tree braids?

[robot.]

hey there, ladies. the search function is being wonky and i had a few questions about tree braids!

i don't quite get the idea behind them. are they good for short or long hair? what kind of hair should i buy? how long can i keep them in? are they good if i'm about 20+ weeks post?

i've seen one or two threads about tree braids gone terribly wrong - are they hard to do? is it hard to find someone who does them well?

TIA!

 

[illustrioussplendor]

I don't know much about tree braids, but there are some really good tutorials on youtube about tree braids. HTH!

 

[mamauv2]

Well, maybe I'm not the best person to ask since I'm still recovering from an installation gone bad. I really think you have to do really REALLY good research to find someone that can do them well. Good luck!

 

[robot.]

you are a great person to ask, mamaluv. i'm sorry your last experience didn't turn out how you expected. but mind if i ask... how long did you plan to have them in? what kind of hair did you use?

 

[mamauv2]

you are a great person to ask, mamaluv. i'm sorry your last experience didn't turn out how you expected. but mind if i ask... how long did you plan to have them in? what kind of hair did you use?

See, I think that's where things went terribly wrong...as you can see in my siggy, I am very natural and this woman put some silky straight with big curls hair on top of my naps. I have individuals in the front and back and cornrows everywhere else. I think she 1. used the wrong hair and 2. didn't use enough because the cornrows show. SO...(sigh) aight, I think I'll post a pic. I'm wearing it in a pony tail with a headband to cover up the cornrows.

 

[robot.]

i see. how do you put silky hair in natural hair and expect it to match? i'm sorry, girl. thank you for sharing. i'm taking notes - i've never had them done before and i don't have time to waste looking a hot mess in a chair for however many hours.

 

[Casarela]

Id say the hair I use to get my braids its called first beauty and one pack should be more than enough for a full head and you should have half of the pack left . I have a big head and it take half a pack to do my hair. The pack is 10 bucks in Canada and should be much cheaper in the states as I know we get ripped off with beauty supplies. Im referring to the hair in my siggy.

HTH,

Casarela

 

[mamauv2]

Here's the pics...notice the cornrows

 

[robot.]

thanks a lot, Casarela. you are gorgeous!

and thanks for posting, mamaluv. i'm sorry it didn't turn out how you wanted. your pictures helped a lot. now i know what to watch out for.

 

[winnettag]

I think they work best with short hair. The point is to have the look of loose hair, even though the roots are braided, so the longer your hair is, the higher the risk of your hair being out, and that will be quite noticeable as your hair reverts and the fake hair doesn't.
Does that make sense?
I also hear it's pretty tough to find a good braider that knows how to do them (and people seem to have many different interpretations as to what they are).
Good luck!

 

[Hairloom]

I tried tree braids a few times a couple of years ago - had them done professionally- it was ridiculously expensive and in the end, I had some temple thinning that took a while to come back in.

I can't remember what type of hair was used. When my hair was relaxed, I thought it looked pretty good, but didn't look so good with natural hair; when your hair is tree braided, wisps of your hair along with the fake hair are left hanging out every few millimeters of the braid so that when the braid is done, the braid basically looks like a really thin tree trunk with multiple "limbs" of free hair hanging loose. When I went natural, the kinkest hair texture sold still didn't match my texture so instead of pulling wisps of my hair to serve as limbs, all my hair was braided and only the fake hair was left as the limbs. The longer your hair, the longer the tree trunk. My hair at the time was just above shoulder length, so the braid was really obvious and made me feel really self conscious. Also, when my hair started to grow, I ended up having 3 different textures- new growth, followed by braid, followed by the fake hair- it was a hot mess.

 

[mamauv2]

Well, I learned my lesson. I'll stick with kinkies and nice cornrow styles (when I get enough hair).

 

[robot.]

thanks a lot for the input, ladies. i really appreciate it.