Back 2 Back Braiding.....

Lebiya

Lebiya

Well-Known Member
Anyone here braid (extension, cornrows) back to back?

I’m talik’in about Take-out, wash, DC - then braid again then next day consecutively for long periods - 1 year etc…?

Any naturals??
　
What is your regime?

Have you retained good length?
 
I did that 3 years ago. take out cornrows after 2 months, braids after 3.5 months, have it washed, blowdried and braid back in 2 days. Yes, my hair grew,but my hairline took a serious beating.
then a decided to texlax and all my hair fell out. :(
I would recommend you give your hairline a break after undoing your hair.
 
I've done this before:yep:. I would get some senegalese for example, and keep them in until I couldn't stand it anymore. And then I would take them out and get some conrows after that by this girl who feeds the fake her in. They came out so great, and she is so skilled at making braids tight on the scalp, but not pulling the hairline or anything:yep:. I love her!

And yes, i'm natural :yep: and with the conrows i would wash but with the senegalese I didn't wash. I would use ORS waterless shampoo or whatever it is called to clean my scalp and just use braid spray when i felt the need. I find that washing my braids makes my real hair act a fool and forces me to take the braids out sooner. :wallbash::wallbash:

And I guess i retained length, but back then I wasn't really concerned about my length.:nono: I always manage to cut my hair every year:wallbash:. But I am weaved up right now fully, and I just washed my conrows last night. All is well and I have tons of new growth under there. My siggy is the weave I have in now.:yep:
 
I did this in high school when I was growing out my perm. I wore micro braids back to back my hair thrived. I just made sure to moisturize my hairline.
 
Yeah I did this for about 7 months straight, except I would do it with my natural hair- no extensions or anything. I would braid my own hair (I could do some pretty funky braid-ups on my own head) and would take them out every 4-5 days, pre-poo overnight, wash, dc, air dry, oil-up, then braid-up.

It was awesome for retaining length and the overall health of my hair. I didn't encounter any problems because, I would do my own hair, ensuring that it was never too tight. Also, no one area would always be pulled in the same direction (I would do different styles, but that was more for versatility's sake)

I sometimes think to do it again for a prolonged period of time just because it was so beneficial. I dunno, maybe I will. But the reason I did it in the first place was because of a botched hair cut from hell...
 
Thanks ladies - When you took your hair down to rebraid, how did you deal with the matting, single strand knots etc after/before washing, DC etc..?

I know you have more matting, SSK ect - as you hair has been in braids but this these knots/matting are seriously preventing me from achieving my goals - regardless of braiding or not SSN are BOUND to happen w/ curly hair.

I really want to loosen my curl texture :(

The devil is pushing me to texturiz soo bad, even though I am sensitive to perms and get horrid burns...and I don’t feel it’s necessary to BKT because my hair is braids 24/7 - its just the process of washings and so that’s driving me mad!!!
 
Do you wash in sections? Maybe you should detangle with a cheapie condish first and then wash, makes life much easier:yep:
 
^ I use to but after 6-8 weeks of cornrows, product build -up, I need to get a cleaner wash so I just started washing w/o braiding- and either I usully henna after I remove my braids so my hair has to be out when washing it out.
 
I'm natural I'm doing B2B right now. I have my own hair in cornrow for about 2-3 weeks then wash, DC and all that then do it again. I have retained a lot of length from what I can see
 
Lebiya said:
Anyone here braid (extension, cornrows) back to back?

I’m talik’in about Take-out, wash, DC - then braid again then next day consecutively for long periods - 1 year etc…?

Any naturals??
　
What is your regime?

Have you retained good length?
Click to expand...

I do this. I always have cornrows or extension braids.
After having extension braids I always do cornrows, but I can do cornrows back to back for as long as I feel like it.

I leave the extensions in for 2-3 months (spray everyday with African Royale Braid Spray, wash w/ diluted shampoo 1x week, redo braids around perimeter at least once during that time frame)
I leave cornrows in for 4-6 weeks (I wear wigs). Moisturize and seal daily, wash and DC 1x week.

