If you go off of YouTube it looks simple enough.
For the most part it is...
Crochet braids are when your own hair is cornrowed and the extension is looped through the base with a crochet hook and then tied into a knot.
Simple, right?
While protective styles are great for keeping my hair...well...protected from the weather and daily manipulation they can be expensive. Braiders can charge up to $200 to install crochet braids. You can use synthetic or human hair.
Because synthetic is cheaper, last longer, and requires less maintenance I went with that.
I chose Freetress Brazilian Braid.
I wanted a curly/wavy pattern the likes of which my real hair is dreaming of being when it reaches my goal length ( chin length).
I wasn't ready to pay someone what YT swears can be done by yourself...but I don't know how to cornrow.
I went to my local beauty school and had cornrows put in for $40 bucks.
I bought 5 packs of hair for $6 each.
$80 for my style is a hell of a lot better than $200.
My hair is thick at the roots and then become fine :-(
Cornrows done on my hair don't fair well unless it is braided with extension hair.
Unfortunately the beauty school doesn't allow their students to braid with extensions.
That makes NO sense to me.
Anyway I was lucky to get a student that is not only a fantastic braider she also understands natural hair. She knew that in order to catch my hair and not cause breakage it would be best to braid while damp.
I had her braid going all the way straight back. I had to sew the ends together.
It was a BITCH trying to find good pictures of braid patterns online. I came across lots of "end results" but I needed a more detailed pic of a braid pattern.
It's like that's the golden secret to crochet braids and them looking good...it's all about the braid pattern.
So I got home Thursday night around 8p. I had taken Friday off. I was going to go in and go hard.
Chile...I consider my head to be small but fuck yeah I wasn't done till 2a. And that was ONLY because I ran out of hair.
I bought 3 packs of #2 ( a dark brown) and 2 of #27 ( a light honey).
I was going to mix the two and get me some highlights. But as I was putting in the brown I was happy with it...till I ran out and couldn't finish.
Smart thinking on taking Friday off. Because besides needing to finish the top part of my head the style was HUGE.
A common thing when installing, your end result WILL leave you looking like Mufasa.
Friday morning I went to the beauty supply store got one more #2 and some thinning shears.
I had to cut out some of the braids because thinning them with the shears kind of made the hair bigger, lol.
I'm saying this right now... I don't know shit about doing hair, lol.
No matter how many YT videos I watch.
I definitely need more practice.
Even with taking out almost half of what I put in it was still too puffy and Diana Ross ish for my taste.
I saw a YT video where a woman dipped her Brazilian crochet braids in hot water to calm down the mane.
I fucking hate YT for making people think they can do shit.
I did it and end up losing some of my curl pattern :-(
But not enough that I couldn't cut away. What I couldn't cut away blends in ok...I guess. I personally think the ends look horrible but we all know how critical I am of myself.
When installing I split some of the curls in two, causing frizz. But if I didn't do that I would end up with pieces that weren't staying knotted.
Most of the pieces look like they will come undone :-/. All I do is pull on them and they knot right back.
I think because my hair is so fine and still short the knots have nothing to hold on to. As I was pushing the the crochet hook through the braids would loosen.
All and all I'm happy with the outcome
and proud of myself for doing it.
I don't know how long I will keep this set in.
I do know I want them again and I will probably shell out the cash to have a professional do it.
*sigh*
This growing my hair out business is for the birds, lol
Have you ever had crochet braids? What were your experiences?
Unto next time
Xo
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