Hair Braiding Consumer Basics

For decades in the black community you weren’t considered an official braider unless you just arrived from Africa. The laws were non-existent and there was a time that lots of people ran out of edges (hairline damage). Over the years there have been some attempts at regulation, but overall there are still people braiding hair using traditional techniques that however effective they may be, are not conducive to assisting in hair growth.

So how do you know when your stylist is taking you down a path of hair destruction?

1. Pain.
Not just a normal “tender-headed”(don’t you love how we just made that at thing) response, but pain that requires the use of a pain reliever. If you would have a problem with keeping your hair in a very tight ponytail overnight, why would you essentially put your hair in multiple tight ponytails and think that you won’t experience breakage. You are putting you hair in the same amount of stress if the braids are tight enough to cause real pain. Little white bumps are also associated with this section as they indicate the tension on the hair is too great. We know that there are some of you out there that are so used to getting your hair snatched around that you don’t feel the pain until your hair is nearly out of your head.

2. Unnatural new-growth appearance.
What good is having a very secure braid/twist if three weeks later you end up with a tuffet of hair puffing out underneath a crispy lock. Beyond the fact that it looks crazy, it creates a weak spot as discussed previously. One key to uninterrupted growth is keeping the curl pattern consistent.

3. No access to your scalp.
Some people are still getting cornrows, I know that some of my military sisters find it easier to stay within regulations utilizing cornrows and a bun. If your braids are too close together to be able to access your scalp, I wouldn’t suggest keeping them in for long.

Personal Tip: If I notice that the price sounds too high, and the time to finish seems too long, I take that as an indication that they are not interested in working on my head either or a lack of knowledge on the requested technique or they are compensating for overhead.

We try to keep it simple and easy to follow, but as usual, ask questions if it stops making sense.

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2014 is the year of Unity in the Natural Hair Community! Enjoy!