5 Do’s and Don’ts of Braid Extensions

by Natural Hair Rules

It’s widely believed that braid extensions help to “grow” hair, which in part can be true. While they are certainly a great protective style that helps you retain length, here are 5 Do’s and Don’ts of Braid Extensions to keep in mind:

1. Braids don’t “make” or “promote” hair growth instead they help with length retention.  Every time you style and detangle there’s a risk of breakage.  It just happens. When your hair is braided, you dodge the risk of mechanical breakage from manipulation.  This is why braids are a great protective style.

2. Wearing Braids Long-Term (more than 4-6 weeks without touch-ups) Can Decrease Length Retention. “Six weeks is the maximum I would recommend [leaving in extensions],” says Natural Hairstylist Diane Bailey. For many this is around the time that the hair begins to lock or mat.  Leaving them in longer makes it difficult to detangle. It’s also good to throughly clean your hair and scalp without the extension to prevent infection and other conditions of the scalp.

My Fair Hair Suggestion: I would advise not keeping extensions longer than 3 weeks at a time for optimum hair health.

3. For those who have sensitive and thinning edges, you have a higher chance of experiencing traction alopecia or increased hair loss in those areas.  Its best that you avoid any and all tugging and tightness in this area.  This is a concern if you continuously wear braids back to back without any breaks. If you already have an issue with thinning or sensitive edges braid extensions may not be the best thing for your hair.

Read: Oils Best for Regrowing Thinning Edges

4. Keep Them Loose. During my last trip to the braiding salon there were so many beautiful braided styles being created around me. But I couldn’t help but notice that many of these women were victims of traction alopecia. If you feel that your hair is being pulled too tightly kindly ask your stylist to reduce the tension that is being applied.

Read Prevent and Treat Female Pattern Baldness 

5. I know they look pretty but the small teeny braids (micros) put a lot of tension on the hair. This isn’t to say that you can never wear micro braids if you want, but constantly wearing them may lead to thinning hair rather than healthy length retention. Plus, its not fun taking all those tiny braids down. Which if you don’t have the patience, micro braids might not be for you. In order for your protective styling to be beneficial it must protect your hair and scalp from breakage. Otherwise, if you rough house with your hair, all of the length that you retained can easily break off.

What are your tips for wearing braid extensions?

Photo credit: Instagram


Suffering from Alopeica (Hair Loss)? Unsure of which type? Read about Traction Alopecia HERE and CCCA Alopecia HERE.

Humectants, Weather and Hair Care: Part 1

by Curlynikki.com via Earthtone Naturals

A re-post for those confused about glycerin and humidity as spring approaches!

Changes in weather require modifications to your hair care regimen in order to keep you hair looking and feeling at its best. But how do you know what you should use and when? This article will serve as the foundation for what you need to understand in order to choose the correct products for your hair in any season. This requires a good understanding of humectants: how they work, their purpose and how they are relevant to hair.

Read More >>

Lookbook: Mini Twists with Spring and Summer Outfits and Accessories

With spring and summer right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about what natural hairstyles to wear and how to pair them with chic, professional outfits and accessories for work, church, and special occasions. Today’s lookbooks do just that!

Outfit and Mini Twists Hairstyle | Living Queens Hand-painted Earrings

Outfit and Mini Twists Hairstyle | Flowers from Fatima Yellow Rose Hair clip

Floral prints and pastel, cool colors like blue and beige are in season. Also, bright yellows like canary yellow can be paired with blue and beige to add a terrific color “pop” that brings out the best in each color, creating truly radiant looks.

The natural hairstyle of choice is Mini Twists. Mini Twists are similar to twists in that they are a protective natural hairstyle that are created by twisting two strands of hair together. The main difference is that Mini Twists are styled smaller, creating a long-term hairstyle that can be worn daily. 

Mini Twists are ideal for all hair types, especially 4c hair or coarse hair.

WATCH this video and read this blog post to learn about how to make your own Mini Twists (as shown in the images above) with a tutorial by blogger VeePeeJay.

Accessories… accessories! You can’t complete the look without them. Pair these looks with ornate hand-painted earrings like these by Living Queens or a large floral hair clip like this one by Flowers from Fatima.

You’ll look chic!

How will you dress for spring?

Want more? Stay tuned… I’ll be posting more lookbooks for Mini twists this month!

Flat Twist Out Cocoon Technique Natural Hairstyle

The flat twist out cocoon technique create a volumous, curly natural hair look. The technique is very similar to Flat Twist Bantu Knot Outs. Watch the video below to learn how to achieve the "cocoon" technique.

As seen on Curlynikki.com

Flat Twist Out Cocoon Technique Tutorial

Toxic Chemicals in Brazilian Blowout and Other Salon Products Increase Risk of Cancer

Thinking of getting the popular hairstyle known as the Brazilian Blowout? Think twice after reading about its adverse health affects.

by Laura Beans of Ecowatch

Bloody noses. Blistering rashes. Piercing migraines. These are just a few of the symptoms veteran hairstylist Jennifer Arce experienced after she was diagnosed with chemical poisoning by her physician. The source? A product millions of women use to straighten their hair every day: Brazilian Blowout.

Arce, a stylist in San Diego for more than 18 years, used the experience to organize other affected colleagues to take their stories to California lawmakers and the Food and Drug Administration. Brazilian Blowout has since been banned in the state, but similar hair smoothing products also containing carcinogenic formaldehyde remain on the market. Her next step is distributing a new fact sheet from Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) to salon workers and clients. The fact sheet describes chemicals to avoid in hopes more salons will choose to go green for the health of their customers and stylists.

