Nigerian ladies with extremely long hair!

[locabouthair]

there's this african girl at my school whose hair is relaxed. im not quite sure it shes at bra strap but her looks very full and healthy and is at a nice length. i think it is at least a couple of inches past her shoulders. im not sure which part of africa she's from.

 

[shunemite]

I have a question for you. How have braids affected your hair? Have they helped it to grow or not?

I put micros in my hair for an entire year and I lost my temples completely. It's taken me a year to grow them back in. I'd say if you get braids, don't pull them in a tight ponytail like I did.

 

[shunemite]

Naijaqueen, when I saw your screen name I knew exactly where you were from! Wanted to add that as your fellow African (Kenyan), what can break our hair off a lot is extra tight braiding in cornrows and braids. I'll admit that I used to have the "tighter the braid, the better" mentality because to me that hair-do would last the longest. Also not washing or conditioning the braids for 3 whole months! And then sometimes leaving them in too long- even up to 6 months, so they matt and dread. And lastly, the process of removing them where we just pull with a comb impatiently instead of untangling the hair slowly.

This is definately not everybody, but I used to be like that, and I know WHOLE lot of people that still are!

 

[rai]

Naijaqueen, when I saw your screen name I knew exactly where you were from! Wanted to add that as your fellow African (Kenyan), what can break our hair off a lot is extra tight braiding in cornrows and braids. I'll admit that I used to have the "tighter the braid, the better" mentality because to me that hair-do would last the longest. Also not washing or conditioning the braids for 3 whole months! And then sometimes leaving them in too long- even up to 6 months, so they matt and dread. And lastly, the process of removing them where we just pull with a comb impatiently instead of untangling the hair slowly.

This is definately not everybody, but I used to be like that, and I know WHOLE lot of people that still are!

Me too! I was like that. I used to not want to wash my braids frequently because I thought it would get fuzzy (which they would). However, I just had my hair braided for my wedding and I was in the water (pool, beach, jacuzzi, ) everyday on my honeymoon and my BRAIDS NEVER got fuzzy. I need to ask my braider what she did differently. She did take a LONG time doing them, and she hooked me up!

 

[Naijaqueen]

Naijaqueen, when I saw your screen name I knew exactly where you were from! Wanted to add that as your fellow African (Kenyan), what can break our hair off a lot is extra tight braiding in cornrows and braids. I'll admit that I used to have the "tighter the braid, the better" mentality because to me that hair-do would last the longest. Also not washing or conditioning the braids for 3 whole months! And then sometimes leaving them in too long- even up to 6 months, so they matt and dread. And lastly, the process of removing them where we just pull with a comb impatiently instead of untangling the hair slowly.

This is definately not everybody, but I used to be like that, and I know WHOLE lot of people that still are!

Had to rep a lil What part of Kenya are u from, have lots of friends from there, my girl even went to Peponi in Nairobi.
I didnt ask the question havent had micro braids in like 5yrs, and cornrows hasnt been since jan 2004 and that was carried for 2 weeks. After a disaster temple situation, I stay away from them, and when I do get cornrows, I dont have the temples, front area done. You are so right about folks not washing their braids, and taking care of it, hence breakage.
The only time I'd get cornrows now is if I'm going on vacation at somewhere tropical and not wanting to get my hair wet, but the new me loves water on my hair for its moisture, and knows how to take care of it, dont think I'll be getting any form of braids for a real long time. Right now, even 8 weeks post, my hair is still low maintenance, and i love it

 

[tryn2growmyhair]

All of the advice about braids has been helpful. I think that they will be high maintainence but I dont mind spraying and moisturizing even 3x a day, I will be happy to not have to style and comb my hair for a few weeks. I have repeatedly heard about problems with cornrows, so I dont think that I will get them. I am also going to be careful about braiding at the temples.

 

[london honey]

I'm Ghanaian and us african's too can that we can have long hair. I dont have long hair at the moment because i chopped it all off from abuse but trying i'm growing it back. At one point my hair was bsl. i also have about 5 nigerian friends with bsl hair. Its so possible, our hair just needs some good TLC.

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

Truly it dosen't really matter where you come from or you blood line, if your 4a/b then your 4a/b and nothing changes those kinky coils. The bottom line is that as long as we all take care of our hair properly and give it what it needs we can all be successful in reaching our hair goals. So, whether your 3a, 2c, or 4b, if your not properly taking care your hair you can almost not have no hair . They say I'm African American but, I beleive I'm just me the one God created and not the one they labeled me to be.... HHG!!

