SHRINKAGE IS CAUSING PROBLEMS. NEED SUGGESTIONS

DrC · Sep 22, 2013

I'm somewhere between APL - BSB. My shrinkage is so serious I look as if I have a 2 inch fro when I have about 11-13 inches of hair. :censored:

. I've tried:

braid outs
twists outs
banding
protective styling
blow drying
flat ironing
Beating it
Yelling at it
Cursing it out

and it shrinks right back up. I'm out of ideas. I don't know what else to do. I'm able to do wash & Go's but I don't want to walk around looking like with a mushroom shaped hair do showing off my big head and those two combined do not look good. Blah.

I can't take it anymore. I've been thinking about texlaxing. I'm open to any new suggestions. Thank you.

Blairx0 · Sep 22, 2013

Rollerset!

SuchaLady · Sep 22, 2013

Those last three on the list :rofl:

ail221 · Sep 22, 2013

Accept the shrinkage.

HairPleezeGrow · Sep 22, 2013

Have you tried doing twist outs/braidiuts on lightly blow dried hair? Or even hair that was air dried in a bun to stretch it?

HPG

Don't judge...Sent from my Galaxy Note II using LHCF

DrC · Sep 22, 2013

Blairx0 said:
Rollerset!

Blairx0
rollerset on natural hair? *youtubing*

HairPleezeGrow said:
Have you tried doing twist outs/braidiuts on lightly blow dried hair? Or even hair that was air dried in a bun to stretch it?

HPG

Don't judge...Sent from my Galaxy Note II using LHCF

@HairPleezeGrow Yes. I've done twist outs on blow dried hair, and flat iron hair. It still shrinks something serious. I've tried serums and everything but it won't work. :sad:

HairPleezeGrow · Sep 22, 2013

DrC said:
blairX rollerset on natural hair? *youtubing*

HairPleezeGrow Yes. I've done twist outs on blow dried hair, and flat iron hair. It still shrinks something serious. I've tried serums and everything but it won't work.

Maybe it's the products you are using. Does your products have glycerin in them? I think I recall someone saying if the products have glycerin the hair reverts or still shrinks some. What do you use with your styling? If you are thinking about texlaxing there are plenty of ladies here that have gorgeous healthy texlax and relaxed hair. Maybe they can chime in and point you to the right direction.

HPG

Don't judge...Sent from my Galaxy Note II using LHCF

yuhlovevybz · Sep 22, 2013

Your hair looks a lot like mine....

Do you use and greases, pomades, oils, mineral oil, petroleum, etc? If so.... you need to get a sulfate shampoo, wash that stuff out, and never touch it again. Those types of product do nothing but cause shrinkage. Also, try putting hair in braids after washing it in the shower. It is weighed down and gravity will do it all for you.

ckisland · Sep 22, 2013

I FEEL YOUR PAIN :lol:

!!! I think most other naturals with my hair type and tighter can get their hair to stretch way better than mine :spinning:

. The best I can get with a stretched style is full SL. . . but my hair's cleavage length

look

in the front and almost MBL in the back. I rollerset for awhile and SL was still the longest length it would show.

In order to see any length what I have to do is to pre-stretch my hair in twists or braids right after washing, then rebraid it into fewer braids once it's 90+% dry. The next day I wear my hair in a bun (great for stretching out hair) or 2 braids, and then I rebraid my hair in 3-4 braids at night, every night to keep the stretch going. My hair is usually as stretched as it's going to get by the third day

.

I was thinking about relaxing too earlier this year because I was frustrated with the idea of only experiencing short hair no matter how long my actually grew :nono:

! I found someone who, finally, could actually get my hair straight and I wasn't satisfied with the length. Which was lucky for my hair, so now I'm focused on growing as much hair as I can first and battling the shrinkage later :lol:

.

OP I have a question for you.
Does water weigh your hair down a lot or does it not? Like I watch vids of naturals with their hair soaking wet or while under the shower stream, and their hair will hang down to APL, BSL, even WL, but then it shrinks back up when it dries. My hair doesn't do that. If I'm right under the full force of the shower head, my hair will still only hang to SL :ohwell:

. I think it might be the cause of my hair being hard to tangle or mat up.

DrC · Sep 22, 2013

HairPleezeGrow said:
Maybe it's the products you are using. Does your products have glycerin in them? I think I recall someone saying if the products have glycerin the hair reverts or still shrinks some. What do you use with your styling? If you are thinking about texlaxing there are plenty of ladies here that have gorgeous healthy texlax and relaxed hair. Maybe they can chime in and point you to the right direction.

HPG

Don't judge...Sent from my Galaxy Note II using LHCF

yuhlovevybz said:
Your hair looks a lot like mine....

Do you use and greases, pomades, oils, mineral oil, petroleum, etc? If so.... you need to get a sulfate shampoo, wash that stuff out, and never touch it again. Those types of product do nothing but cause shrinkage. Also, try putting hair in braids after washing it in the shower. It is weighed down and gravity will do it all for you.

You're right. I'm looking at all of my leave in serums and they all contain glycerin. :sad:

for styling I have a variety: Care Free Curl, Shea Moisture leave in, ORS Olive Oil hair dressing cream (I believe that's the name) I'm going through all of my products right now reading ingredients.

ckisland · Sep 22, 2013

I forgot to add:

I found a happy middle ground from wearing wash n'gos. But it has to be a wash n'go with gel. Once it gets stretched overnight from wearing a pineapple (or 2), a bun, or 3 braids, it seems longer to me than other styles because I expect a wash n'go to be shrunken and short :yep:

.

