Questions you should ask before buying extensions

I don't normally buy or wear a weave but, if I did, I would want to get the highest quality I could find.  I stumbled on this video which is chock full of valuable info regarding things you should know before buying human hair extensions.

I learned a lot from watching it.  Enjoy!

Protective Styling = Powerful Progress! A Relaxed Hair Health Feature

I'm really excited about sharing this post today.  From the moment LHCF member, "pre_medicalrulz," shared pics of her progress in our email communications, I just knew she had to be featured on the blog.  Not too long ago, I wrote a post about caring for the hair while protective styling under weaves/wigs.  That entry was inspired by several emails I'd received from readers who struggled to retain length with protective styling with extensions.  I'm happy to say that miss "pre_med" was doing just fine with her length retaining strategy.  Her only concern was regarding her ends which seemed to struggle more than the rest of her hair.  We talked about doing a blunt cut trim before her next install as a possible solution to her concern.  By the time she shared her next update with me I was elated!  Then she contacted me to share her most recent update and I knew for sure that I had to share her story with the world. 

  

1.  What is your hair type? I am a 4 something, possibly a B.

 How would you describe your hair? When I was young I use to think my hair was coarse because that's what people told me but as I learned to handle it, it's simply thick, lush and strong. 

2. How often do you touch up/relax? I make it a point to touch up every 16 weeks. No less than 14 weeks at the minimum. 

3.  What is your current length? Somewhere between MBL and WL air dried. I haven't straighten since Dec so I don't know the true length. Only air dried.

Tell us more about your air drying process.  If successful air drying is trying to get a straight look then I'm not the one to ask. LOL. I simply air dry. No scarf method or any other tricks that other ladies do, just simply let it hang out. It doesn't bother me much only because it's about to be put under a wig or in a bun once it's dry. 

4.  Please share your regimen. What do you do daily, and weekly, to care for your hair?

Daily: Moisturize with Elasta QP Olive Oil and Mango Butter. Seal with any oils. I recently started using Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum as a sealant. Nightly: it's under a bonnet in a loose bun or several plaits. I'm either under wigs or a lose bun throughout the day. 

Weekly: I deep condition every week. Sometimes I use shampoo weekly as well but mostly wash with conditioner only. I deep condition no less than an hour and a half. My wash/conditioner/protein products are all Nexxus products. I also do weekly protein treatments. My hair can stand it. 

How often do you wear your hair out vs. protective styling?    I rarely, rarely wear my hair out. I will wear it out all day on the day I wash or all day on a fresh relaxer but that's about it. Even on special occasions it's in a high bun

5. You've made some huge progress with your hair journey. What do you attribute most to your success? 

Protective styles has given me great length retention. If I never protective styled I believe my hair would not have shown fast progress in 4 month spans as it did. But I can only speak for myself. I also believe protein and moisture balance was 2nd in command. Without this balance, I would have had so many set backs. 

6.  Have you had any setbacks/trouble along the way?

 I use to have set backs with the front of my hair and end up needing to take off 2 inches or so.

7.  How did you overcome your setbacks?

I stopped wearing stocking caps solely under my wigs and started using satin durags as a base. I also laid off the half wigs and started wearing full coverage wigs. That way all my hair is tucked away safely. 

8.  How are you able to maintain such thickness overall? 

Honestly, I haven't been doing anything special on purpose for the thickness. However I have noticed if you lay off the heat (curling irons, flat irons), air dry all the time, and stretch your relaxers at LEAST longer than 12 weeks; thickness happen on its own. For some people at least. 

9.  Looking back at your journey so far, is there anything you would do differently? or wish you would have done sooner? 

Absolutely. I started my journey a little over a year ago and I wish when I first started that I was confident enough to start off with a fresh cut. I tried to start my progress on weak ends and 8 months within my journey I showed no signs of retention until I chopped 2 inches of the weak ends off. After that, it was retention after retention after retention. 

(March 2012)

10.  Someone is reading this right now who's about to start her hair journey. What advice would you give her? 

You have to try things out for yourself and then stick to what works. Simply pay attention to the way your hair responds to certain products. It will tell you what works and does not work. In the beginning keep it simple and basic; daily moisturizer, moisture shampoo, moisture deep conditioner, protein conditioner/treatment and oils. And please do as much research before you start your journey. You want progress not set backs. Ask questions and reach out to people who are also on a hair journey for support and advice. 

11. Do you do anything additionally to support your hair? (nutrition, vitamins, exercise)?

 I do not take hair vitamins nor exercise excessively. However, I still believe for many people these things play an important part in overall hair growth and health. I recommend people use what they need. If hair vitamins give a person a boost in overall health, then I think that person should continue to consume hair vitamins. 

12. Is there anything else would you like to share that I haven't asked you about?

 Don't quit. In the beginning you'll expect fast results but just be patient. Just don't quit. It's so worth it. 

