Renae’s Journey: Before And After Pics of Dreadlock Comb Out
So last night, I FINALLY removed all my dreadlocks! It was a great part of my journey! My hair grew out beautifully and, to my surprise, I retained way more length than I assumed!
The reason why I locked my hair in the first place was because I simply had no idea of how to do my hair in its natural state, like many naturals. But after much study of YouTube videos and natural hair blogs, I decided to give my natural hair a chance to breathe in its own state.
So, after 1.5 months of combing out my hair, here is what my hair looks like completely combed out and flat ironed!
The shiny look is because I used entirely too much product on my hair! So I will not be putting nothing else in my hair, as far as product, for a while.
One thing I did realize when combing out my locs was how DIRTY my hair was! With locs, maintenance is minimal, so washing, styling and conditioning and everything else simply was not done often.
I knew I had to establish a lot more discipline with my hair now I no longer had locs. First thing I did was order some of my favorite oils, heat protectant and some leave-in conditioner. One thing I did learn about having my locs was that a “minimalist” attitude is necessary with natural hair. Too much of anything is a quick way to damage your hair.
I contemplated doing a video of what I did to straighten it, but frankly, there are 500 thousand different flat ironing videos on YouTube and I didn’t do anything different! Besides, I did a video of me taking down my locs and I think that was the most important part of this whole process.
I did; however, make my own hair cream of shea butter, Amla oil, almond, coconut and jojoba oil and used that on my hair to flat iron. I also made my own deep conditioner of Avocados, Cantu Shea Butter Leave-In Conditioner Repair Cream, bhringaraj and Amla oil.
Here are the very basic things I did to straighten my hair after my loc takedown:
- Washed my hair VERY WELL with African Black soap.
- I put my DIY deep conditioner in my hair and allowed it to sit for an hour.
- I stretched my hair into braid and allowed my hair to hair dry.
- Using Chi heat protectant and my DIY hair cream, I flat ironed my hair.
I’m not big on using a whole lot of heat on my hair, so I probably will not be using it again for a while. I practiced on some styles in my bathroom and I think I will enjoy this part of my natural hair journey! Now that I have some great length, I can do styles I always wanted to but never knew how or never had the money for!
More future styles to come! Stay tuned!
