To those who re-braid/twist without seeing their hair...

[Sunshine0801]

I was reading the C&G challenge thread (the "don't join if you can't hang" one) and was thinking about keeping my hair in braids for awhile without ever seeing all of my hair out. I can't join the challenge because I plan on having my hair out once within the next 6 months, but am thinking about having my own personal challenge of not seeing my hair for the next 5 months.

My question is this: Is there anything I should know or do when re-braiding/twisting so that my hair doesn't dry out, break off, mat, tangle, etc.? The first thing I thought about was the shed hair - what happens to it when re-braiding/twisting? Should I just finger comb and get as much out that way? Also, what about conditioning? Is it harmful to not DC while your hair is out at least once a month?

Right now, I'm cool with not seeing my hair until it reaches my next goal (MBL), which I think I should reach by May or June. I just want to make sure I don't have any setbacks by doing the very thing that is intended to help me retain length.

TIA Ladies!

 

[Sunshine0801]

Anyone, anyone?

 

[anherica]

Do you plan on doing your personal challenge with your own hair or extensions?

I'm in the challenge you mentioned and I'm doing it with my own hair. I have in box braids now and I moisturize and seal my ends daily or every other day, just as I would when my hair was loose. I find that my hair holds moisture better when it's on lockdown anyway. I shampoo and condition with the style in every week using diluted shampoo. I deep condition every two weeks. Once with the style still in, and once on sectioned hair during my redo.

When I switch styles I take down each twist or braid and detangle. I do this because I detangle in small sections anyway and detangling it in one mass just caused too much loss of hair. Depending on how long you wait between styles, don't be too alarmed at the amount of shed hair you see. Just make sure to keep up your moisturizing and conditioning regimen and I think you'll be fine.

If you're going to use extension hair, I'd suggest visiting www.growafrohairlong.com for tips too. The site creator has a few videos to show how to prepare your hair for the braids, how to install them properly, and how to safely remove product build up during take down.

HTH

 

[Sunshine0801]

Do you plan on doing your personal challenge with your own hair or extensions?

I'm in the challenge you mentioned and I'm doing it with my own hair. I have in box braids now and I moisturize and seal my ends daily or every other day, just as I would when my hair was loose. I find that my hair holds moisture better when it's on lockdown anyway. I shampoo and condition with the style in every week using diluted shampoo. I deep condition every two weeks. Once with the style still in, and once on sectioned hair during my redo.

When I switch styles I take down each twist or braid and detangle. I do this because I detangle in small sections anyway and detangling it in one mass just caused too much loss of hair. Depending on how long you wait between styles, don't be too alarmed at the amount of shed hair you see. Just make sure to keep up your moisturizing and conditioning regimen and I think you'll be fine.

If you're going to use extension hair, I'd suggest visiting www.growafrohairlong.com for tips too. The site creator has a few videos to show how to prepare your hair for the braids, how to install them properly, and how to safely remove product build up during take down.

HTH

Thanks for your reply, anherica!

I plan on doing the personal challenge with my own hair.

How do you detangle when you switch styles? Do you finger comb or do you use a comb? If the latter, do you comb it dry or do you add something to your hair (water, moisturizer, etc.)?

I'm very excited about this challenge. I think it will be so much easier rebraiding one braid at a time as opposed to starting from scratch with all of my hair out. At the very least, I can do something else like watch tv while rebraiding, which I couldn't do before without risking having messy parts (or traveling to the mirror for each braid to make sure the part is straight).

 

[ajargon02]

Thanks for your reply,

I plan on doing the personal challenge with my own hair.

How do you detangle when you switch styles? Do you finger comb or do you use a comb? If the latter, do you comb it dry or do you add something to your hair (water, moisturizer, etc.)?

I'm very excited about this challenge. I think it will be so much easier rebraiding one braid at a time as opposed to starting from scratch with all of my hair out. At the very least, I can do something else like watch tv while rebraiding, which I couldn't do before without risking having messy parts (or traveling to the mirror for each braid to make sure the part is straight).

btw NEVER COMB YOUR HAIR DRY ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A NATURAL!!!! Dry combing is just inviting breakage. You must be very gentle on your hair. I only detangle/finger comb on hair that's damp whether it be with my leave-in or my creamy detangling lotion.
Ita with anherica! she's right on with that advice. As for me, I twist once per month. Just as anherica said, with each twist/braid that's taken down you "finger detangle. Now I condish wash weekly, dc every 2 weeks and use a water based leave-in daily. After the 4th week I first henna or do an aphogee (I only do the henna every other month, and aphogee 4 times per year) Next I deep condition with a moisturizing dc (qp dpr-11 with shea,jojoba and honey) letting that sit for several hours (while house cleaning or whatever) Now I rinse out the dc, then acv rinse, use a diluted shampoo ( a quarter sized dollup with 1/2 gal of water) to wash, then I condition with suave or trader joe's conditioner. Next I use my microfiber towel (big lot's 2.00) to let the excess water soak up. Mind you my hair is still in twists at this point. I take my leave-in and spritz, then undo each twist. I finger detangle, then seal with shea butter or castor oil on the ends. I use jojoba steeped with herbs on my scalp since it's absorbs very quickly.Once I am done with the detangle, and retwist I let it air dry. Sometimes in magnetic rollers to minimize shrinkage sometimes without. Depends on my mood. and that's it. I take that extra time at the end of the month (4th week) as a pampering to me. Now every other day I will re-wet my ends and seal again with oil if needed. Daily I use my water based leave-in spritz, and weekly condition wash. hth!!

