Kinky Naturals & Cornrows

[MizzBrit]

for the naturals who cornrow their hair..do you straighten it or blow dry before? i just got done doing a set for my wig tomorrow and my hair was really kinky on the ends and caused some breakage of forced pulled strands while doing them. i tried to be as gentle as possible and used a water spritz to soften up my hair..but is there any way i can minimize the breakage next time? i really dnt wanna have to use heat to do cornrows with ease on my natural hair
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[HollyGolightly]

Are you only braiding it up so that your hair will fit under the wig?

 

[Rei]

nope. my hair hates blowdrying. I've been wearing cornrows straight since Jan and I usually just soak the ends in oil before separating to avoid ripping the hair. I also cornrow right after I DC so the hair is pretty soft already

 

[HollyGolightly]

I don't know how to cornrow well so I usually do flat-twists or individual braids. It's faster and the braid/twist out looks just as good. As I'm nearing the end of the braid or twist, I smooth on a little shea butter and smooth out the kinks.

Also I put on my leave in when I'm in the shower so that the leave-in will evenly coat each strand of hair. That makes my hair much smoother.

 

[MizzBrit]

Are you only braiding it up so that your hair will fit under the wig?

yes..cornrows going straight back.

 

[MizzBrit]

nope. my hair hates blowdrying. I've been wearing cornrows straight since Jan and I usually just soak the ends in oil before separating to avoid ripping the hair. I also cornrow right after I DC so the hair is pretty soft already

i think i need to do that.this is my third set doing them and i never really had that bad of a tangle problem..i decided to do them right after my hair was in a puff all day maybe thats whyerplexed

 

[Rei]

i think i need to do that.this is my third set doing them and i never really had that bad of a tangle problem..i decided to do them right after my hair was in a puff all day maybe thats whyerplexed

yeah, if that was me, I'd have lots of tangling troubles too, my hair is always really tangly after being in a puff. It's better to wait until the hair is very soft before doing strenuous styling imo. Easier on the fingers and takes less time, as well as being less damaging.

 

[HollyGolightly]

i think i need to do that.this is my third set doing them and i never really had that bad of a tangle problem..i decided to do them right after my hair was in a puff all day maybe thats whyerplexed

That's probably why it was so tangly, especially if your hair was in a shrunken puff. Everytime I let my hair shrink up it tangles, even when I'm deep conditioning!

I do two rows of flat twists in the front and 4 to 6 braids in the back. The individual braids do a good job of stretching my hair, but they usually don't have the pretty wave pattern near the roots. The flat twists in the front cover that part up.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I always blowdry prior to doing my cornrows my hair will sustain too much unecessary breakage otherwise (my hair handles heat really well) but on on my moms twa I braid while wet with no issues.

 

[Natirelle]

Can you put your hair in big random braids to strecth your hair 1st before braiding. Make sure the hair is moisturized to before you do the big random braids.

 

[HollyGolightly]

I always blowdry prior to doing my cornrows my hair will sustain too much unecessary breakage otherwise (my hair handles heat really well) but on on my moms twa I braid while wet with no issues.

How do you protect your hair from the heat? I'm scared to put direct heat on my hair!

 

[Iluvsmuhgrass]

I always blowdry prior to doing my cornrows my hair will sustain too much unecessary breakage otherwise (my hair handles heat really well) but on on my moms twa I braid while wet with no issues.

It's funny that you posted that because I was thinking about this very thing. That is what my mom used to do when I was little. She'd wash with a cheapie V05 poo & conditioner then use Blue Magic or the rose smelling grease then plait/cornrow my hair while damp.

 

[Rocky91]

IA with BlackMasterPiece!
blowdry first! you'll save so much time and probably save yourself breakage.

 

[yardyspice]

I cornrow my hair in the shower under running water (I know it's terrible for the environment but I only do it every two weeks when I am wearing wigs as my protective style.) I find that there is hardly any breakage because I do it after I detangle with lots of conditioner which I leave in while I cornrow. Please note that I can't do neat cornrows but this works for me.

 

[Pooks]

I haven't used heat since Oct last year, and always start styling (canerows/twists) when my hair is stretched and moisturised - I've had NO issues with breakage.

Make sure your hair is stretched by a previous style if possible, moisturised and sealed and you should be fine. I would never go from a shrunken puff straight to styling, that would be asking for breakage. HTH.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

How do you protect your hair from the heat? I'm scared to put direct heat on my hair!

I use IC Fantasia heat protectant serum to blowdry

 

[Chameleonchick]

I braid on wet or blowdried hair. I prefer to braid on stretched hair. If you don't want to use heat you can plait your hair after washing then airdry to stretch it out before braiding.