread (like yarn/wool locs). This makes it easier to thread and helps it dry faster.
Make sure your hair is dry before taking down the threading. If not, it would all have basically been in vain.
Be careful while taking down the threading. You don’t want your hair getting tangled with the thread because the thread has nothing to lose if you have to resort to scissors while you have hair to lose.

Overall thoughts:

I think threading is a good and effective way of stretching your hair. It’s also a great way for those who can’t/don’t like to twist/braid to keep their hair stretched.

All in all, I would try it again if I can find a way to stop my hair from shrinking (if you have tips on this, please share). But for now, twists are much easier and quicker for me to install and take down even though they don’t give as much stretch as threading.

Have you tried threading? Do you have tips? What do you think of threading and would you try it? Please share!

Hi guys,

One thing I would say I miss about my non-existent hair routine before going natural was that I could use 30-60 minutes to wash my hair AND dry it.

Nowadays, that basically borders on impossible.

I really like the feel of cold water on my scalp and the softness of freshly washed hair. If not for these I actually do not enjoy wash day because, without sugar-coating it, I am lazy and would much rather use my free time to do what lazy people do.

In case you were ever wondering what I do on wash days, let me give you the low-down.

1. Detangle:

I sometimes shampoo before I detangle but these days I mostly detangle first.

If I’m shampooing first, I shampoo and then finger detangle my wet/damp hair in sections with my deep conditioner and twist each detangled section. After I’m done detangling and everything is in twists, I put on a shower cap for some time(deep condition).

However, if I’m detangling first, I take my dry hair in sections, put conditioner in it (or spray with a mix of conditioner, water and/or apple cider vinegar as seen in the picture) then finger detangle, twist that section and move to another until everything is detangled and in twists.

See how creepy my hand looks after detangling.

For now, I’m not sure which method I prefer but I’m leaning towards method 2 because it can be quite tasking to reach your scalp properly when shampooing loose hair like in method 1.

2. Shampoo:

I proceed to rinse my hair as best I can and shampoo it focusing on my scalp.

3. Deep condition:

I usually sit around and wait till my hair is damp before I deep condition (but that’s because most times, I don’t use a towel/t-shirt to blot excess water so I have to sit and drip till the hair becomes damp. If I have a towel/t-shirt, I blot out the excess water after shampooing and proceed to deep condition). I apply my deep conditioner of choice that day, put on my shower cap a.k.a nylon bag and go about my business for the next hour or more. Then I rinse it out.

4. ACV rinse:

After rinsing out the deep conditioner, I dilute apple cider vinegar with water and pour it over my hair making sure it gets everywhere. I wait a minute or two and then pour a bowl of plain water over my hair. Don’t ask me why I do this step because me sef I no know.

Loosened one twist to look at my hair. Looks clean to me

5. Moisturize and seal:

I sit around with my hair still in twists till it dries a bit.

When it’s damp, I proceed to loosen a twist, apply Cantu and follow it up with cocoa butter(or Shea butter) focusing on my ends and then put it in a loose Bantu knot or flat twist so I can differentiate it from those I haven’t moisturized. I do this till I’m done with everything. I then loosen each Bantu knot or flat twist and put in back in a regular twist so I can have a twist out the next day. (Alternatively, I do a firm Bantu knot/flat twist after moisturizing each section so that I don’t have to loosen it after moisturizing).