When The Africans Braid Your Hair....

[mstar]

Ha ha I remember those days!

The African braiders I went to in Africa weren't like this, though. It's always going to be uncomfortable when you have 3+ people braiding at once, but the in-Africa Africans were kind and fairly gentle. It's those Africans on Georgia Ave in DC that would snatch your hypothalamus and leave you crying real tears.

 

[ommns]

The worst part for me was trying to sleep. I couldn't sleep on my side, back or stomach because if I laid my head down on the pillow it hurt.

 

[Shiks]

Ha ha I remember those days!

The African braiders I went to in Africa weren't like this, though. It's always going to be uncomfortable when you have 3+ people braiding at once, but the in-Africa Africans were kind and fairly gentle. It's those Africans on Georgia Ave in DC that would snatch your hypothalamus and leave you crying real tears.

Tell em! I go to a market to have my hair braided and I have two people who attach and one who finishes. My edges are however yet to recover from a year of using twists as my protective style. I was cute though.

 

[mstar]

@Shiks My edges have never fully recovered from years of braids either. I'm tired of rubbing in sulfur nightly, I think I'm going to get PRP done on my edges. My doctor is a master at creative uses of PRP, and I've seen the pictures of how he re-grows hair. I just have two spots that need to be treated, one on the left and one on the right. They cause me so much distress.

 

[Kanky]

I will take vagina back over braided brains any day.

 

[Mingus]

Ha ha I remember those days!

The African braiders I went to in Africa weren't like this, though. It's always going to be uncomfortable when you have 3+ people braiding at once, but the in-Africa Africans were kind and fairly gentle. It's those Africans on Georgia Ave in DC that would snatch your hypothalamus and leave you crying real tears.

Why tho? Are there lessons from the motherland that they think we can only learn through pain?

 

[Abibi]

Too many quotables to quote.

Her braids and makeup are absolutely beautiful.

 

[lesedi]

I will take vagina back over braided brains any day.

We all grew up with vagina back

 

[okange76]

True. At the market back home, things are quick and pain free. Here, Tylenol is on speed dial. It's taken years but I finally found a quick and painless braider. She's pricey but worth every penny. Use her solely for crochet braids. In and out in under 2 hrs.

 

[lesedi]

I would like to apologise on behalf of my people.

 

[Southernbella.]

So...does this pain apply to Senegalese twists as well? I'm looking to get some but my tolerance is lower now that I'm older. Tight puffs give me a headache now.

 

[coolhandlulu]

@Shiks My edges have never fully recovered from years of braids either. I'm tired of rubbing in sulfur nightly, I think I'm going to get PRP done on my edges. My doctor is a master at creative uses of PRP, and I've seen the pictures of how he re-grows hair. I just have two spots that need to be treated, one on the left and one on the right. They cause me so much distress.

What is PRP? Thank you in advance.


I knew I had enough when I tearfully begged my braider to ease up, and her reply was....IT HURTS TO BE BEAUTIFUL! I still remember her tone to this day. I dont have the words to describe it, but think Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada. (But with an African accent, of course.)

 

[FelaShrine]

^

 

[naijamerican]

African hair braiders have no chill. Every single time I get my hair braided I feel like asking them, "is you finished, or is you done?" All to no avail, because by and large they just don't care.

 

[Misseyl]

She ain't lying.

 

[ebonysweetie]

I thought I successfully repressed the memories of getting my hair braided at the African braids store.

Lawd. When they snatch your roots then dip the ends in hot water, even the steam hurt my scalp. Lol

 

[KimPossibli]

ugh... a reminder of why i don't do braids anymore...

 

[aquajoyice]

No lies were told! I made the mistake at the age of 17 to get braids for the first time at an African shop. I had to learn how to sleep with my eyes open for the first week. On the 8th day I had to take them out, it was pure torture. The pain from African installed braids are > child birth.

 

[beingofserenity]

This reminds me of when I braided my Palestinian friend's hair. She started crying. I couldn't understand why, I thought I was being gentle and it was just two cornrows.

 

[thatscuteright]

I go to a hair braiding shop in Ghana, and they are 4 people doing my long twists. They are gentle, respect my edges and finish in no time.
I wish I could import them here.

 

[Kiowa]

I have 2 braiders in the Islands that do my hair...I schedule my visits there around the times that my hair needs doing

 

[Carrie A]

Yep I lasted 24 hours and I never gotten braids again.

 

[Naveah2050]

This thread .... I think I have liked each post...

 

[MissSenegal]

So...does this pain apply to Senegalese twists as well? I'm looking to get some but my tolerance is lower now that I'm older. Tight puffs give me a headache now.

Yes, I've been getting my hair braided my entire life and lord. I went a few years with no braids and went back and wanted to rip my scalp off.

Find someone who will listen and understand when you say it is too tight. Or learn on YouTube

 

[mstar]

I go to a hair braiding shop in Ghana, and they are 4 people doing my long twists. They are gentle, respect my edges and finish in no time.
I wish I could import them here.

Yes! Every time I got my hair braided there, it was in Ghana. And I don't know how they braid with such superhuman speed, but one girl could finish my hair in 3-4 hours when it would take an American 8 hours or more.

Although...there was this one time when there were 4 women braiding my hair, and one of them was sooo rough. She kept jerking my head back and braiding too tight. I was praying for her to just stop, and I guess God was listening because she went to go feed her baby. (Most of the women braiding me were wearing their babies wrapped on their backs...it was so cute.) But Ghanaians in general are so sweet, and they respect your hair, scalp, and edges.

 

[momi]

They always have to leave and pick up the kids.

Why did she say "I want my back to smell like back???"

 

[PuddingPop]

I would like to apologise on behalf of my people.

Apology not accepted.

 

[thatscuteright]

African hair braiders have no chill. Every single time I get my hair braided I feel like asking them, "is you finished, or is you done?" All to no avail, because by and large they just don't care.

 

[OhTall1]

The comments!

Doc Tilwonda Fowler Phd Those Africans would braid your feelings.... They catch every strand. I had a bald-spot before and they sent for mama-dukes from the back and they cleared out the space to let her in.... She got skin and peach-fuzz but it was braided... My God! I retired after that point... Lol. I was still in my 20's

 

[isioma85]

I have only got my hair braided when I go back home to Nigeria because it costs ~$25 as opposed to the ~$200 in the US. Plus with all these crochet styles, I can have Senegalese twists, Havana twists, allada twists without sitting for 8 hours.

But I still gotta get the cornrow base though.

Normally my friend (who is also Nigerian, but not a professional braider) hooks me up, but her Dental school be getting in the way So for the first time in a long tie I went to my local Africa braiding shop and let my Guinean sisters hook me up.

I left that shop with a mini facelift y'all. SO saw me and was "Why are the edges of your eyes pulled back? Your hair is cute though."

They got the little hairs in the back of my head that nobody can ever get. They snatched those suckers into the cornrow.