I just love looking at pics of  Pre-med's hair and, the way she's going, she'll be waist length in no time at all.  Here are the takeaways I got from her sharing that I'm reminded of:

• Deep Condition, Deep Condition, Deep Condition!
• If you are serious about retention, protective styling and low manipulation is the answer.
• One of the first steps to a healthy hair journey may just be a proper trimming.  Lately, I've been paying close attention to the women I see, when I'm out at about, who have thick hair. One commonality that I can tell, is that they have blunt, or will trimmed ends, 98% of the time.  That is too much of a coincidence for me to ignore.  

(latest update: Waist Length "Yay!")

I love sharing features and I hope to share many more inspirational hair journeys with you all.  If anyone would like to share their journey and progress on the blog, be sure to contact me so we can make it happen!

I protective style with extensions but my hair is still damaged!

From time to time I get an email that sounds something like this: "I need some advice. I recently took out my weave but my hair is thin, tangled and damaged." I don't know what happened, I've been protective styling for months, why does my hair look so bad?"

As a matter of fact, I had the exact same conversation the other day with a woman I met at a social event the other day.

Normally, when we decide to hide our hair with extensions or braids, our end goal is to retain length and promote thickness. So let's talk a little bit about how we can make sure that happens. I'll first start off by saying that protective styling with weave isn't something I normally do so technically, I'm not an expert on this subject. I have worn sewed in extensions once but it was a horrible experience that I would never forget. Looking back, if I could get the chance to make that decision again, there's a lot I would do differently.

First, I would think about my goals. Am I protective styling to give my hair a break or promote growth? Do I want to create thicker hair when it's all said and done? How will I do it?

Start by addressing any current issues

Normally, when we opt for extensions, we come to a place where we no longer want to deal with our hair and so we seek out a way escape our current situation. Here's the problem with that logic, if your hair was damaged or weak prior to the install, chances are you might find the same issues staring you in the face when the extensions come out. Now let's talk about what to do before your weave install. Putting first things first, the absolute best thing to do (weeks) before your weave install is to identify and address all hair issues. Simply putting your hair in a weave won't suddenly make spilt ends disappear. Prior to protective styling with weave, see if your hair requires any of the following:

-A thorough detangle

-Deep conditioning/hot oil or steam treatment

- A protein treatment

-A trim or a mini-cut

-A clarifying scalp treatment

Opt for weave styles that work with your goals

Once you've got some of the hair issues under control, then you can focus on and decide what type of weave you will be wearing. All extensions are not created equal. There are various methods of installing from using glue, crochet needles, sewing in, braiding, twisting, etc. If your end in mind is to create health and thickness, go with an option where the installation method works with your goals not against them. You don't want glue in tracks if your intention is to create healthier hair. You also want to avoid weave styles that add a bunch of tension on the hair strand. Styles that require beaucoup bags of weave that add 25 lbs of extra weight on your head will do you no favors. If your edges are a concern, getting micro braids isn't an option. There are a multitude of hairstyles available to you so take time to learn about the pros and cons of your hair styling options.

Don't forget about your hair

I'll never forget the time I wore braids back in the day, my morning preparation time was cut in half. I didn't have to do anything to my hair before walking out the door. Luckily for me, 6 weeks was probably the longest I could stand to wear a weave. I can't imagine what the condition of my hair would be if I went 3-5 months or longer without having any access to my hair. When we get extensions, we tend to do things that we normally wouldn't do like go swimming everyday in a chlorine filled pool or start gelling edges down to match the weave texture or go longer without washing, etc. These actions are out of the ordinary us. We sometime use extensions as an excuse opportunity to do things that are not so good for the health of our hair. Even leaving the hair alone and not moisturizing or washing for 2 months is cruel and unusual punishment for your hair. Before choosing your protective weave style, think about how you will care for it during the time when your hair is hidden. That way you avoid any surprises when the weave comes out.

Feed your hair and scalp

Often, when we protective style with weave. We just leave our hair alone and let it do it's thing. I think this is a huge mistake. To me, this is the perfect time to proactively focus on promoting growth. Knowing that every inch of hair will be retained is even more motivation to focus on our growth. If I were to protective style with extensions, I would make certain that I maintained my habit of taking vitamins or continued with healthy scalp massages and so on. The weave will take care of preserving your ends, now you've gotta make sure you are ramping up the growth to maximize your experience. Also, don't forget to do things like moisturizing and sealing whenever possible. Everything will dry out if left along including the hair that is protected under the extensions. Sometimes moisturizing and sealing will be easy, like when you are wearing braids. Other times, it might get a little tricky and you may have to find creative ways to get to your hair (like using a spray mister to moisturize your cornrows). Either way, make sure you still do it from time to time.

Start the healthy hair process again as soon as you have access to your hair

So after hiding your hair for months, you've finally decided to see how your hard work paid off. You take the weave out and "ta-da" you've gained and retained some length. The biggest mistake you can make at this point is start (excessively) playing with your hair, using heat constantly to show off your newfound length, etc. Yes, I understand how exciting it is to enjoy your hair, especially, when you are seeing some viable growth. One thing you must remember is that a seed is most vulnerable when it first sprouts. The same thing goes for the length achieved after weave styling. This type of retention is a bit "un-natural" because it occurred under special circumstances. Your hair thrived under an ideal environment so your job is to continue to create the ideal environment even after the weave is gone.