Non-extension braid wearers?

[BronzeBrown]

Hey everyone.~ Well I've decided that I'd love to start wearing non-extension braids. I've done it for a couple of weeks in the past, but I'd like to braid up consistently this time around - particularly when the fall comes back round. So..any of you ladies have experience with this? My first area of uncertainty is a sparse looking scalp. I know my braids will be relatively full because of my natural hair, but I had a ridiculous amount of scalp showing the last time I braided up with no extensions. I'm thinking about doubling the number of braids that I do from 25 to 50+. But then there's still the question of duration of the style. I see a lot of potential in this option so let me know of any input you have to give. This includes the ladies who braid their daughter's hair without extensions, because I know there's definitely an abundance of little girls with full, neat-looking braids! Thanks in advance.

 

[JenniferMD]

Hi BronzeBrown,

I think I know what you're talking about, and I did my hair that way when I was using Surge. I only did this style on the weekends because it was just so different from how I would normally wear my hair. With my hair this way, I did have a lot of scalp showing but that was because I wasn't looking for anything special, and I made the parts rather large. However, I have a friend who only wears her hair in non-extentension braids (small ones) and you don't see any scalp at all. She's natural and it looks beautiful on her. I think you should try it.

 

[BronzeBrown]

Jennifer thanks for the fast reply and also the encouragement.~ Could I ask you to pass on a few questions to your friend about her natural braids? First, how long is her hair and how many braids does typically do? How does she prep her hair before braiding? And finally, how long does she keep the braids in for? I'd really appreciate any insight she has for me. Thanks in advance

.

 

[leejure]

Bronzebrown...

I wore my hair in braids (non extension) for a little while.

The only problem i had was that I had to re-do them every week. But other than that, they were nice to have (for a change)

-lee

 

[DragonPearl]

Unless your hair is very thick, there will be scalp showing. I loved wearing non-extension braids. I was even able to wash them. Of course, they shrank, which was not an issue to me. The only problem was the length of time it took me to undo them. Like 5 hours! I was not used to spending so much time on my hair, so I was ready to chop it all off.

 

[LiLi]

I do this two months at a time. I figure you see that same amount of scalp that you would with extensions so it really never bothers me. I find that it is really easy because I wash & condition my hair everyday and all I have to do is spray in my leave in, throw it in a ponytail and put my silk scarf over it to combat the frizzies and that's it. Hope this helps!

 

[JenniferMD]

BronzeBrown, I know most of the answers, but I'll ask her the rest. She has long natural hair, past bra-strap. She washes her hair every three weeks and rebraids it, I think she presses her hair every couple of months, but I'll have to ask her. Her braids are small yet dense. If I had to guess she would probably have like 50-70 braids in her hair. I'm trying to find a picture, because her hair always looks nice.

 

[BronzeBrown]

Hey again ladies.~ I'm now pretty certain that I'll be trying box braids out. I'll do a trial run in the spring once I take these extensions out, and I will also take pictures to post up. My hair is very thick and dense so I think with smaller braids there should be a minimal amount of scalp showing. I would definitely be o.k. with a 5 hr take-down because the small extensions that I typically wear take about 3 hrs over 2-3 days to remove. I've grown used to it

.

Jennifer thanks for the info. Her routine is similar to what I want my braiding routine to be. 50-60 braids, keep them in for a month at a time. I'd love to see a picture of her hair!

For anyone else that's considering box braids, CocoDiva (a member of nappturality) has a few pictures of her own small box braids on her extensive hair site. They're very nicely done. I'll try and get the link to post on here.

*Edited to add*: Here's the link to Cocodiva's site - http://haircare.aldrea.com/photos.htm. The box braid pictures are on page 3.

 

[NGC]

I've been doing this for the braid challenge. I didn't measure my hair length but when I stretch it it's betweeen my shoulder blades in back and my bangs are beyond my chin.

What I do to extend the time is start off with medium size braids and then take those braids and split them into 2 to 3 braids each throughout the first week (otherwise my hair would definitely not last beyond 2 weeks and it would be extremely frizzy). I end up with maybe 70 to 90 braids.

The other thing that I do to extend the time is to not directly wash the braids. I use the ORS shampoo-less cleanser for my scalp and I used to use the ORS Shea Butter to soften the braids. Now I use African Pride Leave-In (thanks Iris!) and sometimes I gel the front to cut down on the frizz factor.

I typically can keep them in between 3 weeks and 4 weeks but sometimes I just get the urge to take them out.

 

[BronzeBrown]

Thanks for the reply NGC

. Bump~