Adrienne0914, other former braiders-HELP ME

[rosie]

Okay, I know most of you don't remember me, but I was an active member back in Oct of 2002. Well, I have been wearing braids since then. I took one set out in November and put another one in with no break in between. Now I need to take these braids out and give my hair a rest from them. I have about 4 - 5 inches of relaxed hair and about 4 inches of natural hair, except in the crown where I had much breakage, there is almost no relaxed hair.

My questions are:

What is the best method for taking them out? The last time I did it, I had quite a bit of breakage.

How long a break should I take? I'm kind of tired of the braids, but I know I like the convenience of them.

What to do in the interim? What kinds of styles are best to protect my hair and crown area? I like the twist out, but my ends become so dry from it, and with the breakae inthe crown, it would look awkward. I'm afraid to use heat, since my hair is unaccustomed to it.

I know my hair is a little dry fromthe braids, so I know I need deep conditioning.
I don't think I'm ready to relax it yet. I'm so scared of the overlap and breakage problem.

These are the products that I have at home:
shampoo CON ultra moisturizing shampoo
deep conditionersMOtions Oil Moisturizing conditioner, Motions CPR conditioner, ORS hair mayo
moisturizing conditioners suggestions needed
leave-in Hollywood Beauty Olive Cream, S-curl no drip moisturizer
Oils Castor & Vit E. mixture; Homemade WGO; Hot six oil; Olive oil

Any suggestions on routines and such is appreciated.


Many thanks for your help.

 

[ngaa]

welcome back rosie, the method that i use to take my braids down is to unravel the braid. (If the braid is put in properly, you could just slide it out.

When you get to the scalp base, here may be a small build up, with your fingers, move the section back and forth gently until it begins to loosen up. There should not be a excessive build up if you used the braid spray sparingly. When it losens up, begin to seperate this section with your fingers. It should not be too diffiucult. After you've separated this area, begin to comb through. Don't use a fine toothed comb. The smallest comb should be medium sized. Repeat this with the remainder of your braids. when his is done u may want to deep condition usin yo CPR or the hair mayo (i'm looooovin the mayo at the moment /images/graemlins/smile.gif ) there's a video on how to take braids down on robin's website

http://www.growafrohairlong.com/braidreg.htm

i am takin only a week inbetween my braids coz i only get a week off school but i've noticed that if i deep-condition my hair mon, wed and friday then my hair is healthy enuff to have the braids put in sat /images/graemlins/smile.gif so dependin on the condition that yo hair is in u may feel that u need to let yo hair rest for longer...

inbetween the braids u cud wear yo hair ina ponytail wit yo ends tucked in and use the s-curl as a moisturiser or u cud have a twist done on yo hair and mix the s-curl wit some water so that u spary this on yo ends every-day and this shud be enuff to combat the dryness coz i got a problem wit my hair's dryness but since usin the s-curl i'm constantly touchin my hair n wonderin who's hair is on my head /images/graemlins/blush.gif

ngaa /images/graemlins/drunk.gif hth

 

[rosie]

Thanks for the reply. I'm very familiar with the braid lady.

I do get a lot of build up on my braids even though I use the spray sparingly. But I'll get through it. I think the last time I slathered conditioner on and tried to comb all the build up thingies away.

This time I'll take it much slower. I'm taking sections down at a time and detangling/deknotting them.

I should be finished by the weekend. We'll see.

I don;t know if all my hair will pull back into a tucked ponytail. As puffy as it is.

Again, thanks

 

[londongirl3]

What is the best method for taking them out? The main thing with braids is that you MUST take care of your hair in braids. You must keep it moisturised to allow it to retain it's strength. If you haven't moisturised it, it will break off. I do a deep conditioning two days before taking my braids out (And every week). I use curl activator to keep my hair moisturised and I *think* my breakage has been lessened.

 

[leneer]

I heard of a product called Take Down thats supposed to moisture braid, locks, etc.to minimize breakage Check out this site at blackhairmedia.com/natural.htm. It may be found at Sallys beauty supply.

 

[SweetNic_JA]

Welcome back Rosie!
We haven't met before but welcome back any way.

First off, sorry to hear about the breakage in your crown area. Secondly, learn how to care for so that you'll have no problems the next time around. I suggest what the other ladies on the board have already suggested - curl activator moisturizer -- it's not your average SOUL GLO...it works and depending on the brand, you won't have any greasy residue. Personally I use...man I forgot the name but it's in a white bottle with hotpink writing. I think it's Luster's. I used to uses Lustrasilk but I saw that it uses propylene glycol which supposedly breaks down protein structure in the skin ( so I figured it must do the same for the hair). You should continue to wash (I condition wash) your braids on a weekly basis and keep your hair moisturized and your scalp oiled.