 

[Misseyl]

I was reading the C&G challenge thread (the "don't join if you can't hang" one) and was thinking about keeping my hair in braids for awhile without ever seeing all of my hair out. I can't join the challenge because I plan on having my hair out once within the next 6 months, but am thinking about having my own personal challenge of not seeing my hair for the next 5 months.

My question is this: Is there anything I should know or do when re-braiding/twisting so that my hair doesn't dry out, break off, mat, tangle, etc.? The first thing I thought about was the shed hair - what happens to it when re-braiding/twisting? Should I just finger comb and get as much out that way? Also, what about conditioning? Is it harmful to not DC while your hair is out at least once a month?

Right now, I'm cool with not seeing my hair until it reaches my next goal (MBL), which I think I should reach by May or June. I just want to make sure I don't have any setbacks by doing the very thing that is intended to help me retain length.

TIA Ladies!

I've been wearing box braids w/out breaks for the past 9 months and my regime is wash every 2 weeks using Cream of Nature Shampoo, re-braid every 6 weeks.. I apply Profectiv Healthy Ends to each braid when braiding and I spray Scurl on my hair once/twice per week and put another product, I forgot the name, on my edges twice per day. I don't condition because I don't think I need to but I use Scurl as my moisturizer. This is actually my first time wearing box braids for months at a time so when I remove my braids in the next 5 months, I'll be able to determine if doing this was beneficial.

 

[Sunshine0801]

btw NEVER COMB YOUR HAIR DRY ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE A NATURAL!!!! Dry combing is just inviting breakage. You must be very gentle on your hair. I only detangle/finger comb on hair that's damp whether it be with my leave-in or my creamy detangling lotion.
Ita with anherica! she's right on with that advice. As for me, I twist once per month. Just as anherica said, with each twist/braid that's taken down you "finger detangle. Now I condish wash weekly, dc every 2 weeks and use a water based leave-in daily. After the 4th week I first henna or do an aphogee (I only do the henna every other month, and aphogee 4 times per year) Next I deep condition with a moisturizing dc (qp dpr-11 with shea,jojoba and honey) letting that sit for several hours (while house cleaning or whatever) Now I rinse out the dc, then acv rinse, use a diluted shampoo ( a quarter sized dollup with 1/2 gal of water) to wash, then I condition with suave or trader joe's conditioner. Next I use my microfiber towel (big lot's 2.00) to let the excess water soak up. Mind you my hair is still in twists at this point. I take my leave-in and spritz, then undo each twist. I finger detangle, then seal with shea butter or castor oil on the ends. I use jojoba steeped with herbs on my scalp since it's absorbs very quickly.Once I am done with the detangle, and retwist I let it air dry. Sometimes in magnetic rollers to minimize shrinkage sometimes without. Depends on my mood. and that's it. I take that extra time at the end of the month (4th week) as a pampering to me. Now every other day I will re-wet my ends and seal again with oil if needed. Daily I use my water based leave-in spritz, and weekly condition wash. hth!!

Thanks, that was very helpful!

Regarding the bold, very true - I learned that lesson years ago when I first went natural (the hard way ).

Question about the henna: Do you find it difficult to remove all of the henna from your twists/braids? Also, how do you get the henna to thoroughly penetrate through your braids/twists.

 

[Sunshine0801]

I've been wearing box braids w/out breaks for the past 9 months and my regime is wash every 2 weeks using Cream of Nature Shampoo, re-braid every 6 weeks.. I apply Profectiv Healthy Ends to each braid when braiding and I spray Scurl on my hair once/twice per week and put another product, I forgot the name, on my edges twice per day. I don't condition because I don't think I need to but I use Scurl as my moisturizer. This is actually my first time wearing box braids for months at a time so when I remove my braids in the next 5 months, I'll be able to determine if doing this was beneficial.

Very helpful. Thanks so much for your reply!

 

[ajargon02]

Question about the henna: Do you find it difficult to remove all of the henna from your twists/braids? Also, how do you get the henna to thoroughly penetrate through your braids/twists.

