Hi people, what's been on?

I want to share my review of Afro Kinky extensions I've come to love like my hair.

Before I start, this review is a long one as I try to be as detailed as I can. There are also useful tips you can use if you already have kinky curly weave/clip ins.

Sometimes I want to tuck my hair away and give it a break. I don't like braids or cornrows  because of the time it takes to install and take down. I can manage twists since it does not require constant stabbing of the hair to take down. My hair is fine and a lot of manipulation causes it to break easily.

Love my shrunken fro

My next protective style is weave extensions. Weaves don't take long to install and even take a shorter time to take down. However, with the wrong stylist, weaves can be a nightmare! Especially when it's braided and sewn in too tight.

For weaves, my plan was to get one straight or wavy weave (for a straight look and to save my hair from heat straightening) and a kinky curly weave (to save my hair from manipulation for a while).

 Since I had (have) no plans to keep purchasing hair (after all, I'm not using Monopoly money to pay for it), I made sure to get virgin hair which can be used forever....or so I'm told. I got a wavy weave but the kinky one was a bit of a challenge because of what I wanted.

I wanted hair that 

-  was type 4b/4c curls so I won't bother my head about blending.

- was human hair so I could care for it like mine and it wouldn't tangle easily. Synthetic hair tangles after a while and unlike my hair cannot easily be detangled using a slippery conditioner or plain water. Another problem is that after a while it gets hard and plastic-y and then I would need to find a replacement.

- I could dye, curl , crimp , roller set , flat iron.... in fact do to it what I'd love to do to my hair but can't because I want to keep my hair healthy. I get bored easily with styles and would like to have no limitations when it comes to styling.

I got one I thought was perfect (problem with buying hair online) until it refused to revert when I straightened it. Disheartening after spending so much on it.

 I had resigned myself to the fact that I'll be using my own hair for the kinky curly look until I came upon reviews about  Nazuri curls which I could purchase from Ifeyinwa of  LoveIfeyinwa.com or straight off their website Nazuricurls.com and Heat Free Hair which I could get from Kemi Lewis of klnaturals.blogpot.com.

I was thinking about getting Nazuri curls Afro Kinky Hair. I loved it so much on Berry Dakara of berrydakara.com but the draw back from what I understood was I could only blow dry the hair straight. Flat ironing it wasn't encouraged because of the way the hair was processed and the likelihood that the curls may not revert back.

I watched a video where Heat Free Hair was straightened and it reverted and I was like bingo! I'm going to invest in that.
 I was about to get in touch with Kemi of KLNaturals when I got a message from the lovely Toyin of  TwentySix85.com, an online hair and beauty store, for the opportunity to try out their new collection of virgin kinky curly hair.

My first question was

I was sent a bundle of 16" hair which arrived within 3 days to Benin City via DHL!



I've had and used this hair for more than two months and I think it's long enough for a review.

Even though the hair was gifted and not purchased by me, as usual, I'll be giving my unbiased review so you can make an informed decision whether to get the hair or not. Reviews help me when I'm about to purchase a new product so I don't waste my hard earned 'kudi, ego, owo, money'!
*note how I'm fluent in four languages when it comes to money!

DESCRIPTION

According to Twentysix85.com, here's a brief description of the hair...

"Are you team #BigHairDontCare? If so, you will love our new human hair extensions from our ‘Zoe Collection’. The collection will feature three custom natural hair types that directly blend with natural textures within the 3C/4A/4B/4C type hair groups, commonly of African women.

They also have a second line from the Zoe Collection, ‘Kinky Curly’. This natural hair extension they promised, offers customers a looser afro kinky curly look, similar to type 3c/4a curls.

Extensions are versatile and can be coloured, blow dried, and curled without distorting the original curl pattern after washing."

PRICE

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Like I said earlier, I was given one bundle of 16" Afro Kinky curly weft in Type 4b/c. They had much looser curls 3c/4a but I didn't want to bother with blending since my hair is 4b/c.
Kinky textured hair is  usually touted as "high maintenance hair” throughout the blogosphere and on YouTube. The coarse, afro-curl texture has proven to be a handful for some but since I'm used to handling such hair types on the daily, I didn't think it'd be a problem and I'll share some tips to help.

When I saw the hair, my first thought was

 'Would one bundle be enough??'. 

My second thought was

 ' Gosh, this hair looks so much like my hair!!!'

The hair stretched was 16" but about 8" unstretched due to shrinkage.

The hair felt soft with low lustre but there was a silicone feel about it which I didn't like. I promptly shampooed the hair using Aphogee Curlific Wash and conditioned with Aussie Moist 3 mins conditioner to see if I could get rid of the silicone coating.
 It did which was a relief as it began not only to look like my hair but feel like mine too.

The hair stretched up to 12" on washing and the curls were elongated but on complete drying, it shrunk to 10".

Nappy Girl Tip: Handle the weave as carefully as you'd handle your hair. Don't skimp on products. Sulfate free, silicone free products work best. They also prevent sticky buildup.

INSTALLATION AND STYLING

I debated with having the hair fixed but settled on converting it to clip ins because I wanted the option of putting it on and taking it down without making the trip to the salon. I am that lazy!

I used this tutorial by Kim on DarkChildLoveThyHair to convert my extensions to clip ins.

How to make and install clip ins

NB. Twentysix85.com didn't have the options of clip ins at the time they sent me the hair but now they do so you can save yourself the stress...(phew it was not easy sewing those clips in o. I almost gave up after the second weft....lol).

You can get the clips on Olori.com or Konga.com

Then I installed it like so...

Took out a small section of hair at the front (my leave out) and gathered the rest into one plait and tucked in the ends

Started clipping in hair from the nape working upwards towards my crown.

Final look...

I used Ecostyler gel to blend the leave out with the extensions.

MAINTENANCE

Daily

At night, I just cover with a satin bonnet.

Nappy Girl Tip:  If however you want some more length, you can put it in loose twists and cover with a satin bonnet.

In the morning, I either spray clean water or allow the water from the shower wet it a little. The hair loves water and melts like butter! I'll then fingerdetangle. I don't do this everyday though and I usually concentrate on the curls at the nape which rubs on my clothes.

I've never tried combing the hair curly because I don't want to mess up the curl definition. I only finger detangle.

For me, maintaining this hair is very easy. Just spray water in the morning and I'm good to go. I don't use products on the hair so it's stays light and airy.

Monthly

Once a month, I take down the clip ins to shampoo and deep condition. I add sulfate free  shampoo into a bowl of warm water, lather and dip the hair ends first into the soapy water.

Nappy Girl Tip: Converting the bundle to clip ins make it easier to wash in sections.
Then I apply deep conditioner and loosely twist each clip in weft and place in a plastic bag for 30mins to an hour. Then I rinse off with cool water.

It doesn't shed much.

I store the hair loosely twisted in a breathable bag so it stays fresh.

I haven't gotten a chance to wear it straight because I usually straighten during harmattan (Nov - Jan) but I did try straightening a section of hair without heat protectant using a flat iron (230 degrees) and was very happy when it reverted on wetting!

Nappy Girl Tip: As with your natural hair, always use a heat protectant before straightening and limit straightening to every 10 wears at least. Like your hair, it can be heat damaged with frequent heat styling.

It completely reverted some minutes later.

I still haven't tried coloring it and would probably do that when I'm going to wear it straight.

SO FAR?