You may be asking yourself, “What in the heck is hair banding?” Well, to answer your question, hair banding is a technique used to extend the length on natural hair using rubber bands or ponytail holders along the length of the hair. You may remember as a kid your mother putting ponytail holders in your hair, then placing more ponytail holders or rubber bands down the ponytail. Hair banding is the same thing, except I recommend you use the Goody Ouchless hair bands instead of rubber bands to reduce breakage of the hair.
With my 4A/4B and maybe a little 4C combo hair, I am experiencing major hair shrinkage! So, to try and create some length with my hair I decided to try the hair banding technique to see if this would at least make my hair seem a little longer than it appears. I already had a box full of the Goody Ouchless hair bands from my relaxer days because my “need another relaxer/bad hair day” style was the faithful ponytail. I knew that the hair bands with the metal ends on them would pull out my hair, so I had purchased the ouchless kind without the metal end.
Now when I did my first attempt at hair banding, I hadn’t done a co-wash or my weekly shampoo/condition. I just dampened my hair with water and used some of my Organic Root Stimulator Lock and Twist Gel on my hair. I ended up with about 20 sections of hair banded together (see photos below). One thing I can say is that my head was hurting after putting the bands in (had them a little too tight). However, I did like the results I got after taking them out, initially, but by the end of the day my hair had shrunk back up. I did allow my hair to dry overnight, so it was not wet when I took out the hair bands.
I will attempt the hair banding technique again after doing a co-wash or my weekly shampoo and condition because I think I will get much better results on freshly washed hair compared to just dampening my hair and putting product on top of old product. I also won’t put as many banded sections in my head and maybe it will create a much looser curl pattern.
Any who, here are some photos of my attempt at hair banding!
Hair Banding
Hair Banding
Hair Banding
I’ve been doing a lot of hair banding on The Chicklet’s hair this summer. it’s a great way to stretch the hair without heat, and perfect for the summer. I look forward to reading more of your tuts and tips!
Thanks for your comment, Danyelle. You’re correct in that hair banding is an excellent way to stretch the hair without heat. I’ve only done the hair banding twice since being natural, but plan to do it more often (I hope) during the fall/winter months to stretch my hair in preparation for more protective styling. During the summer, I mainly wear my hair in flat twists because it keeps my head cooler during the wicked St. Louis heat.