Legs71:
I wore a hair weave for 2 stints in a 5 year period. The POSITIVE thing was that the weave gave my hair a rest and yes I achieved more growth than I had ever achieved in my life -- my hair grew past my shoulders & started heading down my back. The only chemical I applied to my hair while wearing the weave was permanent color to the front/side hairline to COVER MY GRAY ONLY. No color on any other part of my hair, and NO OTHER CHEMICAL whatsoever. I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the hair while it was in a weave (laziness??)
I had a sewn-in weave (never glued-in) & felt that a lot of breakage occured when I went in to get the weave re-done once every 3 months (my stylist was constantly getting on my case for not coming in more frequently!)
Otherwise weave-wearing caused my hair GROW LIKE A WEED: I went from nearly bald (due to a bad JC Penneys hair salon experience 5 yrs ago) to having long hair way past my shoulders, going down my back in less than 2 years time!!
Still, after I removed the weave, my hair was damaged on TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS by over-processing. I FIRST removed the weave THREE YEARS AGO, and MY HAIR was long. But back then, I used a lye relaxer, and colored my gray. Combining this with frequent heat styling caused my hair to break off within one year of taking the weave out the 1st time!
SO I went BACK to the weave for 2 more years (I called it hibernation), and again my hair grew. I took the weave out this last time in May, 2002 & used Bodiphier to tame my frizzy hair (it's main chemical is "alkaline water" w/a PH of 6.0). I used this from May-October, 2002. I did not experience the drying effects with Bodiphier that Londondiva did, but I could NOT get the back or ends of my hair straight with Bodiphier to save my life! (that area is more kinky than the front & sides of my hair). Using heat w/Bodiphier helped a little with the straightening.
From May-Nov, 2002, along w/bi-monthly Bodiphier applications, I also used Creme of Nature, non-ammonia permanent color on THE GRAY ONLY (not on my entire head) and I never had any problems with overprocessing, hair still long, no breakage whatsoever.
In NOV-DEC, 2002, my hairdresser and I decided to use the Bodiphier with heat to get the back of my hair straighter, AND to even out my hair color with Wella Midway Color ALL OVER MY HEAD (this color is said to be demi-permanent/semi-permanent, whatever that means).
NOW THE BACK OF MY HAIR IS EXPERIENCING BREAKAGE due to overprocessing. (apparently using Bodiphier w/heat, PLUS the color ALL OVER was too much for my baby-fine hair to take!) The BACK of my hair is so damaged that I got strands of hair on my hands when I simply touched the back of my hair. The FRONT & SIDES of my hair, however, are strong, in great condition (go figure)
The Aphogee Treatment for Damaged Hair that I applied last night seemed to stop the breakage, though (thanks Londondiva!) and I am "nursing" my hair back to health by leaving it alone (no heat, hair gelled w/pre-con gel & worn in a bun DAILY). I will continue using the Aphogee for 6 weeks until my hair recovers.
My hair is still kinda long, but I LOST A LOT of hair as a result of the overprocessing (described above) done in Nov-Dec, 2002.
What have I learned? Lye, and traditional no-lye relaxers (those with guanidine carbonate, lithium hydroxide or calcium hydroxide) are NOT for me, due to my thin, baby-fine hair texture. And it seems my hair is so fine that it can't even take a "heated" Bodiphier WITH semi/demi permanent color!
Lesson learned: treat my hair with "kid" gloves...I may try the low-ph (ph OF 6.5-7) KMS Flat Out Relaxing Balm that the other ladies on this board are using, OR I may just do an occasional blow-dry & curl A MAXIMUM OF ONCE PER WEEK (this, alone, will get my hair straight--my hair's so baby-fine that I don't have to press my hair, blowdry & hot marcells will do the trick). For my hair, using heat more frequently than 1x/week is a prescription for disaster!
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR YOU?? Well I think that braids/weaves are fine for giving your hair a rest, and they can be "care-free" (yes!), BUT I would advise that you regularly condition/moisturize your real hair underneath.
(to speed up growth, you may find daily scalp applications of Ecrinal ANP 20, and scalp massages, useful, but you must be consistent).
When you must re-touch or remove the braids/weave, make sure it is done GENTLY. Then, when you return to wearing your own hair, make sure you have a PLAN AHEAD OF TIME for how you will nuture and care for your own hair once the braids/weave is removed. HAVE THIS THOUGHT OUT CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU REMOVE THE BRAIDS! Do not go back to the same overprocessing bad habits that damaged your hair prior to the braids/weave in the first place . For example, if you DO chose to relax, DO NOT over-process with heat (my experience is that the Caruso steam rollers are good when used with TRADITIIONALLY-RELAXED hair & are less damaging to the hair than HEAT/Caruso steam rollers caused my non-traditionally-relaxed hair to frizz up, though)
Good luck and let us know how you make out with the braids!
Cyn
Legs71 asked :
As you all know I am trying to grow my hair long with the assistance of braids. I'm curious about those of you who believed you weren't destined to have long hair who now do.
How long did it take you to achieve your length?
Were you relaxed, texturized or natural during the growing out process?
Did you achieve your length with the help of braid or weaves?
