yarn braids and relaxed hair

[Evolving78]

are yarn braids safe for relaxed hair? are they drying? will they cause weakness and breakage?

i have relaxed 4a fine hair. i would be totally PO'ed if i got them and they ruined my hair.

 

[divachyk]

shortdub78, I'm unsure but know someone natural who has them in currently. She's not had them in for long so there isn't a long term assessment available yet. The yarn is said to attract and hold on to everything for good (moisture) or bad (oil and lint). The weakness and breakage aspect I'm uncertain about.

 

[Evolving78]

thank you for responding! that is what i am afraid of as far is it attracting everything. i also don't want the cutting into my hair strands.

 

[PerfectlyFlawed]

I just put some in a few days ago... The last time I had them in I don't remember them being drying(it was 2 or 3 years ago) but i still deep conditioned, wash and m&s while they're in

 

[Kerryann]

Worst thing I ever did never again...it holds the moisture but picks up all sorts of crap like lint plus it's heavy. Yarn knotted my certain parts of my hair

 

[Golden75]

@shortdub78 - I'm the natural that @divachyk speaks of .

So far I like my yarn twists. This week makes it 3 weeks, cowashed, and conditioned last week. I'll be redoing some this weekend (perimeter).

For me it picks up lint since my ends are burned, but it's not too bad. I try to keep them covered, and up if I am wearing something that my be linty. Mine are about SL, and not heavy at all, even after washing (I washed in 3 loose braids).

When I did take a couple out to fix last week, my hair was not dry, but did feel it had a bit excess product (I'm using spritzes, oils, butters, and very really use a cream to moisturize). When with that feeling, I have not noticed product buildup at the base of the braid. I'll report back if I have an issue when I redo my perimeter this weekend.

My issue with synthetic hair, not matter how much moisturizing I did (used the same products) my ends still felt dry when I would redo - so far this is not an issue with yarn.

 

[Evolving78]

so it sounds like it should be treated a lot like locs and i shouldn't use creamy products.

i wonder how you avoid the heaviness? braiders tend to use a lot of extension hair on my head to make them look fullers. but i always have way too much hair. i have a small head.

 

[amwcah]

I installed some yarn braids a couple of years ago.

Mine were very light. I didn't have a problem with heaviness like I did with braids and kinky twist. Also, I didn't have a problem with lint or anything else attracting to my braids.

Likewise, dryness wasn't an issue either. I moisturized daily or every other day with SCurl diluted with a little water.