“Many of my colleagues have been bullied, threatened physically and threatened to be fired for speaking up about being sick or for not wanting their clients exposed to toxic formaldehyde,” Arce said. “Many of us don’t have health insurance. Our health and our livelihoods are being taken away from us and we are not going to let this happen without a fight.”

“We hope the fact sheet will educate consumers and workers and inspire them to work for change at the policy level,” explained Erin Switalski, WVE’s executive director. “Salon products are exempt from ingredient labeling requirements, limiting the availability of this important information on chemical exposure, so we are trying to fill in the gaps.”

Like many products containing toxic chemicals, what’s considered good enough for American consumers is banned in the European Union. A recent study by RAPEX, an EU regulatory body, discovered nine keratin hair smoothing products containing high levels of formaldehyde, which resulted in their removal from European markets.  Yet they remain widely available in the U.S., and several of the products are falsely touted “formaldehyde-free.”

Under current federal regulations, it is legal for cosmetics manufacturers to use unlimited amounts of virtually any ingredient in salon and professional use products, as well as those sold to the general public, including chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harm, hormone disruption and other adverse health impacts, with no pre-market safety assessment.

A growing body of scientific evidence indicates there is reason for concern, showing hairdressers are at increased risk of cancers of the lung, larynx, bladder and multiple myeloma compared to the general population. One study has shown that nail salon workers have higher levels of di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), a reproductive and developmental toxicant, than the general population.

Another study found that beauticians and hairdressers are likely to have significant exposure to solvents that are linked to birth defects. Other studies have found cosmetologists are at a higher risk for having spontaneous abortions and low birth weight babies.

As for Arce, she’s considering switching careers. She doesn’t want to stop being a stylist—she loves helping her longtime clients look and feel their best, but her health can’t withstand the constant exposure.

Visit EcoWatch’s HEALTH page for more related news on health topics.

Ladies and stylists, what has been your experience with the Brazilian Blowout?

The Danger of Natural Hair, Kinky Hair Wigs

Natural hair, kinky hair wigs are becoming all the rage in the natural hair world. Kinky wigs and crochet extensions provide a way for women to adorn various coily hair textures while giving their hair a break from constant styling. They also offer a way to try new looks without chemically altering or dying their actual hair. Yet, there are some unforeseen issues with natural hair wigs and extensions that should be kept in mind before taking the leap into the kinky wig world.

The Natural Hair Wig Addiction

With more options becoming available yearly, the variety in natural hair wigs and crochet extensions has widened greatly, increasing the amount of hair pieces women can choose from.
The desire to try wigs from different brands can add up to a hefty price tag as most kinky hair wigs range from $70-$100 plus dollars. Besides leaving a large dent in your wallet, adorning different types of wigs can be an addicting sport, such that it can cause you to neglect taking care of your actual hair.

Women adorn wigs for several reasons. Some use them as a protective hairstyle while others use them after having suffered from a type of alopecia or hair loss. This is fine, of course, but if wearing wigs causes you to stop taking care of your actual hair on a regular basis it can be problematic.

For those who have experienced hair loss, wig-wearing can become a self-esteem boost, allowing them to once more rock a full head of hair.

If you are experiencing hair loss and have been frequently wearing a wig, make sure you regularly take care of your hair. Seek help from a doctor or a trusted herbalist and find a solution for your hair loss instead of covering it up. You do not want to have your self-esteem or how you feel about your hair determined by if you are wearing a wig or not. Ultimately, you want to be confident in wearing your own hair, healthy.

Natural Hair Wigs and False Expectations

Many times natural hair bloggers and Youtube bloggers (vloggers) will wear natural hair, kinky wigs to take a break from styling their hair. This is a great way for them to review brands of wigs and let their readers know about using wigs for protective hairstyles.

However, the downside is that sometimes followers of the bloggers fail to understand that the bloggers are in fact wearing wigs. I cannot tell you how many times I have looked at an Instagram post or watched a Youtube video in which a blogger has donned a wig and have read in the comments below, “Wow! I love your hair? How did you get it that way? My twist out (insert other hairstyles here) never works!”

Either the blogger hasn’t made it clear that they are wearing a wig or the followers simply believe that what they are seeing is actual hair and not a wig. Both instances leave women with a false idea of what natural hair looks like. Followers can end up striving for a particular hairstyle that was, in fact, just a wig and become frustrated when their own hair does not meet their expectations. However, this can all be easily solved if bloggers clearly state that they are wearing kinky, natural hair wigs in their posts.

Wig or no Wig?

Natural hair wigs are great options for protective hairstyles in that they allow you to keep a kinky haired look while giving your real hair some much needed rest. However, if you no longer feel confident wearing your own hair as the result of adorning your kinky wig or extensions, it’s time to take a step back and embrace your actual hair.

Instead of investing hours of time in styling your wig, style your own hair! It will thank you for it and produce long-lasting healthy hair results.

Similarly if you are suffering from hair loss and use a wig, make sure you are not hiding the problem but working to actively solve your hair loss.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to in any way infringe upon the rights or opinions of natural hair, kinky hair companies or businesses or bloggers or vloggers who have advertised natural hair or kinky wigs. This article is purely an opinion piece written to express ideas concerning general natural hair wigs and extensions.