Do Your Braids Slip Out?

Posted by admin on Apr 1, 2012 in Protective Hairstyles | 1 comment

If you are new to natural hair and new to braids (or twists) then you may have the same problem I’ve been having with my kinky twists and Senegalese twists slipping out a short time after the installation.

I remember a girl from high school that wore braids most of the time.  A few times, well, more than a few times, her braids would slip out while we were in gym class. I remember even back then that I never wanted to be the girl with the braids falling out of my head.  As I walk the streets of New York City, I do sometimes see extensions on the ground that appear to have fallen from someone’s head.

I have not worn a braid style since I was 13 years old.  Those braids were only left in for 1 day since they were so heavy.  I asked my sister to help me take them out after my mom’s friend put them in the day before.  Fast forward to adulthood and my first time, as an adult, getting braids installed.  I decided to have kinky twists installed and within less than a week the twists were slipping out.  I was transported back to high school gym class and feeling like my extensions would slip out.  I went back to the salon to have the kinky twists tightened, about 10 of them.  A few days later, I was back at the salon again to have the front and sides of my hair tightened, about 10 more twists.  After 5 weeks of wearing the kinky twists, I gave up and took out the style.

A week later, I tried a new braider and had Senegalese twists installed.  They style came out nicely, but again, after just a few days the twists were slipping out.  The braider used the twisted root method to do the install and it looked very natural.  I contacted the braider a couple of days later and she agreed to redo some of the twists that were slipping.  I was leaving for vacation but did have them redone once I returned.  The tightened twists were done a little differently, not as natural looking as the twisted from the root method.

I have come to the conclusion that either my hair is not coarse enough for extensions to stay in without slipping.  I need a different method, such as a braided root.  It does not look as natural as some other extension methods, but if I want the style to last, I will have to deal with braided roots versus slipping extensions.