DrC · Sep 22, 2013

ckisland said:
I FEEL YOUR PAIN !!! I think most other naturals with my hair type and tighter can get their hair to stretch way better than mine . The best I can get with a stretched style is full SL. . . but my hair's cleavage length look in the front and almost MBL in the back. I rollerset for awhile and SL was still the longest length it would show.

In order to see any length what I have to do is to pre-stretch my hair in twists or braids right after washing, then rebraid it into fewer braids once it's 90+% dry. The next day I wear my hair in a bun (great for stretching out hair) or 2 braids, and then I rebraid my hair in 3-4 braids at night, every night to keep the stretch going. My hair is usually as stretched as it's going to get by the third day .

I was thinking about relaxing too earlier this year because I was frustrated with the idea of only experiencing short hair no matter how long my actually grew ! I found someone who, finally, could actually get my hair straight and I wasn't satisfied with the length. Which was lucky for my hair, so now I'm focused on growing as much hair as I can first and battling the shrinkage later .

OP I have a question for you.
Does water weigh your hair down a lot or does it not? Like I watch vids of naturals with their hair soaking wet or while under the shower stream, and their hair will hang down to APL, BSL, even WL, but then it shrinks back up when it dries. My hair doesn't do that. If I'm right under the full force of the shower head, my hair will still only hang to SL . I think it might be the cause of my hair being hard to tangle or mat up.

Thank you for this. How long does it take for you to do your pre-stretch method? My hair weighs down under water and once air hits it's shrinking. What's a pineapple?

ckisland · Sep 22, 2013

I only do 8 braids or 12 twists normally, so not long. The key for me is that I have to keep stretching my hair to keep some of the shrinkage at bay. I also don't add any moisturizer or leave-in when I braid my hair to re-stretch it at night; only oil.

Jas123 · Sep 22, 2013

DrC said:
I'm somewhere between APL - BSB. My shrinkage is so serious I look as if I have a 2 inch fro when I have about 11-13 inches of hair. . I've tried:

braid outs
twists outs
banding
protective styling
blow drying
flat ironing
Beating it
Yelling at it
Cursing it out

and it shrinks right back up. I'm out of ideas. I don't know what else to do. I'm able to do wash & Go's but I don't want to walk around looking like with a mushroom shaped hair do showing off my big head and those two combined do not look good. Blah.

I can't take it anymore. I've been thinking about texlaxing. I'm open to any new suggestions. Thank you.

sorry i have nothing to add... but what type of hairstyle would you prefer wearing

PPGbubbles · Sep 22, 2013

I suggest setting hair while wet for a maximum stretch.

Then pinning each twist or braid taut to your head, this makes a HUGE difference! Your hair won't have a chance to shrink while drying.

This method in this video http://youtu.be/rEOutefz_rg works well for me! I have a Lil over 12 inches all over I sits BSL straight. Around SL or sometimes slightly past styles like this

Sometimes for added stretch I will Bantu knot the style in the video above in 5 knots for a
Couple of hours, then lighty blowdry the roots and voila

Eta I find that flat twisting and doing cornrows outs also help

BonBon · Sep 22, 2013

Its the glycerin girl :lol:

I've been trying to figure this out all year. Nonie said something recently about needing something greasy, or waxy to stretch hair vs glycerine based. I tried it and my hair stretched easily. -_-

I use a butter after my hair is dry and then a oily sealant on top, then attempt to stretch.

I also wash in big twists which stops my hair going to extreme shrunken fro territory in the first place.

so1913 · Sep 22, 2013

You mentioned "mushroom" shape...Have you ever gotten your hair cut and shaped by someone who specializes in curly/natural hair? My experience is long or short hair, the hair cut/style can make all the difference. Even with shrinkage, a great cut allows your hair to dry into a flattering shape where you may find you can embrace your shrinkage a little more.

PatTodd · Sep 22, 2013

I agree^^^^. When i finally got my hair cut at the Deva Salon in NYC, my curls began to behave completely differently, so individually defined...and I didn't even have much cut off! And then I was able to begin to embrace shrinkage.

DrC · Sep 22, 2013

Jas123 said:
sorry i have nothing to add... but what type of hairstyle would you prefer wearing

I want my hair to stay like the pic attached. That was a blow dry, and reverted back to a tiny fro before the day was even over.

naturalmanenyc · Sep 22, 2013

A roller set will get you the length you want. I filmed my rollerset here: http://youtu.be/mRpZ48zqOGQ

Do you use holding product when you do your twist out and braid out? I ask because my hair shrinks but with a twist out it gets longer over the course of a few days, not shorter. I pile my hair on top in a pineapple to sleep and it stretches out.

nurseN98 · Sep 22, 2013

I agree with omitting the glycerin. I have super shrinkage to (over 50%) and I can't use any glycerin anything. I do braidouts which help a lot..I've used a lot of products over the years but recently I've gone back to good ole fashioned grease (coconut scented Blue Magic) to seal after I've done a good deep conditioning. However it is grease so I don't pile it on thickly, just a thin layer works for me and lasts about a week with very light spritzing with water/conditioner and rebraided nightly. When I flat iron I swear by sabino serum...it only failed me once and that was I was somewhere with a different type of water. But if you use it exactly as directed you flat iron should stay at least a week.

natural2008 · Sep 23, 2013

^^- good ole fashion hair grease is the best :0).

Crackers Phinn · Sep 23, 2013

I can't fully attest to this because I just started, but African Threading is a way of non heat training your hair to lose some of the shrinkage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk8DM2UP7xM

DrC · Sep 23, 2013

Thanks for the advice everyone! :grin:

I'm going to start out with a rollerset, and eliminating petroleum, glycerin based products out of my reggie, and check back in later with results

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