Hair Style of the Week: Update...Kinky Twists!

This hair update is LONG overdue folks, my apologies. The weekend after I returned from Trini I went to my local hair braiding shop and sacrificed hours of my life for these, kinky twists! I needed a break from my hair and I am pretty sure my hair welcomed the break from me. ; 0 )

I went to the hair shop armed with one 3/4"x 3/4" picture of what I wanted my hair to look like and three packs of Marley hair. Honestly looking back I should have known better than to only have that one tiny picture but I was hopeful and blinded by my excitement about changing my look. What I ended up with was the picture above. Not at all like what anticipated and extremely tight. For a week I did everything in my power to loosen the cornrows. I sprayed water, slathered my edges in shea butter and essential oils and by the end of the week I was simply unbraiding the braids and rebraiding them loosely to the best of my ability (sounds like a hot mess...that's because it was!)

Forced Smile..

Just looking at this picture hurts!

Let me address the obvious question. Why would I let anyone braid my hair tightly? Especially when I am trying to preserve my edges. I didn't just sit there passively and let her braid my hair however she felt like. The majority of my time in the hair salon I told her she was braiding too tightly. I stopped her over and over again and despite my warnings she continued to braid the only way she knew how, tight! Yes, I had the good sense to take my braids out a week later but I think about all the children who were also in the shop to get their hair braided that day. What did they do? Traction alopecia- a gradual hair loss that is a direct result of a pulling force being applied to hair- has such a high prevalence in women of color and wearing hair extensions and braids tightly is one of the causes. It's time to stop sacrificing our edges for the sake of "neat" hair.

We all remember this telling picture of Naomi Campbell's edges.

How do we pass on this information to the hair braiders all across New York City?  

A week after my first attempt at kinky twists I went to a braiding salon that I was familiar with (I only took the cornrows out but left the kinky twists in) and explained exactly what I wanted my hair to look like. I also explained that I did not want too much tension on my sensitive edges and asked that the cornrows start with my own hair first and the extension hair gradually added in. Here are the final results:

So much better! Not only is there less tension on my edges but with more individual twists I have more styling options.

Maintenance:

• Although I know that many people wash their hair while in extensions (twists and/or braids) I have decided that I will not wash my hair while I have these twist installed. My rationale? These twists are thick and would take a while to dry once washed. Walking around with wet hair is not an option for me especially since the weather lately has been so unpredictable.
•  I plan on using my Huetiful Steamer to cleanse my scalp and restore moisture back to my strands every two weeks.
•  I use Jane Carter Nourish and Shine on my scalp and edges. I also use Vatika Oil at the base of the Kinky Twists every few days.
•  I still cover my hair nightly with my Satin Cap to keep my twists neat and retain moisture.
• Every night I rub my edges with Rosemary Oil to increase circulation and stimulate hair growth.

I plan on keeping these kinky twist in for about a 5-6 weeks and may even have them installed again before the summer. Have you tried a new protective style lately?