Whenever I feel the urge to tame my mane, give my curly fro’ a break and sport a fun and flirty hairstyle, I pull out my flexi rods. If you’re a curl-lover and you’re looking for long-lasting heatless, bouncy, beautiful curls, flexi rod sets are an awesome option.  Flexi rod sets look amazing on relaxed, transitioning and natural hair. They create elongated corkscrew curls in various sizes and will definitely have the lady next to you tapping your shoulder, wanting to know how you achieved those beautiful curls. 🙂

Flexi rod sets were my go-to hairstyle during my transitioning phase.  They did an awesome job of blending my two textures and were so easy to maintain.  They are also a great low-manipulation hairstyle. Low-manipulation hairstyles are those that don’t require a lot of maintenance and are easy on the hair strands. That means there is minimal to no combing, brushing or tugging on the hair. As always, we want to keep the combing, brushing, styling etc. to a minimum to stay away from that ugly “B” word…BREAKAGE.

It had been a while since I’d taken the time to install flexi rods, so I decided to set aside a couple of hours to revisit them.  I will admit, installing flexi rods take time and patience, but they are well worth it.  A Flexi rod set at the average hair salon will run you about $60-$80. I attempt to re-create any hairstyle at least once before surrendering my dollars to a stylist.  I watched just about every flexi rod tutorial on Youtube and didn’t have any problems installing them.

Flexi rods come in an array of sizes and colors; the color being the identifier that distinguishes the different sizes.  I used the gray flexi rods, which are the medium/large-sized rods.  They are 11/16″ in diameter.  One pack includes six rods and costs between $3-$4.

I began with freshly washed, conditioned and detangled hair separated in 4 large sections.  I sectioned each quadrant into smaller sections, moisturized and sealed my hair by applying the usual:  Shea Moisture leave-in conditioner, my oil mixture and a very small amount of whipped shea butter.  Working with very small sections, I applied a dab of eco-styler gel and combed through the section with a small tooth comb to eliminate any tangles and thoroughly stretch my hair out.  I must stress the importance of combing through your hair prior to applying the flexi rod.  In order to achieve a nice smooth set you must comb, stretch and smooth each section of hair (You don’t want a frizzy mess).  Since my hair was already detangled, I didn’t have any issues combing through it.  I carefully wrapped the ends of my hair around the end of the rod and twisted my hair firmly up and around the rod.  Once I reached my roots I bent the rod to secure it in place.  The rods are very flexible (hence the name flexi rod) so you can easily secure the rod by bending it in any direction.  I used a total of 5-6 packs of flexi rods. Check out my hair after applying the rods…

I normally allow my hair to air dry for several hours, but when I don’t have the time I sit under my hooded dryer for about an hour.  I make sure my hair is 100% dry.  If not, you’ll end up with frizzy curls.  I unbend each rod and slowly remove it making sure not to disturb the curls.  My hair is extremely soft and moisturized.  Check out the gorgeous curls…

I then separate my curls, fluff and give my hair a good shake.  My Curls = Poppin’!

The curls are so easy to maintain.  I simply slip on a bonnet at night, fluff in the morning and I’m good to go!  My curls last a full week and I refresh with a little leave in conditioner and oil midweek. Talk about convenient!  The #1 reason I love natural hair:  its versatility!

Have you ever tried flexi rods?  If so, how did you like them?