There is always 1-2 days between sets of braids (Take down: day 1; Detangle, wash, DC: day 2; Rebraid: same day or day 3)
and at that time I do a really good wash and DC session, maybe a protein prepoo if I need it.

I like to use ORS Replenishing conditioner to help with detangling and matting because it makes my hair really soft and manageable. It doesn't mat all that much and if it does I just work through it gently with my fingers and conditioner, slowly pulling hair out of the tangle.

I'm only around half natural though.
I've retained length pretty well and my edges are fine because I pay very good attention to them (don't braid too tight, keep them moisturized, don't pull braids back too tightly, massage, etc).
 
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winnettag said:
I do this. I always have cornrows or extension braids.
After having extension braids I always do cornrows, but I can do cornrows back to back for as long as I feel like it.

I leave the extensions in for 2-3 months (spray everyday with African Royale Braid Spray, wash w/ diluted shampoo 1x week, redo braids around perimeter at least once during that time frame)
I leave cornrows in for 4-6 weeks (I wear wigs). Moisturize and seal daily, wash and DC 1x week.

There is always 1-2 days between sets of braids (Take down: day 1; Detangle, wash, DC: day 2; Rebraid: same day or day 3)
and at that time I do a really good wash and DC session, maybe a protein prepoo if I need it.

I lie to use ORS Replenishing conditioner to help with detangling and matting because it makes my hair really soft and manageable. It doesn't mat all that much and if it does I just work through it gently with my fingers and conditioner, slowly pulling hair out of the tangle.

I'm only around half natural though.
I've retained length pretty well and my edges are fine because I pay very good attention to them (don't braid too tight, keep them moisturized, don't pull braids back too tightly, massage, etc).
Click to expand...


...?

Are you tex-laxed?
 
I just started back to back braiding and I am natural and I have joined the 2010 braid challenge. I cornrow my natural hair the best I can, but practice makes perfect!:rolleyes: I have been leaving the braids in for 1-2 weeks then takedown to detangle and wash/condition, then rebraid the hair. I have found that when you are able to take down your braids on a weekly or biweekly basis you don't experience as much tangles or matting as opposed to leaving them in for months.:look: I used to get weaves, so the stylist cornrowed my hair with extensions and I mean I had a headache from hell the whole night afterwards, then the weave would be in for at least two months, and when I took out the weave and undid the cornrows, I almost wanted to cry because so much hair would be matted and tangled and I would think all my hair was coming out because all of the shedded hair coming down with the cornrows:wallbash: I feel much better doing my own braids and having the liberty of taking them down when I want, braiding as tightly or loosely as I would like, getting to my scalp frequently, and wearing lace wigs.
 
My back-to-back braiding is a little different. I never undo all the braids. I undo one, snip the end and rebraid. And so on till all have been redone. In other words, my hair is braided 24/7 for many months. The braids I have in, I've had since April. Works for me.

I did get good growth retention when I wore my extensions for 14 months straight. Went from about three inches stretched to this.

My regimen is the same one I have when not in braids. Shampoo, condition, ACV twice a week. One of those conditions is a DC. Baggy every night. No products otherwise.
 
My sister wore back to back braids for about two or three years and her hair is very nice,long & pretty :grin: but her hairline/edges??? NONEXISTENT!

wearing braids back to back too long will make your hairline look like Susan Taylors.....:nono:


*you've been forewarned*** :look:

I used braids to transition but would give my hair a two- six week break full of conditioning & strengthening treatments in the meantime and my hairline is still growing strong.
 
I wore box braids for a little over 2 years ('3-'05) with no extensions. I never took all my hair out, I redid them one by one whenever I had free time and literally never saw my hair for 2+ years. Maybe b/c I didn't use extentions, or b/c I didn't braid very tight my hairline was fine. In '03 when I started I did the BC and my hair was about ear length.