Since most of what I just wrote doesn't apply to you now. I will give the following suggestions:

When it comes to taking braids out, it's best to use a light oil, preferrably an essential oil with the essential fatty acids. If you don't want to go out an purchase an oil, just find something that will lightly moisturize your hair to loosen up any possible buildup.

During the interim I choose to do a twist out method. I'm growing out a short cut so I do a modified twistout method. I twist my hair and then put rollers on the whole length of my hair. It gives me a cute,large,curly look when I take them out. Some people opt to do loose cornrows or flat twists. **when doing the braid out, do it on damp hair. put a mixture of leave-in and castor oil on your hair and then twist, paper, and roll.

When I took my braids out I took a 2 week wait. Normally I would consider a 2 week wait insufficient but because I was treating my hair while I had the braids my hair wasn't harmed at all. I'm in another set of braids now and I plan on stretching them to 3 months but I'm going to give my hair a month /images/graemlins/crazy.gif of breathing time before I give myself a touch-up.

To keep my hair moisturized I used a mixture of infusium-23 with pure castor oil. Normally I'd use grapeseed oil but it's not strong enough in the winter months.

Goodluck girl

 

[Leshia]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
londongirl3 said:

What is the best method for taking them out? The main thing with braids is that you MUST take care of your hair in braids. You must keep it moisturised to allow it to retain it's strength. If you haven't moisturised it, it will break off. I do a deep conditioning two days before taking my braids out (And every week). I use curl activator to keep my hair moisturised and I *think* my breakage has been lessened.




[/ QUOTE ]

London, what's your method for deep conditioning while braided? Just curious..

 

[londongirl3]

I was going to try a hot oil treatment but, I am afraid that the oil might react with my kanekalon braids. (It's VO5 hot oil).

Anyway, my method is to 'wash' my hair with conditioner and rinse. I apply the deep conditioner along the braids as far as I think my hair is (Remembering that conditioning is for hair and not for scalp, so I focus more on getting the conditioner along the braid).

I would use heat but my braids are butt length at the moment and it's hard to get my hair all ontop of my head.

I sit with it for 20 minutes to 1 hr and then give myself a good scalp massage for about 15 minutes before I rinse off. I then wash the ends of the braids with regular shampoo.

I am not towel drying for the moment (Someone mentioned something about it). I dry off the ends of my braids and then let my hair air dry. When it's dry, I put coconut/jojoba oil on my scalp and curl activator along the braids (Where my hair should be) for moisture. I try to do the curl activator every day but laziness gets the better of me most times. /images/graemlins/drunk.gif

 

[Leshia]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
londongirl3 said:
I would use heat but my braids are butt length at the moment and it's hard to get my hair all ontop of my head.



[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds pretty.....do you have a pic by any chance? Thanks for the tips on conditioning!

 

[Chipmunk]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
londongirl3 said:
I was going to try a hot oil treatment but, I am afraid that the oil might react with my kanekalon braids. (It's VO5 hot oil).


[/ QUOTE ]

I used to use V05 and TCB hot oil treatments ALL the time with my hair in braids, and I never had a bad reaction or any adverse effects from it.

 

[adrienne0914]

hey, rosie! i definitely remember you, girl! i'm glad to see you posting again. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

i've read all of the advice given by these ladies. i actually can't think of anything more. it was all EXCELLENT!!!

i basically do most of what has been stated, but i use olive oil to take my braids down. it gives a little more slip than conditioner. i think almost any good carrier oil will do.

adrienne

p.s. ngaa, londongirl and sweetnic_JA, yall took all the words outta my mouth. go head!! /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[ngaa]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
londongirl3 said:
I am not towel drying for the moment (Someone mentioned something about it).

[/ QUOTE ]
is towell dryin bad /images/graemlins/confused.gif

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
SweetNic_Ja said:
I used to uses Lustrasilk but I saw that it uses propylene glycol which supposedly breaks down protein structure in the skin ( so I figured it must do the same for the hair).

[/ QUOTE ]

i thot that propylene glycol was a humectant and arent humectants good for moisture /images/graemlins/confused.gif

ngaa /images/graemlins/drunk.gif

 

[londongirl3]

Oh thankyou for the recommendation. I only just got the oil and I have been dying to try it. It was going to be a month until I did but now that you've said that!! /images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[londongirl3]

Me and pictures are not friends lol. I have pictures from 2 years ago that are not yet processed /images/graemlins/blush.gif

But I do think you can get the braids in USA. In england we call them pony braid or pony tail. They can be shoulder length, mid back or butt length. The only down side is they are very heavy, (Price for beauty /images/graemlins/grin.gif)