 

[napgurl]

I had bra strap hair and extremely thick. I started to wear micros to save time during my busy schedule. Over a year wearing braids, I had to cut my hair down to my ears. First the back of my nap broke off then patches up top. And when the lady took my braids out, she would pull and break my hair. The last time I grabbed her arm in mid-air and told her not today sister. YOU TAKE YOUR TIME AND DON'T YOU BREAK NOT ONE STRAND OF HAIR!!! It’s been 4 months and I still want to cry. Thanks for listening to my vent session.

 

[Sosoothing]

Thanks so much for the tip. Could you please share your braid regimen? I have heard of many people saying braids harmed their hair, so I am trying to learn from people who had success with them.

Looks like I waited to wrong before reading this post again. My braid regimen is flexible. I have only had micro braids once in my life. I only stick to medium sized braids because, of course, these are easier on temples and you dont loose too much hair when detangling or removing build up from the hair sections when you take your hair down. I braid my own hair, so I can make them as loose as I want. I wash them at least once a week and spray them at least once a day (sometimes up to four times a day, if I have the time). I dont deep condition while Im wearing braids. I havent found a method to do so that satisfies me. I tried it once I felt as if I could never get all the conditioner out.
If you find a method that works for you, you could probably DC once a week too. I keep my braids in for 6-10weeks. Whether or not I relax my hair when I take my braids down depends on how I feel at that time. If Im planning on stretching, like now, I simply deep condition, maybe do a protein treatment, then re-braid. If not, I will DC, protein, then relax after a week (thats how long I wait).

There is something people are doing known as the crown and glory method. I dont know how it works but I know it also involves braids. You might want to check it out too. Let me know if you have any more questions .

 

[shunemite]

Had to rep a lil What part of Kenya are u from, have lots of friends from there, my girl even went to Peponi in Nairobi.
I didnt ask the question havent had micro braids in like 5yrs, and cornrows hasnt been since jan 2004 and that was carried for 2 weeks. After a disaster temple situation, I stay away from them, and when I do get cornrows, I dont have the temples, front area done. You are so right about folks not washing their braids, and taking care of it, hence breakage.
The only time I'd get cornrows now is if I'm going on vacation at somewhere tropical and not wanting to get my hair wet, but the new me loves water on my hair for its moisture, and knows how to take care of it, dont think I'll be getting any form of braids for a real long time. Right now, even 8 weeks post, my hair is still low maintenance, and i love it

I got caught up talking to 2 people at once. Next time I get braids I won't get micros, won't have the baby hair braided, I'll wash them , and I won't keep 'em in longer than 6 weeks. Btw, I was born in Nairobi around Jamhuri but raised in Uganda (Kampala area). I don't have a lot of freinds with long hair, but they're not very good to their hair either.

 

[Naijaqueen]

Ok I'm at a family reunion/wedding this weekend, and turns out I'm one of the ones with shorter hair and I'm close to shoulder length. Last night i see some female cousins I've not seen in ages and they're sporting armpit length like its out of style. Its like thick type 4 too, and they all have to have their hair down while mine was up in a bun SHoot my lil sister hair is way past shoulder heading for armpit length, and its only now that she's attempting to take care of it, I'm on her now, I think she can get armpit length by next Jan/Feb.

 

[Vintagecoilylocks]

I am very happy to see this positive post. Now once and for all we have the proof here with us that you don't have to be mixed to grow a nice head of lengthy hair. Also there is no determining gene in Africans that prevents one from achieving longer hair. Adding to that it is a job for all types to achieve it and maintain it. Great post.

 

[beawo]

DahomeyAhosi your hair is just lovely

 

[beawo]

I am ghanaian and my hair is 3 inches from my brastrap.

 

[MoonstoneBlu]

I'm a Nigerian with armpit length hair. I'm aiming for BSL so I'll keep you posted! I'm sure it can be done.

 

[Chanteuse]

Hi I'm Nigerian and my hair isn't extremely long but it's healthy and is growing well. It should be somewhere between collarbone and armpit length now (I'm not sure b/c I have been in braids all summer). I agree with all the ladies who have already posted. You can certainly grow your hair long, you just have to take good care of it. I think the main reason that you don't see a lot of West African ladies with long hair is just lack of knowledge about proper care and misusing relaxers and braids (or they just don't want long hair).

These are the main things that helped to get my hair healthy.

-not overprocessing your hair with relaxers
-not damaging your hair by overusing blowdryers
-damaging your hair by overusing curling irons
-moisture is your friend
-baby your ends
-detangle carefully
-no rough combing or brushing
-being very careful with braids. Someone already mentioned the crown and glory method and here is the link http://growafrohairlong.com It's basically everything you need to know to grow your hair with braids.