This is my hair when I finally took them all out:

Pic1-vi.jpg


It was a bad flatiron attempt. :look:

The only thing I would do different now is focus more on DCing and keeping my ends healthy, but overall I think it was very good for my hair.
 
i do this now. ive been doing it for a yr and 3 mths. i BC'd n im trying to grow my hair to APL. i believe i'll get there if not the end of this mth, then the beginning of next mth. i wash my hair once every couple of weeks, using the C&G method. i moisturize w. glycerin and water, and use infusium for my protein. i do this daily. or..at least try to :look:

i leave it in for 2mths, take it down, and detangle my hair w. my fingers as i do. so im never really detangling the whole thing at once. then i put conditioner in my hair and detangle again in sections using the k-cutter comb.

i wash and condition and then i use le kair cholesterol and sit under the dryer w. it for about half an hr. wash out and moisturize, take pix of my progress, then get it done again the next day.
 
btw, my hairline isn't where i want it to be but i dont think its awful (its the pic in my avi)

also keep in mind i have a big forehead :ohwell:

i always try to make sure they don't braid too tight around the edges
 
heed advice from these ladies who have posted before me.

I did this for about a year, I retained length. Lots of length. Now, I went natural for 5 months before getting braids and I told my braider to use more hair per braid on my edges. i would just get my edges redone when they looked old. I washed every week and a half in braids.

Takedown, I did all on my own, no one was really available to help me, and I was worried they'd cut my hair out of frustration. The day before takedown, I'd oil my whole scalp and each braid generously. I wanted it to slip off almost and I didnt want my hair to be dry and i wanted detangling to be easy. I combed out each braid after removal and then waited until the next day to wash. It required a whole weekend.

Wash in parts. Always. Quarters worked well. Braiding didn't loosen my curl pattern, don't really expect it to. My hair's pattern was loosened by growth I think. In my fotki my results from braiding. I eventually stopped because my hair grew too long to braid. 2-3 inches of my ends would be sticking out of the braids and I used to use heat on the hair. My own hair sticking out was mad noticeable too. Senegalese twists or kinky twists were a better option after.

HTH
 
I braid back to back, all back 10 rows have been doing it for about 11months wearing a full head of weave, no leave out at all and it works really well for me.

I take down my weave after 4-6 weeks, after church on a sunday, detangle with conditioner, wash, DC/steam and put my weave right back in ready for school in the morning on monday. I would say ive retained about 5inches of hair doing this, i have 4b hair and am struggling to make it soft so this suits me nicely. My edges are well when they start looking sick i usually use castor oil for about a week.
 
asuperwoman said:
My sister wore back to back braids for about two or three years and her hair is very nice,long & pretty :grin: but her hairline/edges??? NONEXISTENT!

wearing braids back to back too long will make your hairline look like Susan Taylors.....:nono:


*you've been forewarned*** :look:

I used braids to transition but would give my hair a two- six week break full of conditioning & strengthening treatments in the meantime and my hairline is still growing strong.
Click to expand...

That's true even if you don't braid too tightly you still have the risk to your hairline esp if you're wearing sew in weaves, just be really careful. I braided back 2 back for 4 years straight, but in between braiding I took it down for 1 week, S&D the splits, protein once and deep conditioned daily that whole week babied my hair then put it back up in the braided weave. Sometimes it is better to have a wig so that you can take care of your hair on daily basis, cause the detangling, and shed hair from the weaving is hard to take.
 
Lucia said:
That's true even if you don't braid too tightly you still have the risk to your hairline esp if you're wearing sew in weaves, just be really careful. I braided back 2 back for 4 years straight, but in between braiding I took it down for 1 week, S&D the splits, protein once and deep conditioned daily that whole week babied my hair then put it back up in the braided weave. Sometimes it is better to have a wig so that you can take care of your hair on daily basis, cause the detangling, and shed hair from the weaving is hard to take.
Click to expand...

