I started braiding years ago when my hair started to break. Because of all the sports, yes I was a sports fanatic, my hair really didn't always look great but in Suriname I fortunately never had to deal with broken hair. My hair was quite full and if I wanted to postpone straightening I sometimes wore braids but just made with my own hair.
Hair braided with the Silky Shea Hair Butter
I started braiding years ago when my hair started to break. Because of all the sports, yes I was a sports fanatic, my hair really didn't always look great but in Suriname I fortunately never had to deal with broken hair. My hair was quite full and if I wanted to postpone straightening I sometimes wore braids, but just made with my own hair.
It was noticeable that my hair started to break when I moved to the Netherlands to study. A year after arriving, my hair stuck out in all directions, was dry, did not grow and even started to break. I think it had to do with the drastic change of environment. My body, hair and skin were used to a nice warm humid climate and this was completely different. The Dutch climate is of course many degrees colder but also much drier. Now I know that dehydrated hair becomes dry and breaks easily. Especially frizzy hair, but I don't think I could have saved my hair even if I had known this then.
No More Knots Artificial braids were a real solution for me at the time because I was seriously sad about my straggly hair. I didn't really know what was wrong with my hair and had no idea where to look for a solution. I hoped that it would go away by itself if I braided it.
To be completely honest, I would never have started braiding if my own hair was healthy, because up until then I thought it was weird that women walked around with fake braids. You have your own hair, right? Why do you need to have long braids was my train of thought. Until I had to get artificial hair myself.
You can guess that it took some getting used to. Not only the extra braided hair on my head took some getting used to, but I especially struggled with the psychological part. I was ashamed that my hair was breaking and that I had now chosen to wear false braids. What should I say when people asked me about my hair? Surinamese people knew of course that it was false, but I didn't like telling them that my hair had fallen out. So young and already with false hair? No, I thought that was really sad. More than that, I was really ashamed of it.
I really couldn't imagine that it wasn't obvious, but Dutch people didn't know that my hair was fake until I told them myself. I had to. Those with fake hair experience know; the longer your own hair, the better braided extensions stay in your hair. However, my hair had broken off so short in some places on my head that the braids easily came loose here and there. When a few braids fell out in the shower after basketball practice, I decided to honestly tell them that my braids were fake. I even tried to explain how the fake hair was braided, but my Dutch basketball friends really didn't get it. I was quite embarrassed. If I weren't black, I'm sure I would have turned bright red.
After this low point, it started to get used to it, but I didn't really like the false braids. What I was really happy about, was the fact that I didn't have to worry about my hair. Whatever I did, my hair looked good. Morning, noon and night. I really didn't have to worry about it. That was wonderful.
For the first time in my life I didn’t have to worry about my hair. It was literally a get-up-and-go style. Wash once a week and that was it. Great! No blow dryer, hooded dryer or rollers were used. No combing or braiding either. Just sleep and get up and your hair is good. This kept my shame and the fact that I didn’t feel so comfortable with the braids, somewhat in balance. I almost started to appreciate my false braids until it was time to take them out.
When I thought about “just” taking the false braids out of my hair three months later, I was in for a rude awakening. It didn’t take long at all. The false hair seemed to have grown onto my own hair, so it took an endless amount of time and effort to get it out. As if that wasn’t enough, I also saw to my horror that there was an unimaginable amount of dirt in my hair. I didn’t understand it.
My hair had been combed out with one of those awfully fine combs before the braids were put in so I knew for sure that my hair was completely detangled. I had also washed my hair every week, so why was my hair so hard to comb out and where did all that dirt suddenly come from?
The experience was a real shock. But although I had sworn in that hopeless situation never to let this misery fall on my neck again for the rest of my life, I still started braiding again. Why, you may ask? The decisive factor was that my hair had visibly improved. After all, that was what I had done it for and apparently it worked. The embarrassment and discomfort I had to endure were nothing compared to the joy that my hair was recovering.
That's how braiding started for me and through years of experience I really made it my own. That's why I'm still convinced that I'm the "queen of braids" when it comes to knowledge about braiding. I know the pros and cons of the type of hair you choose, know very well how to care for false braids and especially what you should and shouldn't do if you want to braid your hair. It's all mentioned in my book Natuurlijk Kroes, now available again at Boekhandel Barends & Donkersloot in Bijlmer (06-55386436).
Now I have developed special Hair Products for Curls and Kinky Hair based on these years of experience of braiding and unbraiding. So you can be sure that they will also do your hair good if you ever decide to braid. The Braiding Package consists of products that I still use today when my hair is braided, with or without extensions.
To be continued…
