I have low porosity hair and once moisture gets in it stays in. I can say I haven’t really ever had a problem with keeping moisture in my hair. The horrible thing about that is once my hair is wet it can literally sometimes take up to 24 hours to dry. I am someone who uses heat, but I also like to minimize the amount of heat I use on my hair, so air drying can be great when it doesn’t take forever.
Here is how I minimize the amount of time it takes to air dry my tight coily natural hair:
After your wash-
- Squeeze the hair gently. You want to start off with as little water in your hair as possible.
- Do not add product to the hair immediately. Some product just holds the moisture in the hair, increasing your dry time.
- Take an old t shirt and wrap it around your wet hair. Leave the t shirt on for at least 30-60 minutes. The longer you are able to leave the t shirt on the less your dry time will be.
- Add your leave in and styling products. Remember the less you add the faster your hair will dry. (Drying hair with a t shirt helps minimize frizz)
If you are wearing a wash and go just leave the hair down.
If you are planning to stretch the hair later put the hair in 2-4 big twists to dry. Let the twists hang so that hair is exposed to the air. You can also put the hair in one low ponytail leaving the ends exposed. You can also get a great stretch with this method.
If you are going to be doing no heat curls with twist outs, braid outs, etc. let the hair get at least 80% dry. This way if you are trying to set the hair overnight you are not going to bed with drenched hair. The great thing is more than likely your twists will be 100% dry the next morning for the take down.
One more thing if you are on the go the hair dries so much faster than when you are sitting around the house. I like to let my hair air dry sometimes during my son’s football practice. It dries really fast. So, you can use the time to shop or do some of your favorite things. You may want to leave it down or in a ponytail for this.You can throw a headband on to add a little cuteness. 🙂
