Shrinkage!!!! HELP!!!!!

[CurvyDivaJC]

Okay, I am getting my sow in taken out Saturday. I am afraid because I am plagued with shrinkage. My stylist says that I need more moisture. I have used EVERYTHING and my hair has moisture...so it seems. But I wrestle with shinkage badly. I can wash, condition, moisturize, moisturize through the day and by the time the afternoon somes it seems like I have a TWA. Even when I do twist...the twist shrinks. HOW can I stop the madness? Any suggestions?

[Gullah*Gotham*Glitter]

Girl I don't know what to tell you because I suffer from the same problem. My hair shrinks up right to left. The main thing I can recommend is a lot of leave in conditioner. I use to use Sunsilk, the only reason I stoped using it is because I just haven't found a store that carries it....but then again I haven't looked that hard. But shea butter based moisterizers are good as well. What exactly have you tried using?

[CurvyDivaJC]

I have used Carol's Daughter's hair milk, olive oil, shea butter, olive oil moisturizer (green bottle), proclaim moisturizer spray (from Sally's), and that is just to name a few.

Gullah*Gotham*Glitter said:

Girl I don't know what to tell you because I suffer from the same problem. My hair shrinks up right to left. The main thing I can recommend is a lot of leave in conditioner. I use to use Sunsilk, the only reason I stoped using it is because I just haven't found a store that carries it....but then again I haven't looked that hard. But shea butter based moisterizers are good as well. What exactly have you tried using?

[Mlle d. Sade]

Hmmm. ..when my hair shrinks up i have a TWA but it only shrinks every 2 weeks in an alternating pattern.

How do you normally wear your hair and how do you wrap it when you sleep?

Do you ever twist out or use bands?

[CurvyDivaJC]

I generally wear my hair in twist and Afro. I have a bonnet that I generally sleep in. What are the bands?

Mlle d. Sade said:

Hmmm. ..when my hair shrinks up i have a TWA but it only shrinks every 2 weeks in an alternating pattern.

How do you normally wear your hair and how do you wrap it when you sleep?

Do you ever twist out or use bands?

[M-Solo]

yea i would say you need a really good moisturizing shamppo and conditioner, try Organix products, and a great leave in conditioner for day to day - like Fantasia IC Tea Oil Moisturizer or Aveda's Elixer

[Mlle d. Sade]

It's where you pull your hair by placing elastic bands every 2 or 3 inches. It's okay for a quick fix but can cause extra breakage.


CurvyDivaJC said:

I generally wear my hair in twist and Afro. I have a bonnet that I generally sleep in. What are the bands?

Mlle d. Sade said:

Hmmm. ..when my hair shrinks up i have a TWA but it only shrinks every 2 weeks in an alternating pattern.

How do you normally wear your hair and how do you wrap it when you sleep?

Do you ever twist out or use bands?

[Caribbeanchic]

LOL! It's the nature of your hair. I've read that if you want to elongate you can use a hair dryer on your hair from the root to mid shaft. go to www.curlynikki.com if you need additional info. I love this blog and it's quite helpful

Es

[Mlle d. Sade]

I used to do that. It works but I always did it with Protectiv hair creams.

Caribbeanchic said:

LOL! It's the nature of your hair. I've read that if you want to elongate you can use a hair dryer on your hair from the root to mid shaft. go to www.curlynikki.com if you need additional info. I love this blog and it's quite helpful

Es

[Lee Mayhem]

I have 3c type hair and have the same problem, my hair is shoulder length. I find that using a mostly natural,thick gel works to elongate my hair to a degree. Try Organic root stimulator loc and twist gel or curl junkie aloe fix gel (found at curljunkie.com). Apply the gel to wet hair in small sections and smoth through.

[Mlle d. Sade]

Miss Jessie's curly pudding (not the silkener- which is a lite texturizer) is supposed to help shrinkage "non chemically" but I don't know about that, tho.

[Starla]

...and I read about this product called Kinky Curly Curling Custard. Look it up on Youtube and you'll see lots of people experimenting with it. They sell it at Whore (lol) Foods now for about $25 or so per jar. You can also buy it online. It's supposed to be used with their other product called Knot Today, which is a detangling lotion with a lot of 'slip'. All natural ingredients in both.

Basically, you apply both products to soaking wet hair in sections. The curling custard weighs the hair down and makes even 4b type hair form ringlets. In other words, the custard 'freezes' you hair while in it's wet state. Whatever. lol.

It's funny because I met this lady that told me about these products. She has hair like mine. (mostly 4b). She actually made me get super close to her afro puff just to see her 'naturally curly hair' lol. In my opinion, it looked like a weird jerry curl : p

But, on the other hand, I haven't tried it personally, so who knows. All I know is that my hair isn't the length nor 'type' for wash and goes at the moment. The only way for me to show any length is to make a few big twists in it after I wash and condition it. I fluff the twists out the next morning so that I can style it easier.

[Mlle d. Sade]

Yeah, I went to Kinky Curly's site right after I posted here. I think for New Years' I will throw out everything that's left of my drug store stash and use the kinky curly shampoo, knot today and the curling custard to give my hair an organic lift. I'm not going to get any Miss Jessie's -too expensive, maybe later. I'm going to try Kinky Curly and afro-veda. I also heard Miss Jessie's won't work for 4b hair, which is what I am.

I also looked up afro-veda, sounds pretty cool: brings back memories of ayurvedic medicine and apparently we can search out and use straight up ayurvedic formulas for our hair. I will report back with links but several nappys at longhaircareforum.com use an ayurveda routine.

Organic root stimulator's lock and twist gel no longer works for me. Not enough weight and too much hair.