African American females...how much are you spending on your hair?

[Simply827]

Fellow Naturalista here.

I spend $0 on salon visits. I haven't been to a salon since July 2012, shortly after I decided to transition to natural hair. The only money I spend is on hair products. I've found what works for me and try to buy them on sale.

As for styling, I'm very low maintenance. I usually wear a wash-and-go and leave it alone for 1.5-2 weeks. Occasionally I'll wear a twist out, and even more rarely, I'll straighten it. I'd caution you against straightening your hair too much, as it can take a long time, and heat damage is a risk.

I don't know how long your hair is, but you may be able to get away with only doing a few twists. I only put 4 chunky twists in my hair after washing and then I'll unravel and them in the morning.  My hair is still slightly damp, so smoothing my hair leaves me with a stretched wash and go.

[Letj]

It also tolerates heat much much better than a relaxer.

It's basically a flat iron extender right? How often do you flat iron your hair?

That's correct. I flat iron the edges and ends only daily, whole hair once every one or two weeks. However, I wear it mostly in a pony tail. The Keratin makes it really easy to manage without the damaging effects of a perm.

[Trimatty471]

Alternate between perms (every 3 months), wet setting, and braids in the summer (my hair sweat so much).

I had to cut back on the perms and eliminate the flat iron because my hair started shedding badly two years ago.

I would look up transitioning hairstyles in you tube.  Those videos helped me out.