Are there any naturals on the board who get micro braids?

[jaiku]

Its been a while since I have had braids but I used to get straight human hair all the time. I used to go to African Braiding down on Charles street and they always did a good job. I don’t think they enjoyed braiding my hair because it was so long and natural but they got over it. I used to get mine slightly thicker then most micros but they were still alot skinnier than a pencil. They do like to use that pink stuff so bring your own products. I’m at work now but I will try to put up a picture when I get home.

 

[ToyToy]

If you're braiding until the end of your own hair, then it won't look bushy at all!
But if you are looking to just braid like an inch (or even less), then leave the rest (which seems to be trend right now), then you can't do that style, because your own hair would have to be straight so it can blend in with the extension. I think that's what she thought you wanted to do, so she told you you couldn't because it would look weird. Nobody (at least I don't really see it over here in London) really braids all the way down anymore, most people just braid an inch and leave the rest. So she was probably being presumptuous.

ETA: There is a big difference between having new growth plus relaxed ends and being fully natural. I have two friends who did micro braids, braiding less than an inch. One of them was about six months post, so her hair still blended in well with the extensions, because her ends were still straight. The other was fully natural, and trust me, it looked nice for about a couple of days because the braider blowed-out her hair prior to braiding, but by the time she spraied it a couple of times with moisturiser, her hair reverted, and it really did look bushy amongst the extensions.

 

[MsBttrfly23]

I always use wavy hair. I don't think I have ever used straight. I have only been transitioning not quite a year, but do braids about 3 to 4 times a year. I agree with the other ladies, I think the result will depend on your hair type and the braider's skills.

 

[cutebajangirl]

She is being lazy. She cant get away with not braiding all the way till your hair ends like sh could if you were relaxed. Which by the wya is probably a big factor in why braids mess up relaxed hair.

 

[hottestdiva19]

I do micros and I used to wear micro braids a lot when my hair was natural.I have 4b hair and they lasted the expected three months. They won't get frizzy just because your hair is natural. I just think maybe she just doesn't want to have to deal with the extra effort of natural hair. The only reason they wouldn't look right or they would be puffy is if she doesn't braid it all the way down to where your real hair stops. Sometimes where the braids stops it can unravel and your natural hair will show. To avoid this I usually ask for "slip knots" at the end of the braid. This is when you hold the braid between your thumb and index finger, take a strand of the braid using the other hand , wrap it around your thumb and the braid where the braid ends and then pull through. This will ensure that your braids will never unravel. I prefer this method rather than having someone spritz my braid so the ends will stay. It's not good for your hair at all.

 

[glamazon386]

If you're braiding until the end of your own hair, then it won't look bushy at all!
But if you are looking to just braid like an inch (or even less), then leave the rest (which seems to be trend right now), then you can't do that style, because your own hair would have to be straight so it can blend in with the extension. I think that's what she thought you wanted to do, so she told you you couldn't because it would look weird. Nobody (at least I don't really see it over here in London) really braids all the way down anymore, most people just braid an inch and leave the rest. So she was probably being presumptuous.

ETA: There is a big difference between having new growth plus relaxed ends and being fully natural. I have two friends who did micro braids, braiding less than an inch. One of them was about six months post, so her hair still blended in well with the extensions, because her ends were still straight. The other was fully natural, and trust me, it looked nice for about a couple of days because the braider blowed-out her hair prior to braiding, but by the time she spraied it a couple of times with moisturiser, her hair reverted, and it really did look bushy amongst the extensions.

I want it braided past my hair. My hair isn't that long. I told her that. And she still was like I can't do it.

 

[Country gal]

How do you have the patience to sit through and get braids? I use to back in the day when I was permed. The last time I was so impatient. I must be getting old.

I remember my cousin braid this natural before I crossed over. I remember her complaining that the natural had high density of hair. Her hair was super thick and it took forever to braid.

 

[Twisties]

IMO...She shouldn't have a problem braiding your hair....The problem may come after you wash them. I have 4ab hair (it was natural when I had it braided) and had my hair braided with yaki straight hair. It was lovely, straight and bouncy, until I washed it .

After the wash, my natural hair 'poofed' up through the braid while the yaki hair remained straight. I tried to wet it again, put gel on them and put my scarf on for awhile. It flattened the frizzies only for about an hour, then back to poof! I am not sure whether you will experience the same drama with wet and wavy hair...

This happened to me too with natural hair and human hair braids. They looked fine until I washed them. The natural hair "puffed up" thru the straight hair and it was a MESS. Good luck and maybe that won't be your problem if you get it done. I have found that the kanekalon (sp) hair does best with natural hair for me. But I reading that others have had good experiences here....

 

[angellazette]

This happened to me too with natural hair and human hair braids. They looked fine until I washed them. The natural hair "puffed up" thru the straight hair and it was a MESS. Good luck and maybe that won't be your problem if you get it done. I have found that the kanekalon (sp) hair does best with natural hair for me. But I reading that others have had good experiences here....

Yep, same thing happened to me but the braider wet my hair before I left...retard...she knew I had natural hair. I ended up having my cousin redo them for me, but I don't think I washed them either.

