The Murphy's Law of Hair: Update on Free Hair Style This Week

Well, it's Tuesday of "free hair week" and I thought I should give all of you a chance to see how Boo's hair is holding up. When I decided on this style, I had no idea what we were going to be up against this week. Talk about being thrown a curve-ball!

That's right. The one week that I decide to let Boo's hair hang free happens to be the one week when it rains for 3 days straight here in normally sunny San Diego. I call it the "Murphy's Law" of hair. Seriously, it never fails. I have to say that every time I've done free hair it rains. I should get kickbacks from the California farmers, it's that consistent. Although our citrus trees in the backyard are loving the rain, Boo's hair, not so much.

That being said, I'm very surprised at how well Boo's hair is holding up. I'm certainly giving this new product a good test with everything we've put it through. Can't wait to get to the end of the week and give it my full attention in a review. Until then I'll just talk about what Boo's hair is doing this week and what we're doing about it.

Many of you have expressed how "easy" this style must be as compared to all of Boo's other styles. I can already hear Mama Marissa giggling at that comment. Free hair is anything but easy, as those of us who have dealt with it know all too well. First of all, if you've read my post on Free Hair Week: 4a/4b Hair with Style you'll remember that it didn't really take any less time to style free hair than it did doing braids or twists. It takes time to get the curls to form nicely and to work the product through the hair. Then add in drying time and sometimes it could take longer for free hair.

Secondly, it takes daily maintenance that other styles do not. There is a reason why I started to freak out because of the weather. Anyone who has slightly curly hair knows that when it rains most of our hair likes to frizz-out. And with 4a/4b hair, multiply that by 100! Couple that with the fact that we didn't have an umbrella for Boo for the first two days of rain and I expected to have one matted mop on top of her head. Her hair got wet, then dried, then wet again. There was a constant drizzle all day Sunday; and since I was sick and in bed, Daddy was in charge of Boo for the day. This meant that Boo got to play outside in the wetness. *sighs heavily* When I found this out I ~~had a major coronary~~ didn't mess with her hair at all and let it dry naturally, hoping the product would work well enough to hold it together. If her hair were in twists or braids I ~~would have only had a minor coronary~~ wouldn't have cared at all that it got wet. For the most part, the hair isn't going to go anywhere when it's wrapped up nicely. Free hair can go whichever what it pleases! It can kink up in some sections, and frizz out in others, leaving a patchwork of differently styled hair all over the head. Not so pretty; and not exactly easy to fix.

However, I've been impressed with the new product we used. A few of the curls on the top of her hair that got the wettest lost their shape and started to frizz, but overall her hair has stayed nicely curled. I have to say, the biggest problem has been her sleep cap. The rubbing of the sleep cap along her hairline has really pulled apart the curls and made that the frizziest part of her hair. Nothing that a headband can't cover, right?

So, maintaining free hair. Daily her hair has to be checked for fuzzies. This needs to be done with any style, but it's more prone to get fuzzies when free because the hair acts like a big Swiffer! And pulling the fuzzies out isn't as easy with free hair because careful attention needs to be paid to pulling only the fuzzy and not the curl, lest I pull the curl out and make another frizzy section in the hair.

Moisture loss is another issue that needs more care with free hair than with styled hair. I find that Boo usually loses the most moisture along her hairline, mainly due to the rubbing of her sleep cap (as mentioned above). On dryer days this can be a real issue with the hair all over the head if not using the right product and protecting it daily with a moisturizing spritz. What I like to do is re-wet the hair with a spray bottle and allow the product to work through the hair once again to help reshape the curls. I do this on all the frizzy sections of hair as well, so that her hair doesn't become a patchwork of differing looks. It certainly takes more time to do this daily than it does to brush in a few loose hairs or pick fuzzies out of braids. Add in the drying time that it takes for the curls to reset and you can quickly see how free hair is not "the easiest of all her styles" to maintain.

The photo above is what Boo's hair looked like before I did anything to it. She wore three different hats a birthday party on Saturday (with wet hair), played in the rain on Sunday, had naps, and slept on it for three nights. This is what it looked like Tuesday morning, without respraying or doing anything to her hair. Some curls are a little frizzy and the hairline was a little dry, but overall not as much work to maintain as she's had in the past. I think Boo's age, in combination with a good product, has made it a little easier this time around.

Overall, Boo is loving her curls and is taking special care of them. I think this is the first time that she's worn free hair while old enough to actually understand what that means. She now knows that if she puts her hands in her hair and pulls on a curl it will come out. She loves bending over and shaking her hair to fluff up her curls; and the movement and bounce that her hair makes has been a real treat for her. However, with all of the joy that she's getting from her free hair, I think she's over the maintenance of it. She's already asked for cornrows next week and it's only Tuesday!