Naturals who's protective styling is braiding: Get in here!

[ShaniKeys]

I'm thinking about braiding my hair for the next three months or so, I haven't done that in over two years. So I have a few questions:

1. Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid?
2. Do you prefer synthetic or human hair?
3. What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?)
4. How long do you keep the braids in?
5. What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify)

TIA

ps: I forgot to ask how you 'treat' your hair while in braids, feel free to add this if you have a special regimen while in braids.

 

[loulou82]

Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid?

Synthetic

Do you prefer synthetic or human hair?

N/A

What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?)
Clarify followed by moisturizing shampoo, DC with mild protein for 15 minutes with heat (AO GPB), DC with moisture using homemade steam treatment and heat for 30 minutes, blow dry (with heat protectant, and put in large twists

How long do you keep the braids in?

7-8 weeks

What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify)

Moisten braids with braid spray for take down. Pre poo and detangle with oil when putting hair in large twists. Wash and DC hair while in these twists.

Braid Care:
Daily: 1. Spray braids with mix of distilled water, castor oil, whatever conditioner or moisturizer I'm using up, and aloe vera juice. I make it a bit watery so there's no build up.
2. Apply Surge 14 mix to scalp (when I remember)

Weekly: Cleanse scalp with cotton swab and witch hazel or do a ACV+water rinse to remove build up

Monthly: Shampoo with diluted shampoo and DC with diluted conditioner under dryer for 30 minutes. Rinse and saturate braids with a mix of distilled water and Aphogee Pro-Vitamin Leave In. Air dry.

Sleep with satin scarf.

 

[Nonie]

• Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid

Human hair
​

• Do you prefer synthetic or human hair?

Human hair​

• What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?)

I don't do anything out of the ordinary. I wash my hair twice a week and DC on one of those occasions using a reconstructor like Emergencee or GPB. So before I braid, it is usually after either the simple wash and condition or the wash and DC. But I do not deliberately do one or the other in preparation. It's just whichever happens to be due when I'm about to braid.
​

• How long do you keep the braids in?

I keep the braids in for many months. Last time I had them in was for about 14 months...but I've gone longer than that. But that's not really accurate as I am constantly redoing the braids. Since I know how to do it myself, I redo them as needed undoing one at a time and redoing before undoing the next. So when I say 14 months, I mean I didn't have all my hair out until after 14 months when I undid all of them and had my hair out of braids completely
​

• What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify)

Again, nothing out of the ordinary. Throughout my braids, I follow the same wash/condition regimen I described above so I just continue with it when out of braids.

​

I would like to suggest that you look up the braid regimen on www.growafrohairlong.com I always tell people who have not developed a braid regimen of their own to use that as the foundation. Robin's method has worked for a lot of people and takes out the guess work that a newbie to braids might have. I suggest that because Robin also takes into account moisturizing--something I don't--but which a lot of people find they cannot do without. So I would suggest when in doubt, to start with that and then tweak it to your own version once you get comfortable with being in braids.

 

[lollyoo]

Hi,
Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid?
I have used both, but found synthetic is just as good as human, may be even better
Do you prefer synthetic or human hair?
synthetic
What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?)
I usualy clarify with acv or baking soda mix
deep condition over night with moisturising conditioner
next day- condition with mild protein for 15-20 min with heat
moisturise air dry and braids

once in, I use silk conditioning leave in mist 3x a week and seal with castor or jojoba oil

for maintenance i wash and condition every 2 wks, and re do the front and sides, my hair easily becomes frizzy once washed.

How long do you keep the braids in? usually about 2 monthss, just loosened briads yesterday, currently doing my rituals.

What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify)
exact same thing i did before putting it in..

I agree with Nonie checkout grow afro hair long website, particularly the undoing braids technique, i use her technique has been my life saver to prevent excessive loss of hair when taking our braids.

HTH

 

[Lucky's Mom]

1. Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid?

I like Synthetic hair to braid... For price reasons.

Do you prefer synthetic or human hair?

Human hair is now too pricey for me.... So I get synthetic look a likes...
What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided?

(moisturize/strengthen/clarify?)
I Do cassia treatments for Strength.

1. How long do you keep the braids in?

6 to 8 weeks.

1. What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify)

Moisture...


ps: I forgot to ask how you 'treat' your hair while in braids, feel free to add this if you have a special regimen while in braids.

I use Ayruvedic methods while in braids. I also DC in braids.

 

[Vinyl]

1. Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid? I used to use human hair, but use synthetic now that money is tight.
2. Do you prefer synthetic or human hair? I prefer human hair, synthetic really dried my hair out.
3. What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?) I deep condition with Suave Natural conditioner.
4. How long do you keep the braids in? A few months, but that's me being naughty. I wouldn't recommend keeping them in that long.
5. What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify) I deep condition. Usually before I put the braids in and after I take them out is the same time period.

 

[DragonPearl]

1. Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid? Human hair. I started using human hair for the first time this year only.
2. Do you prefer synthetic or human hair? Human hair feels MUCH softer and less plasticky. Sleeping with a head full of synthetic hair is horrible. And yes, human hair is more expensive, but you can re-use the braids over and over, so it's a good long term investment.
3. What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?) Nothing different than my usual DC routine.
4. How long do you keep the braids in? 1 month or so or until DH gets tired of looking at me with fake hair. lol.
5. What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify) Deep conditioning.

