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Monday, January 10, 2011

My First Braid Out!

This has been a week of firsts for me and Freedom! lol I did my first Bantu Knot Out and then I did a Braid Out too! I've always heard people swear by braid outs, but twist outs were working pretty well for me so I didn't think to try braid outs. PLUS I can't braid! LOL Twisting is definitely my forte!

BUT! I was talking to Jamila of College Curlies and she told me that some people prefer braid outs because there's less shrinking WHICH convinced me to try one! LOL. I hate that I'm like, 15 months into the natural game and my hair still looks like I BCed last week lol (okay, I'm exaggerating, but still lol).

The bantu knot out was good... but my hair still seemed like it was "hibernating", so I tried a braid out. I plaited/braided/cornrowed (lol I think I did a mixture of them) my hair in about, 9 "plait-brai-rows" with little product. I lightly spritzed my hair, and when I say lightly, I mean 2 sprays lol.




  1. The first pic is my hair after I woke up. LOL they look terrible... but it was the best I could do! Instead of using my normal bonnet, I put on a scarf to help flatten my hair. It made sense at the time, but I can't remember why I did it now :-/
  2. The second pic is after undoing the braids, WHICH is much more tedious than a twist out. :-/
  3. The third pic is last night once I got home from church (I didn't get to take a pic of it before church because I was running late as usual lol).

The hair curled up a little bit, but overall, it was a lot more stretched out than it would have been from a twist out. However, this may also be because this was a dry braid out and I always do set my twist outs on wet hair. I liked that my hair was bigger, but there was little definition, which I hear is what happens with braid outs. The ends were straight too, so I'm going to try putting a rod on the end of them in the future. I'm going to try this again though and set my braids on wet hair. Maybe this will help? #naturalhair is ALL about trial-and-error!

I'll keep you posted! Once I've done that, I'll do a post on my thoughts on a twist out vs. braid out! (Hopefully I'll be able to find some pics comparing and contrasting them :-/)

5 comments:

  1. Michelle HowardJanuary 10, 2011 at 5:06 PM

    So is that what it's called these days? (I sound so old).

    I used to do that when I was in H.S. and just called it the wavy look lol

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  2. Pretty Natural DivasJanuary 10, 2011 at 5:09 PM

    LOL I know, me too! I secretly believe that the majority of styles done by naturals are the same 5 styles, and we just give them 10 different names lol

    --Jameka

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  3. Alisha De FreitasJanuary 10, 2011 at 5:13 PM

    I agree! My mom use to do "braid outs" for me as a girl in the 80's, lol.

    I liked the look, but I am hesitant to try it because braids do take longer to take out in the morning, and yeah, like you Jameka, I tend to run late. Plus, sadly, I cannot braid so well, either.

    I'm curious to get your opinion on your hair when wet-setting. I feel like I get better wave/curl definition if I add a little water.

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  4. ~Decidedly Imperfect~January 10, 2011 at 7:58 PM

    Cute! Your hair is cute and hard to tell this was your first time. Because braids actually help to keep hair stretched, you can use more product and water so that you get more definition. I switched to doing braid-outs for a more stretched look and was glad that I could do them on damp hair with minimal shrinkage. I don't have major shrinkage unless I do braids on soaking wet hair.

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  5. MilanJanuary 10, 2011 at 11:33 PM

    Ooo the braid out turned out nice! In the summer I'm all about braid outs and flat twist outs. :D

    ReplyDelete