Melissa's Hair Diary: Melissa tries and fails with flexi-rods

Won't be smiling when I wake up in the AM.

So, now that my hair is out, I get the chance to play with it. For three months I stalked YouTube looking at girls do cool things with their hair. Of all the styles I stalked, using flexi-rods was at the top of my list. So, how happy was I that a friend had a whole bucket of rods for me to use? I ran to her house, picked up the rods, and went home to get ready.

Well, it took me about an hour to put about 25-30 rods in my hair. To set my hair, I used Karite Detangling Cream and Leave-In, water, and aloe vera juice. I thought this would be a good overnight process; that the rods were soft enough for me to sleep in - boy was I wrong. I tossed and turned all night, not being able to lay my head flat because flexi-rods were stabbing me in my brain.

Smile isn't so big in the AM

The next morning, I rolled out of the bed to remove the rods. Whew Lawd! There's a special way to remove the rods so that one's hair doesn't become a tangled mess. I figured this wrist flip technique and was left with the style above. I wasn't upset but I wasn't exactly pleased. There was not enough shine and my hair was furry at the roots.

After I seperated the curls, I liked the style a bit more, but wasn't thrilled. There was no shine and my roots were pretty shrunken. Still, I had to go to work. I thought my co-workers may see something better than what I saw in the mirror. The work response - 50/50. Some people liked it, some were indifferent, and some were confused, asking me "WHAT was different with my hair?"

This left me thinking about washing my hair and starting agian, but I was so tired. I couldn't fathom going through a two hour wash, detangle, and condition session. Oh yeah, don't forget about some sort of two-strand twist. I was forced to wear my hair again.

Actually, the second day wasn't very bad. My hair definitely shrank, there was no shine, and most of the curls kinda just, became invisible. So, I threw on a elastic head-band and kept it moving.

Will I try flexi-rods again? Sure. What changes will I make to get a better result?

1. Definitely use some sort of setting lotion that prmoises hold and shine.
2. Set the style with my hooded dryer instead of sleeping in the rods.
3. Figure out some way to keep my curls stretched so I can achieve second/third day hair.

So what about you, have you tried flexi-rods on your natural hair? What was your result?