Hair Damage, Breakage, Etc.

I hate that I even have to write this post.....

It's happened, I got a weave that took my hair out :''''(. Okay, so I'm not bald or anything but my edges definitely took a hit as a result of my most recent Senegalese twists. In the past when I've had them, I put them in myself but this time I wanted to go to a professional. My regular hair stylist told me she couldn't do the twist but another girl working at the shop suggested a place because that's where she went. I had seen her Senegalese twists so I already knew they did good work so I wasn't worried. I should have been.

I had SO many issues with this "shop" I don't know where to begin. First, they didn't wash my hair before twisting. I came in, chose what color hair I wanted and they just started twisting. Huh?! This was my first time ever going to an African hair braiding shop so maybe this is a normal occurrence. Someone please enlighten me. The other HUGE issue I had is that I felt like they had no consideration for my personal comfort at all. I felt like I was just a wig head to them. Now I knew getting these twists would be painful, especially because I got them so small but this was on another level. I got to a point where my neck was so tense and tight and literally shaking. I was grabbing on to the salon chair for dear life. Then whenever I would try to adjust myself for some kind of relief they would just pull/push my head right back to where they wanted it (their were two women working on my hair).

I was seriously ready to cry by the end. Then when they got to my edges around the front of my head I could feel how hard and tight they were pulling and it didn't feel right but it was done so I didn't feel like I could do anything.

Cut to now after having the twists in for 5 weeks I take them out and my edges came right out with them. We're not talking Naomi Campbell filter but three little spots in particular. If my hair is pulled straight back it's really noticeable so I'll be wearing side parts for quite a while it seems. I've heard that Jamaican black castor oil can help with growing back edges when applied daily and I really hope it's true. I'll be applying that stuff religiously. I'll give an update when there's something to update.

Later....

Hair Experiment: Senegalese Twists

Lately I've been getting sick of doing my own hair and trying to come up with different styles. It would be easier to just go to a salon but it's also more expensive so I'm in no rush for all that. After doing a little research I originally was going to do yarn twists but then I decided to go with Senegalese twists instead. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos and installed them myself over two days. I probably could have got them done in a day but I didn't start putting the twists in until around 7 or 8 at night and was tired.

I used 5 1/2 packs of 100% kanekelon hair. At my local hair store they were about $2 a bag which isn't much at all. I cut off about 5-6 inches of the hair because it was a little too long but it still came down to just above my belly button which is fine for me. The only products I used while installing the twists were Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula Replenishing Hair Milk for moisture and a very small amount of Eco Styler Gel to help hold the twist and smooth my natural hair. I tried but wasn't able to twist from the root so I had to start each twist with a braid.

Overall, I really like how they came out and I'm gonna try to leave them in for at least a month. One issue I have is that I got the wrong color hair. The lighting in the hair store was more dim compared to the light in my bathroom so the hair was lighter than I thought but whatever. Also, I had trouble with a few of the ends unraveling. Sealing them with boiling water has worked for most of my head but a couple of twists keep coming loose. I may have to actually burn the ends although that's the last thing I wanna do. Either way, I'll definitely do this style again.

Here's a couple of pictures of the results:

I think I'd prefer them to be smaller but I'm not sure if I'd have the patience to do them myself.