How To: Style Natural Hair With Flexi Rods.

Get the perfect flexi rod set each time.

Flexi rods, shot by Alex Njeri

Flexi rods might have been percieved as a relatively odd addition to the 7 must have hair styling tools post I made about a year ago,but I was sure to include them with good reason. They offer a great alternative to the usual heat free styling methods (bantu and twist outs),unlike normal rollers, flexi rods are flexible foam rollers; making it easy to bend them to suit the hairstyle you’re going for (as well as the length of your hair). While the foam makes them comfy enough to leave in your hair overnight (perfect for heatless curls). All this while the styling options remain as dynamic as those with conventional rollers. Below are the steps on how you can get heatless bouncy curls with flexi rods.

Shot of the outcome.

Step one : Begin with freshly washed, damp hair.

Always begin a new hairstyle on freshly washed hair. All heat free hairstyles require a product or two for hold; if you have a layer of dirt coating your hair, the products won’t be absorbed as easily and your hairstyle will turn out dull and stiff (def. not what we’re going for).

As with all natural hair styles (where you don't intend to use heat), you want to work on your hair and set the style while its damp (for maximum absorption of products and to allow the hair to dry around the rods to produce curls)

2.Add a moisturizing products and a styling product.

Add a leave -in conditioner of your choice onto your damp hair, re-wetting it if necessary. Once you're done you may also add a styling product; this would be a product like a styling pudding or a styling gel, (eg Cantu coconut curling cream , DevaCurl ultra defining gel) this product’s purpose would be to give you more defined curls and better ‘hold’(your hair’s ability to take the intended shape when styling.)

If you do use a gel before styling, add a little oil over your hair afterwards to prevent stiff curls.

3.Section the hair

As always, you’ve got to section your hair. Not only does it make it easier to style, it also ensures your hair is neat when you take down the rods. The number of sections depends on how tight you want the curls (fewer sections = looser curls, more sections = tighter curls) , you should also consider your hair length. If your hair is shorter, you should create more sections to ensure your hairstyle is defined. I did 13 sections for my hairstyle and my hair is about armpit length (when stretched, when shrinkage kicks in, whew child, goodbye inches lol).

4. Twist each section (optional)

I’ve noticed my hairstyles have been coming out more defined, and last longer when I twist my hair before Bantu knotting or placing flexi rods. Including this one. This step is however completely optional and you can skip it if you wish.

Wrap the rods around your hair.

5.Finally wrap your hair around the rod.

As the rods come in different sizes, choose yours based on how big you want your curls. If you your hair is medium – short go for the smallest rods, and maybe the rods one size up. I used the smallest and those slightly bigger for my hair. In the rod set I own these were the green, purple and red rods.

Begin by folding the top of a rod around the section of hair you want curl. The rod should look like a candy cane with your hair under the ‘hook’.

Wind your hair around the rod, how closely you wind your hair depends on the curl you’re going for, as well as your hair length (if your hair is longer you will have to make each of loops of hair pretty close to fit the rod.) For my hairstyle I wrapped each pretty close to the previous ‘loop’.

Once you’re done wrapping your hair around the rod, fold the end of the rod upwards, against the rest of the rod and your hair. This should be done firmly enough to ensure your hair stays in place on the rod. Make sure your hair is secured firmly but not tightly. The rod should be able to stay in place even as you shake your head, but not tight enough to cause discomfort. (Remember you should be able to sleep with them on your head), wear a satin bonnet over your head as the curls dry overnight.

Final step; the Takedown

Leave the rods in until your hair is completely dry, coat your hair with a little oil before separating and fluffing the curls out to prevent frizz. Poke at your roots with an afro comb to separate your curls, but don’t brush through the rest of your hair (cause we are trying to keep the curls well, curly lol.)

That’s it!

In case you’re wondering, the flexi rods I used are the 'Tifara beauty curling flexi rods', I pre-ordered mine from beauty studio ke and you can too, but you can get them straight off of amazon here.

That is all for this post, thank you for checking it out and I hope you found the info helpful!

Xo - Alex

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