I don’t know why I bothered trying. I mean, really. It is hard enough for me to manage a french braid, let alone anything else. But, since I’ve been trying new things on my hair, I thought… why not? (I can give you reasons, but it is too late now.)

Seven dollars later, I’m armed with a sectioning comb (something I could have done with a regular comb) and some hair ties. I skipped on purchasing a specific hair product to style my hair, though. I figured I was already deeper in than I should be. I re-wet my hair a bit, got out the tub of IC Hair Gel and went to town.

I’ma tell you straight up, my hair isn’t a big fan of gel. So I was scared. But I needed something with a little hold. In my quest to simplify, I haven’t been purchasing much in the ways of styling products, and have been using up what I have on the boys. So, the IC Gel was it.

The minute I sectioned off my hair, I knew the girl in the video was a pro and I… well, I wasn’t. I immediately felt the frustration of a novice as my hands fumbled with the strands and my twists looked like child’s play. But I couldn’t just stop.

I made four horrific twists(mangles) in my hair, secured them all, held a mirror up to see the front and back, and then angrily ripped each one out. Mentally spanking myself, I detangled my gel-laden hair, holding back a whimper of defeat. I had lost. I knew it. I was at terms with it.

Defeated but not broken, I knew I could either wash my hair again (not a good idea since it was close to bedtime) or “set it” to dry. I decided on two twisted buns (basically two low pigtails, twisted until they are buns behind my ears, secured). One was up a bit higher than the other, but I was at a point where caring wasn’t priority. I went on about my business, hoping that I wouldn’t look too horrid the next day since I had to work.. I slept with my bonnet on, per the norm.

The next day I released the pigtails and did little else, but a little head tossing. Here was the morning look:

I did flat-iron the bangs. Excuse the blinding glare reflected by my forehead.

I wasn’t entirely unhappy. It was different from the usual (either flat-ironed or air-dried), and I welcomed the change. It wasn’t 100% dry, though. My hair takes forever to dry. I contemplated hitting it with the blowdryer, but thought that might be a bad idea. Throughout the day I fluffed it up a little bit. I couldn’t get a decent picture of it, though.

This was later in the day, completely dry, after fluffing.

I’ve let my hair dry like this before. It’s nice to revisit again as an option. It looks OK and I like it for something different. Since I just had my hair relaxed last week, my top was pretty flat. I’m not ditching the two-strand twists just yet, but I need a bit more time to review some tutorials.