No I don't find it hard to get all the henna out at all. I think that it all comes down to the quality of henna that you use. I use only BAQ (body art quality) when I mix my henna I used terps (essential oil of rosemary,sage,tea tree,chamomile,lavander) and you only need a little bit. I also put in jojoba oil,castor oil, shea butter melted. I use red zinger tea, a touch of lemon, and a pinch of Qp dpr-11 condish with a tablespoon honey. Now this is NOT necessary. I just like the smell and I have found that the oils mixed with the condish help the henna to come out very easily. When I rinse out henna while my hair is in twists, I section my hair off into about 12-18 sections of twists. I have a shower head extention that I put on high blast and do each section re-sectioning after the henna is rinsed. Many have had issues getting twigs/sand and other "fillers" out of the hair after henna. Imho, that's b/c they used cheap,questionable henna. I know that I once bought cheap henna and didn't want to take the time to sift it (I use an old plastic coffee container, putting pantyhose over the opening and pouring in small amounts of cheap henna putting the cap and and gently shaking to get most of the henna sifting out twigs and sand. Then it's not so bad when using cheap henna. I got this idea from www.hennaforhair.com The owner is getting her masters in all things henna and knows what she's talking about. I learned so much reading her website aka her master's thesis about henna what it is, how to use it ect. But to go back to the original question, when using high quality henna, I find mixing it with oil and some condish really helps it to come out rather easily. hth

 

[Sunshine0801]

No I don't find it hard to get all the henna out at all. I think that it all comes down to the quality of henna that you use. I use only BAQ (body art quality) when I mix my henna I used terps (essential oil of rosemary,sage,tea tree,chamomile,lavander) and you only need a little bit. I also put in jojoba oil,castor oil, shea butter melted. I use red zinger tea, a touch of lemon, and a pinch of Qp dpr-11 condish with a tablespoon honey. Now this is NOT necessary. I just like the smell and I have found that the oils mixed with the condish help the henna to come out very easily. When I rinse out henna while my hair is in twists, I section my hair off into about 12-18 sections of twists. I have a shower head extention that I put on high blast and do each section re-sectioning after the henna is rinsed. Many have had issues getting twigs/sand and other "fillers" out of the hair after henna. Imho, that's b/c they used cheap,questionable henna. I know that I once bought cheap henna and didn't want to take the time to sift it (I use an old plastic coffee container, putting pantyhose over the opening and pouring in small amounts of cheap henna putting the cap and and gently shaking to get most of the henna sifting out twigs and sand. Then it's not so bad when using cheap henna. I got this idea from www.hennaforhair.com The owner is getting her masters in all things henna and knows what she's talking about. I learned so much reading her website aka her master's thesis about henna what it is, how to use it ect. But to go back to the original question, when using high quality henna, I find mixing it with oil and some condish really helps it to come out rather easily. hth

Awesome. Thank you!!

 

[Nonie]

My question is this: Is there anything I should know or do when re-braiding/twisting so that my hair doesn't dry out, break off, mat, tangle, etc.? The first thing I thought about was the shed hair - what happens to it when re-braiding/twisting? Should I just finger comb and get as much out that way? Also, what about conditioning? Is it harmful to not DC while your hair is out at least once a month?

TIA Ladies!

I am in that C&G Hard Challenge and have been since March or April '07 (I'll have to confirm) and I'm wearing box braids with extensions. What works for me is washing my hair at least twice a week, whether with shampoo followed by conditioner, or just condition washing, and then DC-ing with heat at least once a week. I do not use leave-ins or sprays but the constant washing keeps my hair soft. For some reason, not using any leave-ins or sprays, and ACV-ing at the end of each wash seems to keep my strands from tangling or knotting up, so that redoing my braids is very easy. I don't use a comb; just undo with fingers, carefully separate and then rebraid. Any shed hair comes out during this "finger combing".

I'm wearing twists (no extensions) as bangs, and when redoing those, I start untwisting from the base until I have two separate strands that seem stuck like wavy locs then taking each one at a time, and starting from the base, I untwist each strand gently till my hair strands start to separate then carefully help them along in that direction. This is easiest after a wash, but since I usually work on just a couple of twists at a time, I can take my sweet time "finger combing" as gently as possible - usually while watching TV - and therefore I get no knots nor tangles, even if I do this on hair that hasn't just been washed. I find I need more patience when redoing twists than when redoing braids, as the hair in braids is already tangle-free while in the twists, the pen-spring sized spirals tend to wrap around each other so you have to stretch the hair to open up the "springs" and then separate from the base with the patience of Job so you don't end up creating a knot at the top. Sounds difficult but it really isn't once you learn how to do it.

I love braids and twists coz I can go for months without ever using a comb on my hair.

 

[anherica]

Thanks for your reply, anherica!

I plan on doing the personal challenge with my own hair.

How do you detangle when you switch styles? Do you finger comb or do you use a comb? If the latter, do you comb it dry or do you add something to your hair (water, moisturizer, etc.)?

I'm very excited about this challenge. I think it will be so much easier rebraiding one braid at a time as opposed to starting from scratch with all of my hair out. At the very least, I can do something else like watch tv while rebraiding, which I couldn't do before without mrisking having messy parts (or traveling to the mirror for each braid to make sure the part is straight).

Like ajargon02 mentioned, I try not to detangle dry hair. My detangling procedure is very similar as well. I use and old t-shirt to soak up the excess water after I shampoo and proceed from there with my own shea-aloe combination. I used to use a comb while detangling, but I've started finger detangling and I think that's better for my hair. And keep a spray bottle handy to spritz if your hair gets too dry while you're working.

I have to also co-sign on the BAQ henna. If you get good quality henna, rinsing shouldn't be a problem. I've been slacking on this, but I think I need to start up again, because I loved how my hair felt after using it. Good luck with your challenge!!!