Cornrows - Ouch, Ouch, Ouch!

 

Hi Mokipono...unfortunately Madame CJ Walker is no longer with us.  She died fairly young.  Yes...if you have her book...it is very very valuable. 

 

Sorry for any confusion...I am not getting trained by her personally.  She had a school in Dallas that was sold to the current owner who is in her late 70s and she actually knew Madame CJ Walker.  I only wish I could be trained by her.  But the school is great.

 

Today we learned "scunching".  Do you all know about that?  It is like a fingerwave except you have rows of waves but not the fingerwaves.

 

Hi Ms. Honey........it seems that micro braids are hot for teens and younger women.  A guy at my school who is going for his instructor license told me his daughter who is a senior in high school gets microbraids and 2 people work on her at the same time so it only takes 6 hours to do her entire head.  They also don't braid down to the tips.  Only halfway through the strands.

 

Maybe I should try that next?

 

Hi Diva,

 

Thank you soooooooo much for the tips.  I was freaking a little bit because I already had to pull some shedded hair from the ends that got trapped.  I really didn't think about the shedding issues so that you for telling me before I did freak out. 

 

Thanks for telling me not to shampoo until I was sure all trapped, fallen hair is out.  I definitely don't want locs.

 

I have noticed a few new things today.

 

First of all...my head is freezing.  It never occurred to me before that hair when wore lose protects your head from temperatures.  Today I thought I felt wind whistling through my braids.  I get it now why people with cornrows wear all kinds of headgear.  It is definitely colder.  It doesn't help that it is cold in Dallas right now.  We had an ice storm warning for today but luckily it never happened.

 

Second...my braids are no longer hurting BUT now they are starting to itch a little bit.  They warned me about that at the school and told me to buy a product that Revlon makes that is for itching.  Someone else suggested Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Shampoo dabbed on the parts but then someone else warned that I have to be careful not to dry out my scalp or it will flake?

 

Third...when I washed my hair is warm water...the braids seemed to tighten up.  There is no way I am going to wash my hair in cold water to avoid shrinking. 

 

Fourth....one of the students suggested that I "oil" the braids to keep them shiny and soft.  They had diefferent opinions of which product to use but someone suggested using regular jojoba oil.  Any thoughts on this?

 

Thanks again for all your suggestions. 

 

 

 

  It's good to learn as many techniques as you can but that's not one of my favorite looks, the halfway through.

  Organics Itch Relief Cornrow and Braid Scalp Remedy is pretty good and smells delicious. Keracare's Anti-Itch Glossifier is good too. Or you can use plain old WitchHazel to relieve the itching.

 White Chocolate? Perfect!! I love it! You are the Tina Marie of the hair world

 

My clients tell me that can't even tell I am braiding their hair. Just a thought for you, make sure you practice light and even tension when braiding. The majority of stylist think that the braids are supposed to bring excrutiang pain. lol, but anyway, goodluck on your braiding and other extension methods. If you ever need help holla at yo girl!

Shiry

 

Yes....pinch braids and also how to use the caps to weave in full heads of add-on hair for clients with alopecia.

 

So far we learned box braids, cornrows - over and under - with various patterns such as stars, names, French braids from hairline, from mid head and from nape, full fishtails from the hairline, fishtails from the nape of the neck (hard to tighten), herringbone tails Sengalese twists, core twists, locs, locs with twists, rope braids, hairline twists, scrunches with side braids and all kinds of braided updos.  We also learned all types of add-in hair braiding and weaving methods.  Also box braids, micro braids, micro mini braids, hanging braids, Dutch, English.  Partial braids, full braids....you name it....we learned it.

 

At this stage the key is practice, practice and practice.  For our test we had to do several of the braids, a braided updo (I did an English braid at the crown into a chignon and a full head fishtail that was tucked) and we had to do cornrows and then take a written test.

 

Whew...I am making myself tired.  I am going to go crash.  I promise to post my cornrows tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the tip on Organics and Braid Scalp Remedy.  I am going to try them tomorrow.  For now....I have some Witch Hazel to get me through until I can get to the hair store.

 

I want to ask you more questions...I will check back tomorrow and post my head shots. 

 

Have a great evening.

 

 

Ahhhh....now I remember my Mother In Law telling me that.  She lives in San Diego area and the recent fires came without a few hundred feet of her back door.  She is actual a native California born in Los Angeles...of all places and she told me the same thing about the rain...but I had forgotten.

 

The good news about rain here is that I don't have to worry about getting my hair wet now.  Ha Ha

 

Have a great weekend.