4a Naturals

[prettypuff1]

What styles are/did you wear when u were a TWA? I am getting tired of the pound of gel treatment ( gloomgeisha describes it best in her blog), and I am considering spending waaaaaay to much money on a weave because I really don't know what to do with my hair. Winter in Chicago is no place to be walking around with wet hair that is soaked in IC Gel.

Tips? Help is much needed. I am comitted to staying natural but i just need some guidance. My hair is about, NL if that stretched.

 

[Kay.Dee]

I'm not sure if I'm a 4a but I am a 4. I have tiny curls so I don't bother with curl definition.

IDK why I"m replying, the only style I wear is a fro with a headband or a braidout fro w. a headband, I need some styling help too!

GloomGeisha just made a thread with some natural hair tutorials.

 

[Eclass215]

See - that's pretty much how I wore it back then. Just wet it, put some mousse or gel and a pretty scarf around the front like a headband. And this started in August 2001. I got micro braids in January though, so that helped.

 

[danigurl18]

check out my fotki.. i got a couple of styles on there...

 

[BillsBackerz67]

lauren450 has some cute styles in her fotki. She wore twists, twistouts, and had some cute hats too in 3 months or less you'll def be able to do more with our hair. The TWA stage defnintely doesnt last forever unless you have really slow growth.

 

[IntelligenceisBeautiful]

I feel your pain, I'll be spending way too much money on a weave

 

[Napp]

well you can always use a diffuser to dry the pound o' gel
other than that or twists im not sure. maybe comb coils?

 

[BeetleBug]

You should try some twistouts or braidouts.

Question: Why are you putting so much gel in your hair?

 

[prettypuff1]

I feel your pain, I'll be spending way too much money on a weave

Lol, and i have been spending too much time on BHM, next think i knew i had a cart of 8oz of 20 inch bodywave and a closure and it came out to $315 dollars. I have also contacted china for some wigs and decided maybe there is another way. I know I gotta a refund check coming but....

well you can always use a diffuser to dry the pound o' gel
other than that or twists im not sure. maybe comb coils?

You should try some twistouts or braidouts.

Question: Why are you putting so much gel in your hair?

Well i was trying to Define curls. I think we as 4s get stuck in the trap of trying to be in the 3 Family and do what they do. I hear a lot about curl definition, but honestly in the four family, it is hard to get those springy curls our 3 counter parts get. Nothing wrong with them, but a i hear a lot about that, and I a lot of the tutorials that i found were ladies in the Early to mid 3 range, not my 4a strong and tight like me. I know that is what I was doing and GG's blog inspired me to act and see what about my hair.

 

[Wildchild453]

I pretty much stayed in a WnG, mostly because I didn't know how to do anything else and it was pretty short. Once I learned how to twists, that was my main style

 

[glamazon386]

I feel your pain, I'll be spending way too much money on a weave

That's what I did.

 

[LadyPaniolo]

All I did when I had my TWA was wash 'n gos with a pretty headband. I did try to do bantu knot-outs... was the result. I suck at styling my hair. But, as was said before, this stage goes by quickly.

There is nothing wrong with getting a weave to get you over the hump. I didnt' do that because I knew I'd fall in the trap of not moisturizing and conditioning enough if I could not see and feel the state of my hair. But if that's not the case for you, then wear that $300 of hair, and be happy knowing that your hair is on the grow!

 

[discodumpling]

As soon as I could "catch" (grab a handfull comfortably) my hair I began braiding twisting knotting etc...it just felt right; & IMHO is the best way to grow and protect afro textured hair. Now that it's just a bit longer I leave it in a bun/pigtail most days. I'm not down with that pound o gel either but I smooth down with a quarter sized amount of aloe gel and lots of oil (jojoba or coconut)

My hair is nappy...I don't do typing it reminds me of algebra...

 

[AsTheCurlzTurns]

I'm slowly coming out of the twa stage, but not quite just yet though. But I've done mostly WnGs, puffs, flat twists, 2-strand twists, twistouts and recently tried braiding (finally all of my hair can go into a braid without coming out) as well as banding my hair for a stretched fro. I also tried finger coils, my first attempt at them didn't go over with me too well, and haven't yet tried them again.

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

I hate wearing my hair out too much, I get tired of dealing with it every single day, so I have been doing twists and coils mostly. Also, my hair stays more moisturized in twists, etc.

Gel and products like KCCC are fun and I love using them, but I could never do it everyday.