So what's the solution to not losing one's hairline when it comes to braids? The only thing i've ever heard of is re-doing the edges periodically and not too tight. Anything else?
 
asuperwoman said:
So what's the solution to not losing one's hairline when it comes to braids? The only thing i've ever heard of is re-doing the edges periodically and not too tight. Anything else?
Click to expand...

Taking the extensions off along the hairline and just wearing your own hair as bangs (twisted or braided), or cornrowing about an inch or so of your own hair from hairline back and tucking tail ends within the extension braids in the back or adding extensions just to the tails so that you give the hairline a rest.

Also making sure you use less extension hair per section of your own.
 
Lebiya said:
...?

Are you tex-laxed?
Click to expand...

I meant about half my hair is natural and the other half is tex-laxed.
I'm transitioning. In my avatar pic, the tex-laxed part starts around the 2 inch mark on my shirt. Sorry, I guess that wasn't very clear. :grin:
 
winnettag said:
I meant about half my hair is natural and the other half is tex-laxed.
I'm transitioning. In my avatar pic, the tex-laxed part starts around the 2 inch mark on my shirt. Sorry, I guess that wasn't very clear. :grin:
Click to expand...


Ah ha!

So your hair isnt half as bad with the single strand knots and such I guess...
 
I'm seriously thinking about BTK'in even though I dont see the need to since my hair is in braids 24/7 ...its just the 1 day of washing, hennaing, and single strand knot city that's puuuushing me!!!

I'm soo confused :(
 
I did that before my second set of locs. My hair went from less than an inch to SL in less than two years HOWEVER my edges STILL hate me for that. So how, I take breaks.
 
Ok, for the ladies who wore back to back braids (particularly cornrows) consecutively for long periods

...How did you deal with the single strand knots, matting etc ..when you took your braids out to henna?

I’d really like to hear from the 4xzy Naturals particularly.
 
I wanted to add that I couldnt ever wear cornrows as long as some people here have. My hair would be a gross disgusting matted mess of nastiness lol

I dont wear cornrows any longer than two weeks and thats pushing it.

For matting, you can use oils and they make braid take down sprays to help create a slip that makes picking out the matting easier. I approach it like I did my locs, with a metal rattail comb, some oil, water, and/or conditioner.

SSKs I always cut out, but since I've been taking garlic pills, I havent had a lot of shedding (which is what caused my SSKs).
 
zenith said:
I did that 3 years ago. take out cornrows after 2 months, braids after 3.5 months, have it washed, blowdried and braid back in 2 days. Yes, my hair grew,but my hairline took a serious beating.
then a decided to texlax and all my hair fell out. :(
I would recommend you give your hairline a break after undoing your hair.
Click to expand...

damn. that is frightful!!! :perplexed

this is exactly why i took out my braids 3 weeks ago and have just been rocking loose plaits and babying my edges with no plans of box braids or cornrows again till the end of this month. back 2 back = trouble for many ppl.



ETA: The thread is proof of my theory that people who know how to braid their own hair have dramatically better results with B2B then those who are at the mercy of braiders.

I think its because
1. you can be extra delicate and patient with your hair
2. you can rebraid the perimeter and other parts as much as you like and
3. you can wash and condition your hair without having to worry about how it'll hold up till your next appointment
4. not to mention all the money you save - which makes it financially more appealing

If i knew how to... I would gently cornrow my hair every 4 weeks and pamper my edges while wearing half wigs. Those of you who know how to braid hair are super lucky (think i may need to start practicing and learn how to do it soon myself)
 
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Yep I did it for a year and a half almost from June 08 to Nov 09. My last relaxer was March 08. I moisturized with a mix of Aloe Vera Gel, Brahmi Oil, water and sealed with EVOO. I took MSM, Biotin, Omega 3,6,9, and a multi vitamin every day just about. Once a week, I would wash, DC overnight and apply a leave in. Sept 08 I reached APL and now I'm on my way to BSL and beyond!
 
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