Braided Hair Design Ideas for African Styles
There are plenty of options for African hair textures, especially if you are wanting to grow your natural hair longer. The quickest way to achieve the goal of healthy long hair is to use braided styling methods.
A popular protective style for transitioning from relaxed to natural hair is to get crochet braids, tree braids, box braids and micro-braids. This will allow you to repair damaged hair from heat straightening, haircoloring and hair relaxers.
If you have recently done the big chop and have really short hair such as a TWA teeny weeny afro then you can benefit from trying out some nice braided hair designs. The key is to pick bulk hair extensions made specifically for braiding.
Depending on the brand, weight, color, texture and length of the synthetic or human hair extensions you can create a unique look with your various braid styles. On this page I will go into more detail on the types of African American Braids you can wear.
Bulk Hair for Micro Braiding
Doing your own braids at home will require that you purchase your bulk hair extensions online. There are specialty shops that sell all types of hair textures from straight,curly, wavy, human hair and synthetic brands from light blonde to dark brown hair shades.
It is important to remember that the bulk hair comes in 10 inches and goes all the way up to 22 inches in length, depending on how long or short you want your braided style to be you can use between 2 to 3 packs of hair.
Popular brands include: Yaki, Milky Way, Zury, Hollywood, Beverly Johnson, Outre and more.
Understanding the Difference Between Weft Hair and Bulk Hair
1. Hair Weave Weft Tract - This type of hair is not made for braiding instead it is perfect for weaving hairstyles that look like your own natural hair, you can cut, style and curl this type of hair and it can be worn for up to 3 months at a time. It is best to go to a beauty salon and have your wefts put in by a professional hairstylist that is trained in cosmetology.
2. Loose Hair Trackless Bulk - This type of hair comes loose at the top and can be easily separated to use in your individual micro braids, tea braids or box braid styles. You can do your hair at home and does not require any sewing or threading. If you know how to braid your own hair then you will be able to put in extra hair extensions to your braid styles for added length.
Micro Braids will require that you separate the hair into small sections on clean dry hair, it can take several hours to complete your whole head, making sure not to miss any areas along the front, sides and back of the neck for complete coverage.
The benefits of individual braids over cornrows is that you have more versatility with your braided styles, which is great for putting your braids in updo's.
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Bulk Hair Length Chart
When Choosing Hair to Buy Online You Will Have These Options:
10 inches long for Brazilian Hair
12 inches long for Peruvian Hair
14 inches long for Malaysian Hair
16 inches long for Mixed Synthetic Hair
18 inches long for Asian Hair
20 inches long for Indian Hair
22 Inches long for Mongolian Hair
*(this is a sample list and each hair type comes in any of these lengths)
Types of Bulk Hair for Braiding
1. Human Hair (Remy) - This type of hair is usually bought and sold from third world countries. The hair is real because it used to belong to another person who had long hair and they cut it to sell for money or as part of a religious ceremony. Very poor woman from India, Peru, China, Philippians, and Eastern Europe will grow their hair and then have it shaved off to be sold in factories that specialize in manufacturing donated hair.
2. Synthetic Hair (Kanekalon) - Unlike the hair trade of imported human hair, synthetic fibers can often look like real hair, and is made mostly of polyfilament, monofilament fibres in acrylic or polyester which can be the right texture for most Afro- Caribbean woman who want to have braided hairstyles.
No matter which type of bulk hair you pick you can experiment with each one to see which will work best for your hair maintenance routine. A few things to consider is that with human hair you can shampoo it and curl it with heat whereas synthetic can only be rinsed and often times is not heat resistant.
How Much Does Human Hair Bulk Extensions Cost?
The cost of human hair bulk extensions can get really expensive, so it will be wise to do your research before spending hundreds of dollars for bulk hair for braiding and the reason is because the quality level is what you want to determine.
Things you should look at along with cost:
As many people will agree the higher the cost the higher the quality should be, but that is not always the case. There are ways that you can know if what you are buying is worth the money. Here are some key words to look for:
- Single Donor: This is where the hair your getting came from one person and not multiple donors.
- Virgin Human Hair: This means that the hair has not been chemically treated or processed but is instead the hair is in its natural condition undamaged maintaining its shine and strength.
- Cuticle Hair: This is going to be your premium type of hair for braiding and it means that all the hair is gathered in the same direction and the hair will not get tangled or matted up at all. Since it can be re-used and has very little if any shedding you will pay the most for this type of bulk braided hair.
Hair Extensions for Braiding Costs
The cost can range from as low as $30 dollars all the way up to over $100 dollars depending on the texture, length, brand and color of the hair extensions.You will pay less if you decide to do your own braids at home instead of going to a professional braidery salon.
Just know that if you have your hair done by a licensed beautician your braided hairstyle will probably last longer up to 3 to 4 months and this can be a great way to grow your natural hair while transitioning from a relaxer.
Learn Micro Braids Human Hair on Natural Hair
Will Bulk Human Straight Hair Work on Natural Hair?
One area that I wanted to discuss is the difference in hair textures that you will find in most bulk hair extensions. Since you are getting 100% human hair it often times will not be the same as your afro natural hair.
Natural black hair can be tightly coiled and be kinky in texture whereas the human hair sold online is smooth, silky and straight. Can you mix the two hair types together and get a beautiful braid style? The answer is yes you can.
You will want to first start out with a freshly shampooed hair that is dry then moisturize it with your favorite conditioner, then use a blow dryer with attachment to blow dry your hair for better manageability. Then you can take small pieces of your human hair extensions and add it to your own hair for nice looking individual micro braids.
Check out the video on this page to see how it is done, as you will notice it is okay to keep your hair natural, you do not need to do any heat straightening in order to match the texture of your bulk braid extensions. Amazingly this is why braided hairstyles is the best protective style for woman who are transitioning from relaxer.