As an experiment, I didn't wear my own hair down for a year. Mainly as an example to convince those who would like to transform. It was also a personal challenge to see if I could be creative enough to keep it up.
First of all I wondered what hairstyles I would wear if I were at the beginning of a transformation again. Then I would probably start with extensions again. They are the easiest to care for and the hair can grow undisturbed. Loosening them after 2 months is not fun, but you do get to know your own hair very well.
This challenge was also an excellent opportunity to experiment with headscarves. Ever since I saw a life-size poster of a blonde model wearing a black Arabic turban, headscarves have fascinated me. Traditional and modern culture seemed to be able to combine harmoniously without any problems. Of course, the Surinamese Anjisa (head scarf) was the basis for this. It's a shame that headscarves are now so difficult to deal with.
For the Happy Natural Hair Day in Virginia where I had to represent kroeshaar.com and nappturality, I wanted something different. That's how I came up with Flattwists. I hadn't worn them since 2003. From the reactions I could conclude that this hairstyle was very successful. Not only was I the only one with flattwist. The added accessories also gave the hairstyle something unique. I think that flattwist was my "signature" hairstyle for 2006.
Since I get quite a lot of questions about weaving, I wanted to try this too. Of course it had to be an afro weave and because I wanted to experiment with color for a long time, I tried to combine both. Unfortunately we couldn't get the right afro hair, but it turned out to be cheerful curls with lots of color.
To build down and get used to my own hair again, I chose the Senegalese twist as my last hairstyle. So without extensions. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to take good pictures of this because of the busy schedule. You still owe me that.
More next month. For now I hope you can enjoy my first compilation video.
Watch the 1st curly hair video: a year-long experiment….
The experience
It took quite some getting used to extensions. The long session with Nicole, a hairdresser in Suriname, was ultimately not too bad and was more than worth it. These were the most natural extensions I have ever had. Even my husband thought it was my own hair. As an experiment it was very successful because I also got an idea of how my hair will probably look if I were to locc.
The downside was that I left it in too long, which made taking the extensions out twice as difficult.
After that I had my hair braided twice more. For a change I had Senegalese twist put in. That was nice, but I wasn't that happy with it. I did learn how to make a nice curl at the bottom of a braid. So it was neatly finished, but I thought the whole thing was too fake and too long. 
The third and final time braiding was a disaster. To finish the braid neatly, some hairdressers go with a sharp pair of scissors along the entire braid, from bottom to top. In doing so, all the hairs that were sticking out of the braid are cut off. I thought it was fake hair and was convinced that my hair was properly stored in the braid. However, when I undone it, I discovered that the ends of my hair had never been so damaged. By shaving along the braids with the scissors, my ends were irreparably damaged. I took the scissors myself and cut off a considerable piece. After three months, my hair had not yet recovered, so I used the scissors again. Learn from my mistake and never let this happen to you. Never let a hairdresser shave along your braids with scissors or cut off the hairs that were sticking out. That way, you destroy your own hair.
The Weave
Although I was very enthusiastic about the weave at first, I didn't really feel comfortable with it. The art of a weave for me is that you can't see that it's fake hair. Nothing is more annoying than a weave where you can see the strands and I had the idea that I didn't choose the right hair for it. see I looked up the number of Netu, the hairdresser who specializes in this, and she still does an equally good job as always. is To brighten it up, I also added some accessories. As a variation, I have
More than 24 hairdressing lessons in one year.
