Pre-Wash before braiding?

[melodee]

i got my hair cornrowed this weekend. It looks great! But, I'd like to ask those who have gotten braids in a salon, do you pre-wash your own hair at home or let them do it. I assumed that they had to wash it at the salon, so I didn't wash it for two days. When I got there, I found out that the wash was an extra $10, but I could have washed it at home. I opted to wash although I was skeptical, b/c my hair was coated down with coconut oil ( a great conditioner btw) and had been previously air dryed. I know that air dryed hair shouldn't be manipulated that much. Anyway, I was a bit upset b/c I wasn't too hot on the Motions Shampoo/ Condtioner in one formula she used and the biggest complaint was that although she used a low heat hand dryer, she brushed it as she dried. I was happy not to see too many strands come off on the brush and that she didn't overdry it( it was just barely dry maybe a bit under dried). I have been really keeping my hair conditioned lately! Anyway, do you all wash at home or get a shampoo at the shop? If you do it at home, how do you dry your hair. Under a hooded, blow dry, air dry?

 

[keke]

Hey i got some cornrows too. My head is itching now though, even though last time i washed it was last monday, so i guess that means i must wash it again today? or later on this week, maybe? I'm tryin to do some of this crown and glory method see how that works out. I did it myself and i dried it first about 10-15 minutes w/a towel still on my head to soak up most of the water to get all that drip, then i took a blow dryer to it for a while. Didnt get it str8 but enough. And i also think i pressed it a lil bit too. A lite press that is

 

[JenJen2721]

Melodee,
I recommend you do everything you can as far as washing, conditioning and moisturizing your hair before leaving home. Basically everything that needs to be done except for the braiding, do at home. I have two bad experiences that I remember with getting my hair braided. One was the braider using that awful Pink Oil on my hair...next time I'll take my own moisturizer, just in case the braider says it doesn't have enough on it. I used moisturizer last time sparingly because I didn't want the hair to be too slippery.
The second one is, I was getting my hair braided constantly without relaxing in between. The braider told me she needed to blowdry my hair to straighten the new growth some. While she was blowdrying my hair, she was yanking it and my hair was like straw and broken when she was finished. She also didn't use any type of heat protectant. Next time, I will blowdry my own hair at home...gently and protected.

My experience with braiders is that braiding is what they do best...everything else they're not really good at.

I'm glad your cornrows turned out well, though! What style did you get? How long are they? I'm getting mine cornrowed next month!

 

[melodee]

Thanks guys for the responses. Jen, I just got the basic cornrows, straight back and about bra strap length in back. It looks nice, but I wish I had gotten a few rows of single braids across in the back for extra "swing". This look is very close to my head. But it was very nicely done.