Chocolate Brides: Hair Question

That is true, micro braids can cause breakage if they are done too tight especially around the edges. Ive worn micros, cornrows, kinky twists, invisibles braids, pretty much all braid styles while I was transitioning to natural hair and never had any problems. Keep in mind that any time you wear a protective style such as braids or an install (sew in), your hair will shed naturally as it would daily without the style.

 

Invisible braids are different than micros, and thats what worked for me on my wedding day, heres a few pics of my hair:

 

 

 

Your hair is beautiful.You can't even tell that you have micro's. My hair was somehting like that but I didn't have micros.

I am going to go with a partial weave ..go to the dominicans and get a fresh perm and blow out before I leave ........and pray lol

I decided to do a sew in and have it styled in a pinned away from my face but loose in back curly type style. So I got a sew in done in late July (the wedding is this upcoming June) to see how I liked it first. Didn't want to get it done right before going down to the DR and find that I hated having it in.

It was wonderful. My hair is natural, and is curly, kind of like pencil size spirals. and it's THICK. So It was a nice a change to have hair that I didn't have to spend ages on doing. When my hair is flat ironed, it looks like I have a weave, but it's hard to keep my hair that straight and silky because the first drop of moisture sends it into a poof.

However, I just took the weave out this friday night. Ladies, I don't know WTF I did wrong. It was fine getting the tracks out, getting my hair unbraided. I made sure to comb the sections of hair row by row as they were undone and got them tangle free. It was fine when the water hit it (if not a little smelly lol) but the second the shampoo hit my hair- OMG did it tangle and mat! (and no, they didn't get better with conditioner)

It took two hours of tearful, painful, snatching at my hair with a pick and wide toothed comb to detangle it. I must've lost two huge handfuls (literally) of hair. I lost at least an inch to two in length.

Worse, when I woke up the next day (I slept with it up in a bun) and tried to take it down it was all tangled and matted AGAIN! So, I had to repeat the process....

This was my first exposure to having a sew in. What did I do wrong? Is this what I can expect every time I take down my extensions? I mean, my hair GREW in it- but if I'm going to have to snatch myself bald for days and days afterwards- is it worth it??

Help!

Can I say I am soooooo glad I found this thread! I've been wondering what to do with my hair. I've had braids often and weaves (only started doing them in the past year) as well as natural and relaxed. I know I'll be in the water before and after the wedding and the styles I'm looking at would work best with a weave but I'm not sure if I should go with braids instead. I have mid-length hair that is currently relaxed but about to hit the braid circuit until the wedding to give my hair a chemical break. Luckily for me the weaves I've gotten in the past have been pretty pricey, but my stylist is great. I swam every week in the pool with my weave and all I had to do was make sure I blow dried it really dry after swimming and conditioned it well. Not sure I'd want to deal with that during the wedding week though.

You all have great suggestions. Thanks for sharing and your hair photos are fab. Very inspiriting. Now I just have to make a decision or two.

Hi staceysbride, I know what you went through and it was NOT pretty. My hair was shoulder length befor I got micro braids this past July. I wanted to give my hair a 'break' for the summer and that is exactly what happened.

It took me 2 1/2 days to take all the braids out in early September. I was exhausted when I finally got them out, put a hair cap on and went to bed. The next morning I decided I wanted to wash my hair. BIG MISTAKE! It became so matted that I called a salon that I had an appt for the next day and asked for advice. I was near tears because I thought I would have to get it cut off, it was so tangled! My sister came over with a detangler and worked a little at a time. The next day the hairdresser cut off 3 inches (she wanted to cut more). My hair is still in recovery and has not been the same.

I will never get micros again. It's just not worth it!

Good Luck and make sure you get plenty of deep conditioning and treatments to help your hair recover nicely.

I went back into a sew in because I'm on the road away from home and without all my normal hair tools. I'm dreading the day the extensions come out again. I'm wondering if there's a way to take them down that will be better for my hair. My hair is so long and so curly that if tried to do it in sections (like a few rows a day) people would definitely notice. Plus, this stylist used a very intricate braiding pattern so I'm not sure the conventional row by row approach would work. I'm so scared that I'll lose more hair when I take them out but I didn't have much choice to go back in them- I'm not in an area where black hair care options are abundant.

I wish I knew someone who wore extensions frequently and could ask them for advice. The little african lady (literally, she was from nigeria) that put in the new sew in said that the tangling and matting is to be expected because my hair is so long that the shedded hair gets tangled up in my regular hair. She said because my hair is so thick that the amount of hair I lost may have seemed like a lot- but she assured me that it was probably a normal amount for 3 months worth of daily shedding.

I even had clumps of hair coming out in the shower. I mean, imagine the way people talk about your hair falling out with chemo- that's how my hair was coming out. I was sooo scared.

The lady suggested I use Nexxus and creme of nature next time. I'm not a big fan of either, but she swore the tangles would 'slide right out'. I'm not convinced....

Nikki

Quote:

Originally Posted by negrilbridetoo Hi staceysbride, I know what you went through and it was NOT pretty. My hair was shoulder length befor I got micro braids this past July. I wanted to give my hair a 'break' for the summer and that is exactly what happened.   It took me 2 1/2 days to take all the braids out in early September. I was exhausted when I finally got them out, put a hair cap on and went to bed. The next morning I decided I wanted to wash my hair. BIG MISTAKE! It became so matted that I called a salon that I had an appt for the next day and asked for advice. I was near tears because I thought I would have to get it cut off, it was so tangled! My sister came over with a detangler and worked a little at a time. The next day the hairdresser cut off 3 inches (she wanted to cut more). My hair is still in recovery and has not been the same. I will never get micros again. It's just not worth it! Good Luck and make sure you get plenty of deep conditioning and treatments to help your hair recover nicely.