Yarn Braid Do's & Don'ts

      When I was natural I was looking for another style. I was tired of twist outs, fros, mowhawks, all of that. I wanted something fun and different, One thing I did know is that I wanted to loc my hair. I wasn't quite ready to loc my hair so I searched for a style to imitate locs. I came across this photo of yarn locs. They were tiny and beautiful, There were so many of them and her hair was very full. I at the time wanted small locs so I thought this was perfect.

There was general information that I did discover in my search. One of the most important bits of information was... ACRYLIC YARN ONLY. Cotton and wool yarn were once alive, so it will crave moisture and the intricate fibers will loc to your hair.

    Ok, so don't used sheep back or tree poop, got it. I rushed to Micheal's and purchased two 1lb bundles of black yarn and for three days, I went to work. OMG! It was so worth it. 

       Yassss. I gave life in these braids. I felt like I lived through them in a sense. I had gotten a million compliments on the style and the older it got the better it looked. I was in love. So in love that I had these braids in for 6 months. In the six months I discovered several things:

Do Not Let A Style Go To Your Head- That is number one. I knew it looked really good but I should have taken them out. I advised others on how to properly take care of theirs, but I really had a yolo moment. 

IF You Go Swimming Rinse & Condition First- I was working out with this hair in and at times I had to get in the pool. Whether you have permed, natural, locs, weave, whatever, rinse your hair for 5 minutes with pure water first. Then if you can rub a little conditioner in your hair. Chlorine is very damaging. The molecules int he chemical will want to enter your hair shaft, but because your strands are now swollen with water and protected with conditioner, the chlorine will be less penetrating. You will notice a nice condtioning when you get out of the pool. The chlorine's ph would open your hair cuticle and the conditioner would adsorb nicely and before any chlorine. 

Do Not Wet Your Hair Frequently- When you wet your hair frequently the bonds in your hair break and your hair is limp and pliable. When your hair  dries the bonds reform. If you have in yarn braids, you will constantly be breaking and forming bonds around these very fibrous pieces of yarn making it easier for your hair to "loc" around the yarn.

Do Not Use Small Amounts of Hair- Do not install to many. They smaller the braid the less strands their are to support the weight of the yarn as well as the build up. Yarn can be rough to some hair types and can cause breaking over long time wear. 

Moisturize Your Hair Nicely as You Install- The acrylic yarn will not absorb the moisture and it also makes they yarn more slippery and less damaging to your hair, This will keep your hair moisturized for a good 3 weeks into your style. 

Moisturize with Spritz and Minimally- Due to build up at the root as well as they fact that you have a blanket on your head you do not want too much product in your hair it will cause the yarn to mush together with the build up at the base of the braid. 

AND THIS REALLY APPLIES IF YOU HAVE THIN OR WEAK HAIR. This style needs a good amount of strands per braid. I suggest if for people with average hair thickness. Thin hair takes more surface area per braid, so they style may come out thin, if the hair is not strong. You can have thin hair with very strong strand and this style will work for you, however if your hair is weak in anyway this style is not for you. 

Soooooo I have average hair with veeerryyy thin temples. They are my stress points and my father is some sort of caveman with that c thing going around his hairline. After keeping these braids in for 6 MONTHS a lot of them had loced together at the root. It was so tedious and tiring to take them out that in some areas that were the worst, I ripped them out. The ending result was horrifying as you can see. I completely ripped my head to shreads. So I ran to the salon and demanded locs. No more playing around in loose natural hair. It is very delicate and sensitive, quite frankly, I don't have time for that. This is the second time since I've went natural that I had to start over. All I want is long black hair. This was the tipping point for my journey. 

Accessories & Protective Style: The Turban

Bin Laden Ain't The Only One! #lol 

Hair Style

A Pashmina 4for$20 

*** Note: Underneath my hair is moisturized and protected. i also wear a cap between my hair and the fabric of the scarf to protect my hair and so I will not lose precious moisture!***

Accessories 

Earrings: Long Feather- $10 Natural Hair Expo 

Stud- Forever 21- $3 (6 pair pack)

Glasses: Bonzo.Com $10

Scarf: Walmart $10

Vest: Avenue $6

Lipstick: Mary Kay Black Raspberry 9074

And the theme of this really is good accessories! They take any hair style or outfit to the next level! Plus nowadays, ANYTHING GOES! Be unique but most importantly, 

BE YOU! 

Natural Hair: The Turban

One way to keep my hair further protected while it is in plaits is the turban. There are several Youtube tutorials on how to do this simple and cute trick. 

Here is how I rocked my colorful turban! 

You can barley see it but... You get the idea! :) 

Are Protective Hairstyles Really Protecting?

