Bye Bye Crochet Braids - Until Next Time!!

"Bwoy, have I been ill for the past two weeks!  I took down my crochet braids at some point this week, but I can't even remember what day!"

I am thankfull that I had my crochet braids in as they take little to no work when it comes to maintaining them so I could be out of bed, showered and ready to go with the minimum of fuss, effort and time which over the past week has been essential.




It took me an entire day to take out the crochet braids and carry out my wash day.  Normally I could have done it a whole lot quicker but I was feeling very weak so took alot of breaks during the process in order to get it all done, without losing too much hair.

This picture shows my new growth and slippage.

I had previously applied my AVJ and oil mix but ended up keeping this in my hair for 3 days before taking down the crochet braids as I  couldn't physically take down the style. For me, there comes a time in the install when the extension hair starts to slide back quite far on the braids.  This happens because the braids loosen after I wash them so it starts to feel like my hair along my hairline is being put under too much stress.  This is an indicator for me to take down the crochet braids even though for me, this is also when I think they start to look their best.  I could try not washing them and just using a dry shampoo technique next time to see if I can get another week or two out of the style.






The take down followed the same process as my previous take down. The only differences this time were that I used Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler as my take down and detangling product and that after detangling each section I combined the hair with the previously detangled sections on each half of my head so I was only left with two sections of hair instead of 14.

I used Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Conditioner on each section of hair prior to applying The Great Detangler and removing all the shed hairs.  I kept my hair in two halves and then sectioned into four before detangling each section using the two comb method with my Hercules Sagemann Jumbo Rake comb and Denman Ebonite comb.

I then washed my hair with Hair One Cleansing conditioner and then followed up with Elasta Creme Conditioning Shampoo.  I did my first ever coffee rinse during this wash day and have been impressed with the results and also how my hair felt directly afterwards.  I did a protein treatment with Aphogee 2 Minute Reconstructor and then deep conditioned with some more Giovanni 50:50 Balanced Conditioner and sat underneath my steamer for about 30 minutes.

This is the total amount of hair lost during take down and wash day.  TOP LEFT:  Is the shed hair removed  from the left half of my head during take down.  TOP RIGHT: Is the shed hair removed from the right half of my head during take down.  BOTTOM LEFT: Is the shed hair during washing and deep conditioning,  BOTTOM RIGHT: Is hair lost during detangling after washing.

 

This is the total amount of hair lost during the take down and wash day.  It has been very compacted in this picture.

Since my wash day I have been weearing my fabulous Aftress Ira Human Hair Wig which I love!!!   It's so simple to style and wear, I'm also impressed with how good this wig looks - espeically when compared to the picture they've used on the packaging!

This is the picture on the box for the Aftress Ira HH Wig.  I couldn't find any reviews on this wig not one photo of someone actually wearing the wig.

This unit is short yet I managed to get all of my crochet braids underneath it which is pretty impressive!  Now without all the bulk of the crochet braids and a shot of permananet colour courtessy of Schwarzkopt Color Mask in Dark Brown I now love this wig so much.

This is the colour I used to dye the wig from colour 2 to 1B.

My new best friend!

My hair this evening after moisturising and sealing using the LOC (Liquid, Oil, Cream) method.  I wore it like this underneath the wig.

I have no intention to bun my hair for the next few weeks - wig wearing involves far less manipulation of my hair and gives me a whole new style, makes me miss the late 90's when my hair was actually this short.



I will be wearing the wig for two to three weeks before I relax my hair again.


Ciao 4 Now