If you’ve worn mini braids or any stretched style for any extended period of time you may have noticed a change in your curl pattern. While my hair is very frizzy to begin with, the curls usually clump together along the full length of my hair. After taking out mini braids, my hair is much frizzier. All but the last few inches, is wavy rather than curly. While the change in pattern is temporary, for me it’s still a bit disheartening. After wearing my hair tucked away in braids for usually 5-6 weeks at a time…I cannot wait to take my hair out and wear it in a huge wash and go. My styling options are limited however because my hair doesn’t look how I like it to look. I have worn wash and goes the day after taking out mini braids. I’m not totally adverse to it, but I prefer my curls in their uncompromised state.

I find that frequent cowashing and wearing my hair unstretched helps my curls to bounce back. The problem is, I don’t like the look of unstretched hair due to the lack of shrinkage resulting from mini braids. I’m sorta stuck on what to do. I usually end up wearing braid outs or twist outs. I stick to my routine of cowashing mid week and deep conditioning on weekends. Eventually, my hair will go back to normal. If I go months without wearing mini braids, I forget that my hair will be looser right after taking them down and I have a mini freak out period. This time around, I flat ironed soon after my mini braids…which exacerbated the problem. I’ve been using conditioners with a higher amount of protein to help my hair bounce back, but I really just need to remind myself that the looser pattern is normal after having stretched hair for long periods of time.

I don’t think I can ever get used to seeing my hair change. Hopefully this article will serve to remind me (and you) that the slight change is totally normal and that our hair needs some time to go back to normal. I suppose is like a cotton shirt that stretched beyond its size. With a few washes, it shrinks back down.

Here’s a picture of my wash and go from last December. I took my mini braids out for NYE and the pattern was noticeably different. I still had shrinkage, but my hair only coiled at the ends. The other pictures show a typical wash and go. My products are typically the same with every wash and go – a leave in and eco styler gel.

VS.