micro braids

Hey i'm an african american teen and i'm thinking about getting micro braids.  I want gold synthetic hair added into each braid (so i wont have to color my real hair).  The only problem is that i have very long hair (reaching to the end of my shoulder blades) and i heard that long hair doesnt do well with micros and that it is damaging to the hair.  i would like to know if this is true or not and what i can do to prepare my hair for the micros.  also, i was wondering if i can make the micros curly...not necessarily the small curls like the kind that come in a package but the large, round, long curls.  Do i need to use a curling iron on the micros??  am i missing something here?? any help would be appreciated, thanks!

AnDi.