 

[glamazon386]

How do you have the patience to sit through and get braids? I use to back in the day when I was permed. The last time I was so impatient. I must be getting old.

I remember my cousin braid this natural before I crossed over. I remember her complaining that the natural had high density of hair. Her hair was super thick and it took forever to braid.

It's not that bad Countrygal. When I had senegalese twists in September it only took 6 hours. She started on my hair about 8:30 and I was out by 2:30. That included razoring and dipping the ends. And her taking pictures and what not. I've sat in the hairdresser longer than that just to get a wash and style when I was relaxed.

 

[ToyToy]

I want it braided past my hair. My hair isn't that long. I told her that. And she still was like I can't do it.

Oh, then she IS lazy ! And horrible!

 

[jaiku]

Here is a picture I promised. i look evil because the sun was in my eyes. I had them braid it past my natural hair. My natural hair was about shoulder length when stretched at the time. http://public.fotki.com/PrincessTiffany/hair/

 

[Nonie]

Oh, then she IS lazy ! And horrible!

OK, I disagree that you need to have straight hair to use straight hair for microbraids, or that you need to blow dry your hair before braiding it. Methinks blowdrying first will only make it frizz more when you wash coz it'll shrink to its normal state and thus make the braids try to bunch up - for lack of a better word.

I have worn braids for the most part of the last 5 years and I always wore them on natural, just-washed hair. I used human hair and have used both wet and wavy as well as straight. The only thing I never did was buy the very silky human hair. It was too slimy for my liking. I preferred the coarser human hair that looked more like my hair blowdried or pressed straight. (I prefer the more natural look.)

Excuse the quality of the picture, but here's a close-up of how my hair looks after a wash and how the braids looked:

I do my own braids so I had the advantage of touching up braids as needed. Whenever I was just sitting, like when watching TV, I'd start touching up my braids focussing more on the braids on the outsides - the ones that show on top when I style my hair, thus disguising the whole do.

It is true, when the hair is new, you get some fuzzing when you wash. But I wore my braids for maaaaany months so after a while I hardly saw any fuzzing. This is a pic of my braids after a wash. They are French braided in preparation for a braid-out (wavy) do:

(This is not the same hair as in the previous pic, BTW.) Braid-outs were a great way to disguise braids that needed touching up. I could wear this do for a while then undo and sport a braid out. (If you have a lot of flyaways, those of you with very soft hair, a scarf at night on a do like this could keep hair looking neat when you sport this do).

Here's how the braidout would look, and it worked well in disguising braids in need of a touch up:

I always braid to the end of my hair. I think leaving the hair partly undone makes it look so obviously fake, not to mention makes it easier for the braids to slide out if your hair isn't long.

Human hair looks very silky when freshly done. Here are freshly done braids (same hair as in the first pics, just different lighting) w/ the ends of the hair curled. I wanted extensions this long so I could use all the heat I wanted on the ends w/o touching my own hair. Hair is braided to the end but as you can see, on freshly braided human hair, the ends unravel easily:

After many washes, the hair does get less shiny but the braids tend to stay neater longer (even after washes) due to less slipping against your hair. The coarser your hair, the better the hold. Below is the same hair 2 years later. (Yes you read that right. If I'ma spend crazy money on human hair that long, then I'ma be sure to get all the use out of it that I can. ) The hair was so much easier to work w/ at this stage and braids stayed neater longer - which was just as well coz it took more time to touch up long braids. I loved my braids at this stage since the hair stayed braided all the way to the ends.

And below, a braid-out on the same hair (Washed hair in square braids and allowed it to dry that way then undid the braids and voila! You could get the same effect by cornrowing the braids into about 5 or 6 cornrows going back while damp (towel-dried) and then allowing hair to dry before undoing.) I always air-dried.

One last thing and then I promise I'ma shut up: you can lessen the fuzzies after a wash if you would put your braids in sections like Robin of Crown and Glory and put rubberbands at the ends before washing.Then apply shampoo to the scalp and only rub/massage the scalp to clean. Next run water through allowing shampoo to run through extensions and use a squeezing motion to clean them letting them hang down...so you're squeezing along the length. Do this till all shampoo is out. Apply conditioner by smoothing it along the braids a few at a time. A squeezing motion allows it to soak into braids. After going under a dryer w/ cap on or just waiting for the recommended time, rinse the same way you did the shampoo squeezing gently. I'd always dunk my head in a solution of ACV and EO's to conclude my wash and massage my scalp to remove all residue of conditioner or shampoo while head was submerged and just allow my braids to soak in the goodness of the solution.

In other words, the less you manipulate the braids during the wash, the less messy they'll look after a wash. It's almost impossible for human hair not to slide down your hair when it's new, or for the braids not to slightly lose their neatness, but this method will minimize those effects.

OK, I'm done rambling.

 

[glamazon386]

Thanks ladies... I'm just gonna have to find another braider. I wanted to go back to her bc she did a good job last time. The braids weren't tight at all. I didn't really want to take a chance with with somebody i didn't know pulling my hair too tight.