Please help me understand Tree Braids...

[RabiaElaine]

I did a search and found one thread that kind of explained it. I just am not sure whether you are just cornrowing and not putting all of the hair into the cornrow or additional pieces are being added as you cornrow? Do you use one type of hair to create the cornrow and another to stick out of it? Also can you wash the your hair without causing stress to your own hair? (The reason I ask that is because I wore a sewn in weave last year and when I washed it the heavyness stressed my hair too much and I lost a lot of hair.)

Can someone explain this to me please.

I hope Dontspeakdefeat sees this post, her tree braids were gorgeous!!!

 

[MomofThreeBoys]

Hi RabiaElaine,

I haven't seen ya around much.....you still going to the dominicans regularly?

Imagine cornrowing your hair with syntheic hair (or human hair for that matter), but instead of keeping the entire synthetic hair in the braid, some of it is pulled out of the cornrow as you are conrowing. Very little of your own hair (if any) is out of the cornrow.

HTH!

 

[RabiaElaine]

Hi RabiaElaine,

I haven't seen ya around much.....you still going to the dominicans regularly?

Imagine cornrowing your hair with syntheic hair (or human hair for that matter), but instead of keeping the entire synthetic hair in the braid, some of it is pulled out of the cornrow as you are conrowing. Very little of your own hair (if any) is out of the cornrow.

HTH!

Thanks that does help. So are you saying that you can use both human and synthetic hair to do this? And instead of adding hair in as you cornrow to stick out, you are actually leaving some of the cornrow hair out? So essentially the hair that is in the cornrow is the same hair sticking out?

BTW I am still going to the dominicans, not every single week though, like every 2 weeks? I haven't been in over 2 weeks just now because it has been so hot I've been doing a lot of conditioner washes and air drying my hair in a ponytail. Anyway I have gained quite a bit of growth. I am almost shoulder length in the back and on the sides the very front still needs to grow in a bit.

I am going to braid my hair in individual pencil sized braids with human hair on Friday. But I saw pictures in DSDs album with those gorgeous tree braids, so I'm trying to plan for my next set of braids. I am braiding to stretch my relaxer a bit longer. I have been able to stretch my relaxer to 9 weeks with no real problem, 2 times now. I hope to wear these braids for 2 months maybe 2 1/2 depending on my hair's condition. I am already 1 month post relaxer, so with the braids I hope to stretch to 12 weeks. After that I'll probably rest my hair for 2 weeks or so while doing protein treatments and then relax my hair, wear my hair out for about a month and then braid again.

Tree braids look like they are less stressful to the hair than individual braids, what do you think?

 

[MomofThreeBoys]

So are you saying that you can use both human and synthetic hair to do this?

Yes!

And instead of adding hair in as you cornrow to stick out, you are actually leaving some of the cornrow hair out?

Both, you are adding but at the same time you are pulling some of the hair that has already been secured out (to stick out).

So essentially the hair that is in the cornrow is the same hair sticking out?

Yup!

Tree braids look like they are less stressful to the hair than individual braids, what do you think?

Much less stressful. A good tree braider can do your whole head in about 2.5 hours or less. Only downside is they only last 6 weeks. But when you compare the price and time, tree braids win hands down. 2.5 hours to do = last six weeks = cost $110 (including hair)

 

[RabiaElaine]

Much less stressful. A good tree braider can do your whole head in about 2.5 hours or less. Only downside is they only last 6 weeks. But when you compare the price and time, tree braids win hands down. 2.5 hours to do = last six weeks = cost $110 (including hair)[/QUOTE]


That price is not that bad plus it's cute!! If I can make it look cute with cheaper synthetic hair then I am all about that!! I wonder if the girl who is going to braid my hair can do those , I'll have to ask her! Because she doesn't charge that much. I think she's going to charge me $60 to braid my whole head in individual braids and she does a great job!!!

 

[MomofThreeBoys]

I used synthetic in my tree braids, I have pics in my album
DSD also used synthetic

Much less stressful. A good tree braider can do your whole head in about 2.5 hours or less. Only downside is they only last 6 weeks. But when you compare the price and time, tree braids win hands down. 2.5 hours to do = last six weeks = cost $110 (including hair)

That price is not that bad plus it's cute!! If I can make it look cute with cheaper synthetic hair then I am all about that!! I wonder if the girl who is going to braid my hair can do those , I'll have to ask her! Because she doesn't charge that much. I think she's going to charge me $60 to braid my whole head in individual braids and she does a great job!!![/QUOTE]

 

[Belle Du Jour]

I used synthetic in my tree braids, I have pics in my album
DSD also used synthetic




That price is not that bad plus it's cute!! If I can make it look cute with cheaper synthetic hair then I am all about that!! I wonder if the girl who is going to braid my hair can do those , I'll have to ask her! Because she doesn't charge that much. I think she's going to charge me $60 to braid my whole head in individual braids and she does a great job!!!

[/QUOTE]

Your braids look great!
Do you think this could be done with deep wave type of hair?

 

[MomofThreeBoys]

Your braids look great!
Do you think this could be done with deep wave type of hair?[/QUOTE]

The hair only cost me $10! 3 pack 2.99 My braider charged me $100 thats how I came up with $110.

 

[Tonya]

So quick question....are you adding more hair as you do down the braid for thickness?

 

[MomofThreeBoys]

Yes, otherwise the front of your head would be full and the back would be whack!

So quick question....are you adding more hair as you do down the braid for thickness?

 

[SweetSpirit86]

How come they only last for 6 weeks? Is there any way to stretch the longevity?

 

[SweetSpirit86]

Bump for an answer...trying not to make a new thread for a simple question :/

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

You understand basic cornrowing with extensions right?

If you do, then you know that to do a neat good job while braiding cornrows with extensions you must "catch" all hairs and keep everything neatly within the braid, with tree braiding the opposite is true, the object is to leave as much "branches" of hair coming out of the "trunk" of the hair as possible as you go along to achieve the effect of a full head of hair....... The cornrow then, functions as an anchor for the extension hair eliminating the need for glue, or strings of any kind.

If tree braiding is done properly all your natural hair will be braided to your head and safely within the cornrow and the extension hair will be what is left out. There is still some extension hair that is cornrowed down to "anchor" the hair that is left out but the majority is supposed to be left out in the "branches"

Here are two helpful links: My favorite YouTube Tutorial on Tree Braiding Part II and My Favorite Photo Album of the Work of a Professional Tree Braider.

Hope that was clear enough for you! Naturaltobe introduced me to the concept and since then I've been fascinated with them. I'm gonna do two family member's hair first in Tree Braids then do it on myself I plan to master this style very soon

 

[SweetSpirit86]

Thank you! I thought I got the gist of what happened with them from some of the other posts, but it was still a little fuzzy. The only thing I'm not getting now is why they're only good for 6 weeks. Seems like they would last a little longer than that to me. Or maybe it's all in how you take care of them?

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

My feeling is, as long as you take good care of them theres no reason why they coudn't last two months, I would do 1.5-2 months with them in, I bet you could even stretch it to three months of you really knew what you were doing, I see it as being the same as a weave so you can leave them in for as long as you would typically leave a weave in.

 

[Meli-Melo]

I had some tree braids last year and they lasted six weeks. I don't think they can last longer unless you wear a headband or something to hide your edges. They are like cornrows and the longer your hair grows, the fuzzier it's going to look. The hair can also slip off after a while.

 

[SweetSpirit86]

Ahh, gotcha. Thank you ladies for taking the time to answer my questions.

 

[lotusdream]

I am going to the Caribbean next month. Do you think they would hold up in the water?