Lastly, after brushing and pinning my hair back around the hair line for a few days, you have to make a little extra effort if you want to go back to a full afro. This is because the hair at the front will be a little straighter, with the curl brushed/stretched out. So, you have to spray a little water so that it shrinks back a tiny bit. This is the reason why I bathe without a shower cap. The time it takes me to get dressed etc, allows the water to be absorbed into my hair. This works better for me, than spraying it while styling as I get little droplets of water falling on me while driving to work. If you applied any hair oil, it sits on the water (doesn’t mix), and may splash your clothes, skin etc. Depending on what you are wearing, this may not be a problem. So, for me, steam works better than actually spraying water or glycerin spray onto my hair.

NB: Since first drafting this and taking these pictures, I washed my hair on the morning of day eight. After this semi afro puff, I went back to the full afro puff on days five and six and then the full on afro on day seven (a Friday) and as I mentioned, washed it on the morning of day eight (a Saturday).

My experience with washing is that it was not tangled at all and I do not recall any knots. I washed and detangled my hair in sections and then did a mini deep condition (for about 5 mins only). Then, I went to the salon for another weave experiment. More on that in the weeks to come.

Also, I think I should mention that not everyone’s hair may be able to hold curl for this long. My hair has always held curl very well — longer than most people. This was true during my relaxed days and although I never did a deliberate curly style with my locs, I have since found the same pattern with my natural hair.

Lastly, the longer you keep your hair like this, the greater the risk of it getting tangled and knotted. this is not good, especially if you are trying to grow your hair. This kind of style will also not work for long hair as it just gets too knotted up. It ain’t worth it.