FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions:

I put together some questions that I get a lot. This will be a work in progress. If there’s something you want to know, leave a comment and I’ll address it.

What exactly is The Mini Braid Method (c) ?

I refer to this process as the Mini Braid Method because it’s catchy and memorable. The method itself is a means for maintaining afro-textured hair in small braids over long periods of time. I, myself, wear a variety of styles but mini braids are by far my preference. My method suggests wearing mini braids for 4-8 weeks at a time with 1-4 week breaks over the course of the year. It’s meant to retain growth. Braids protect hair and for me, it drastically cuts down on split ends and single strands knots. In braids, I’m able to wear my real hair out, cowash often, and still style it in many different ways without manipulating it too much. For the specific details of the Method see the ebook for sale here.

How long does it take to put the braids in?

I don’t usually keep track of the hours. I give myself about 4 days to get my hair done. I work in sections. This time I had 6 sections and worked over less than a week. Some days I only did a row or two. Other days I did nothing, and the remaining days I completed a whole section. I don’t rush and I stop whenever I feel like so it doesn’t feel like a chore. I put on a few movies and the time goes by.

I recently did my brother’s hair in one sitting and it took maybe 8 hours with centimeter square parts and shoulder length hair.

Update 9/6/2012: My latest set of braids took about 9 hours stretched over 3 days. I was multitasking the entire time so it took longer than it could have.

How long does it take to undo the braids?

I don’t  keep track of these hours either. I give myself 2 days to undo the braids. The process of taking them out is not as labor intensive as putting them in. Bec.ause of the texture of my hair, the ends do unravel as time goes on. When I’m ready to take them out, I cowash to let the ends unravel on their own as much as possible. I then undo them one at a time or I use a brush to take a few out at a time. I’ll detail each process in the ebook.

Is your hair thick/dense?

Yes, my hair is very dense. The individual strands, however, are extremely fine. The smaller I do my mini braids, the thicker my braided hair looks. I’ll post pics of several sets of braids I’ve done over the years for a comparison of braid size vs density of the braided hair.

Do your braids get fuzzy?

Nope. I cover them almost every night with a silk scarf…this keeps them fuzz free for a long time. The root do grow in somewhat frizzy but the braids force the hair to stay in a single corkscrew curl when the braids grow in. My roots will look like the curly Q’s on the ends of my hair. I’ll post pics as time goes on so you can see the progress.

How long do you wear them?

Since I take about a week to put them in, I wait at least 4 weeks before I take them out, just so I get a good return on my investment. Usually, it’ll be around 6-8 weeks before I take them down. My hair has usually grown one full revolution (a 360 curl) at the root before I take the braids out.

I left a comment but I don’t see it on the page, is there a problem?

Immediately after I moved the blog to this platform, I got an influx of spammers. It’s wasn’t much, maybe one spam post a day…but I thought it was in my best interest to change the settings so all comments must be approved before they are published on the blog. I won’t monitor the content of the comments, the obvious spam for penis enlargement sites, etc is what I’m deleting… I try to check the blog at least once a day, but if I don’t, hang tight, your comment should be there after 48 hours.

What is your hair care regimen? (this is a good overview of what I do)

I keep my hair in braids about 80% of the time. I started out the year wearing about 10 braids, but I went back to mini braids after a few months. Sometimes, if I’m going out at night, I’ll put a wig over my braids but most of the time they are in a bun. If I’m not in braids, I’m usually in a braid out. Every weekend I shampoo in about 10 braids then deep condition and steam with LeKair Cholesterol Plus. A few days later I undo each braid and split it into 2 or 3 smaller braids, then cowash with Giovanni Nutrafix. I use Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk to moisturize and seal with grape seed oil.

I workout so I may cowash more often depending on whether or not I need it. If I don’t feel like cowashing but my scalp needs refreshing I’ll use Home Health Hairever Cleansing Scalp Treatment diluted 10:1. It tingles a lot, so if you like that feeling, you’ll love this product. Since November I’ve virtually cut out combs and brushes (I’ve used them on only 2 occasions). It’s helped tremendously with breakage. I used to detangle with my denman at every cowash and step out of the shower and see my curls all over the walls. I’m also trying to move to exclusively natural products.

How long is your hair and what is your hair type?

I’m bra strap length right now, I hope to be waist length by the end of 2013. I have very fine hair that can be quite porous. I have very kinky and frizzy curls and coils so I consider it to be 4A.

How long have you been natural?

I went natural via BC in college but texturized a year or so later. I transitioned starting March 2009 and BC’d again August 2009. I’ve been natural ever since.

How much growth do you get from braids?

Braids are a hairstyle and no hairstyle can make your hair grow. Styles don’t effect your rate of growth at all. Your hair won’t grow faster just due to braids. That said, braids do a tremendous job in retaining the length and keeping hair healthy. Mini braids help the strands of my hair stay moisturized, strong, and cut down potential breakage from styling and manipulating my hair.

The average growth rate for hair is about 1/2″ per month. My hair typically grows slower than that. I try to keep my body healthy because changes made from the inside can have an effect on our hair along with the rest of our bodies. To see exactly how much growth I’ve had over the past few months in braids, see the blog posts marked My Mini Braids for weekly progress pics. A few posts have the amount of growth in inches, but for the most part I do not measure my hair.