The beauty of having my hair in braids is that I can actually rinse my hair and scalp 3 or 4 times a week without it being a major operation, lol. (I tried doing that with my own hair in twists or plaits, and my hair started to loc! Never again) I occasionally put some light conditioner on my braids to keep them soft.

 

[MsBttrfly23]

I have been doing micro braids for about 7 years or more. I have only been transitioning to natural for about 2 years now. I think now though, the braids are more of a security blanket for me. I don't know what to do with my hair and I have cut all of the perm off little by little. I really want to be natural and I know this is what is best for "MY" hair, but I am not comfortable wearing it out yet. (because it sucks up moisture like a sponge and is really frizzy, though my saturated hair has waves and coils)

I prefer human hair and that is all that I use. I have seen the micros with synthetic and it looks the same to me, but I prefer human hair.
Before I get my braids in I wash and condition, condition, condition. I do treatments (hair masks and deep treatments). I also do about eight plaits and trim/dust my ends.

I usually wear my braids about 1 1/2 to 2 months but no longer.

Once I take them out, I do a clarifying shampoo and deep condition and treat hair with heat activated deep treatments (under a hooded hair dryer). I usually go about a month in between my braids to treat and condition before I get them back in again.

My last set of braids came out about 3 weeks ago and I am so sick of them that I am doing wigs now...LOL...but I don't feel comfortable in them either. So I guess now it comes down to finding what works with my natural hair and experimenting.

Hope I didn't ramble on and I hope some of what I said helps!

 

[danigurl18]

1. Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid? both
2. Do you prefer synthetic or human hair? human hair when I can afford it
3. What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?) Wash and DC with heat
4. How long do you keep the braids in? Cornrows: 2-3 weeks Single braids: 1-2 months
5. What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify) Take down and immediately use shea butter on each piece. After all braids are down, detangle with leave in and wide tooth comb. Wash and DC with heat. Clarify a week later.

Special Regimen: Grease scalp every day, spray braids everyday with Hawaiian silky 14 n 1 or StaSofFro.. Wash 1x a week and DC... Co wash once a week...

 

[luckiestdestiny]

Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid? N/a I use my hair as I only do conrows or other braids with my hair alone.
Do you prefer synthetic or human hair?ME
What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? Standard DC with lots of moisture sans protein as it doesn't work for my hair (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?)
How long do you keep the braids in? Until they get ridiculously fuzzy depending on what I'm doing as I wash my hair once a week. (usually rebraid every month depending on style sometimes every three weeks)
What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify)
Another dc. Sometimes clarify if there is build up. Also oil condition after shampoo before dc.

 

[RavenMaven]

This is very helpful to me. I am getting braids this afternoon. Now i know i should wash and Dc.

 

[ShaniKeys]

This is very helpful to me. I am getting braids this afternoon. Now i know i should wash and Dc.

I'm getting mine next week end Are you gonna use human or synthetic hair?

 

[Lylddlebit]

~~~~~~~~~~~Deleted~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[glamazon386]

I braid on occasion.


Do you use synthetic or human hair to braid? It depends on the style. Micros require human hair. Some other styles do not - cornrows, senegalese twists, kinky twists, etc. For those I used synthetic kanekalon.

Do you prefer synthetic or human hair? It depends on the style. Don't really have a preference as long as the synthetic is kanekalon and not the cheapy synthetic.

What 'treatment' do you do prior to getting your hair braided? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify?) I usually do a DC but that's it.

How long do you keep the braids in? Maybe 6 weeks. My hair gets fuzzy fast.

What 'treatment' do you do after taking the braids out? (moisturize/strengthen/clarify) Usually a DC. When I was relaxed I'd do a protein treatment.

 

[ShaniKeys]

Ladies, please don't laugh at me. I have a question: is it really impossible to use human hair extensions (the ones you use for sew ins) to braid someone's hair? Even if you cut it off? I hope you understand my question.

 

[cuteazz1]

Ladies, please don't laugh at me. I have a question: is it really impossible to use human hair extensions (the ones you use for sew ins) to braid someone's hair? Even if you cut it off? I hope you understand my question.

This takes some major skillz.My friend did this once and her hair looked good.I tried it just because I needed a little bit more hair and was too lazy to go to the store but mine did not turn out so well.

 

[Nonie]

Ladies, please don't laugh at me. I have a question: is it really impossible to use human hair extensions (the ones you use for sew ins) to braid someone's hair? Even if you cut it off? I hope you understand my question.

It's not impossible. I've done it when I was trying to be clever and get the cheaper hair to braid. Best to cut it as you need it so you don't end up with tangled hair all over the place. In other words, cut what you're about to use as you braid.

 

[ShaniKeys]

It's not impossible. I've done it when I was trying to be clever and get the cheaper hair to braid. Best to cut it as you need it so you don't end up with tangled hair all over the place. In other words, cut what you're about to use as you braid.

Too late But that is a wonderful tip Nonie, I had never thought of that before. Thank you so much