As you all may or may not know I have been on this protective hair style rant. I vowed to keep my hair in protective hair styles for 1 year! In one of my earlier posts i had taken out some thick braids and my ends were shot. I had to cut off so much hair. So after that my hair has been under corn rolls and wig caps... That's right. But is the hairstyle really helping when you cannot get moisture to your hair? I don't think so. When getting a protective style make sure you can get to your hair to moisturize it daily!!! This hairstyle is a wig cap so i can get under it, take it off, and MOISTURIZE daily! 

The 1 Year Protective Hair Style Challenge

I am going to attempt the ultimate method of growing. I am going to keep my hair in protective styles for one year. Keeping your hair in protective styles helps it grow better. Hair will not be breaking off, shedding or getting damaged and I will not have things rubbing up against my lose ends. I realized my 4c hair is so fragile and gets damaged so easily. I have already noticed a significant change in my hair since it has been in protective hair styles thus far.

I will be achieving this majestic feat by getting braids, corn/cane rolls, triwts, tracks, anything protective.

July 24th, 2010- Braids

September 12th, 2010- Track

September 26th, 2010- Track
October 10, 2010- Cornrolls and Two Strand Twists 

Ta-Da!

So I was at work and I remembered... TAKE A PICTURE!!! Some people thought I got my braids redone or at least the front redone. They came out beautiful but there is one thing...

1. My braids are so long and heavy that the curls fell.

That's really it... I would recommended spraying the braids with HOLDING SPRAY after the mousse and before the drier. But I really love this style.

Braids!

The braids came out beautifully!!!

With greatness there is always some buts.... MY EDGES!!! AHHH!!! The pain, the agony for hair protection and beauty! This can be a potential problem. I have to take care of my hair and make sure I don't pull it while it is in this delicate stage. That is how your edges are pulled out. These braids are not as small as Micros, so i am good anyway. When I get new braids my mama likes to say, "Girl I can see what you thinkin'!"

Protective Hair Style Day!

Today I am getting braids. The style of braids I am getting I have had many times before growing up. Some people call them long braids, others call them goddess braids. I just call them braids. This hair style costs $200 dollars and it takes up to 12 hours to be done. The price does seem a little high but these braids are done with quality from a professional that I have been going to since I was 11.

Positives of Braids:

• Can last for 2-3 months
• Protects your hair better than other protective styles (in my opinion)
• Can be styled
• Very Pretty (lol im such a girl)

Negatives of Braids:

• Takes a long time to do
• Hurts
• If not done properly, can pull out hair
• Braids too small can pull out hair

As much as people love Micros or Invisibles, Those small braids can pull your hair out especially your edges. Only a few strands are put into the braids and the weight of the hair can pull out your hair. There is a hair to braid hair ratio and your edges are very delicate. So when getting your braids choose carefully. Some times the hair can make your scalp itch, but this is rare.

Yes! You can get braids cheaper. I heard that in New York braids are $60 because there are braid shops every where n competition. I know there is cousins or home girls that can do braids cheaper as wel. But me personally I like going to professionals.

Protective Hair Styles

Your hair is a very sensitive body. When it is out it is fighting a war. It is fighting:

-Sun

-Each Other Hair Strand

-Fabrics

-Dirt and Debris in the Air

Because your hair is fighting all of this it is good to get protective hair styles and to keep your hair up off of your neck. Hair on your neck is constantly rubbing up against fabric from your non-satin shirt, your necklace, and your hair. When your hair is in a protective style it rubs up against stuff less. It also is protected from all of the other things listed. So what exactly is a protective hair style. Here is a list of some examples:

Curls: flexi rods, bantu knot-outs, curlers, etc

Braids: Braids w/ and w/out fake hair (kanekelon, etc), French braids, etc

Twists: Kinky Twists, twists w/ and w/ out fake hair. Sanglenese Twists.

Others: Buns, Ponytail w/ fake hair, corn-rolls, flat twists.

When you have these styles, your hair still has to be moisturized on a daily basis. You can wash and condition most of your protective hair styles as well. When you hair is protected you optimize its ability to grow because it is not rubbing against stuff and breaking off.

My Hair

I have very kinky very coiled 4c hair and my hair is the weakest. It breaks very easily. It also does not retain moisture well either. And because it is very coiled it curls up around itself and causes other hairs to break off. Once my hair got very short on the crown of my head because of hats, scarves and coo-fies. Because my hair breaks so much I need to keep it in protective styles. One of my styles is the picture on the right. In this picture I have very large braids. They are like the Poetic Justice, Sista Girl braids, lol. These braids lasted for 4 weeks. They could not last longer because my hair is short and it came out of some of the braids. If the braids were smaller then I would have kept them longer. Protective hairstyles are a plus and very well needed.