Tree Braids - Are they single braids or cornrow based?

The more I read forums and blogs on tree braids the more I realize how confused more people are about what they truly are. After all some 'experts' claim that tree braids can be either cornrow based or singles/microbraid based. Hmmm, what version of this truth can one believe? Are there two versions of Lexus 450 - one that is based on a Toyota platform and another one that is based on a Honda platform? I must confess that I am even getting confused asking the above question myself.

If you happened to quickly understand that 'tree braids' cannot be both cornrow based and single braid based, welcome home and PLEASE stay with me and read some more. However, if you still think that Lexus 450 can be built on either or both Honda and Toyota platforms, may I please ask you to do me a favor? Click the [x] button on your browser and keep stepping. Anyways, back to tree braids, Tree Braids are cornrow style braids that may look like your typical sew-in weave, but with lots of breathing spaces - metaphorically speaking. The picture above shows the base of tree braids. Braiders typically start tree braids like feed-in cornrows and then drop hair on either sides as they go along. Tree braiding requires continuous adding and dropping of commercial hair until you get to the end of the cornrow. *

* Dropping commercial hair is not what makes a hairstyle tree braids. You have to keep adding and dropping, as you cornrow, as can be seen in the picture above.

Tree braids typically take between 4-6 hours to install. I have read some people claim  that it takes them 2-3 hours to do tree braids, that is pretty amazing. I will reserve comments on that for another time.  The meanwhile I encourage people who are interested in tree braids to do their research before having someone install microbraids with dropped hair here and there in the name of tree braids. I must say that it is not often that a hairstyle is confused for another.

In the case of tree braids I think that there has been a deliberate effort by some so called experts, who can't quite figure out how to add and drop hair with cornrows, to attempt the easier and familiar (read micro braid/single braid) and call it tree braid. This egotistical attitude and need to be the 'expert' is anti-innovation and retrogressive. Black hairstylists, 'braiding experts,' ethnic hair specialists, hair enthusiasts, whomever you are need to learn to do due diligence to learning and to give credit to those deserving of it. Renaming hairstyles or replacing them with another style doesn't quite cut it anymore.

My first encounter with Tree Braids was in Lagos, Nigeria more than 5 years ago. At the time I remember, albeit not vividly, how protective the lady that was installing the tree braids was of her craft. After all it was Brand Spanking New, and with many skilled hair braiders to every block it may not be long before the competition gets a hang of it and the rest would be history. Had this lady been in the US, perhaps she would have tried to patent the hairstyle or better yet sell a DVD on tree braids. Oh how I wish that the many hairstyles that come from different African villages and enclaves can be patented like we so 'expertly' do here in the West. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, braiding is less about becoming the expert and more of an artistic expression - think basket weaving, think passtime, think leisure.

The take home point? Do not take food from another woman's mouth and rename her craft because you want to establish yourself as the expert. The world is big, there is room for all of our creativity, we do not need to the rename single braids or micro braids with drops here and there tree braids because we couldn't quite figure out to do it and feel the need to remain the expert. Rather, if you must innovate upon that which you couldn't figure out why not call it a NEW name? And while you are at it, you can go ahead and file a patent on the style at the USPTO office - that is of course if they would let you.

Please give the innovators the credit they deserve - let us stop taking away from the Motherland. Where is the love?

Transitioning from using Chemicals to Natural Hairstyles

Lately, I have been coming across many women who would rather wear their hair natural than use relaxers. Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair really did open my eyes to the long-term dangers of using relaxers on hair. Although all my hairstyles are natural and never require the use of chemicals I must confess that I once contemplated expanding my customer base by including the use of 'long-term harmful' chemicals to my work.

I am glad that I stayed busy with natural hairstyles that I didn't feel the need to venture in the chemical space again. Now, you may have specific questions about what really these potential harms could be. Without regurgitating much of what Chris Rock has so well documented, may I impress it upon you to take some time out to watch the DVD on that documentary and educate yourself on this all  important subject?

I have read many blogs, forums and commentaries on this subject as well. Some ladies feel that transitioning from not using hard chemicals to relax ethnic hair to relying solely on natural means of upkeep would be rather limiting as some of us black women have tough hair that would be hard to maintain without the aid of chemically induced 'straighteners'. This concern/argument is quite compelling and a true one. I have come across some tough (read natural) hair at my shop and it can be 'not' fun.

This and many other sites discuss some of the challenges black women might face as they transition away from relaxers. The following comment captures the gist of the problems some women (especially black women with 'nappy' hair) face in the Western hemisphere.

Rooo sez BISH PLZ09/28/09 

*sigh* Chris, as much as I usually adore you, a lot of people hate relaxers.

It's just that they can also be called "unprofessional", "militant", "political", "wild", and even "undesirable" and/or "unemployable", in a lot of Western acculturated spaces, if they fail to use them.

That's the difference. 

So, what can a sister, a soul sista that is thinking about transitioning to a natural hairstyle lifestyle do to her hair to look decent and non-threatening? I hope that this is not a real question in your mind. If it is, I beg your pardon; you have quite a lot of options. You can certainly try braiding or weaving your hair. Cornrows, comb twists, starter dreads, etc are becoming more of options nowadays. I can almost say that women with natural hair have as many options as those with relaxed hair.* 

* In fact I have a few college professor clients with dreadlocks, comb twists, styled mohawk, etc. So, natural hairstyles may soon be the next best thing. Why not work with your stylist to create the next new hairdo that would make you look like the queen you truly are? 

Getting stylists who specialize on natural hair could be a little tasking, but if you have ever worn braids or cornrows, or know where to find hair  braiders you shouldn’t really have a hard time getting a practical hairstyle that you could carry for up to 2- 3 months.  If you have the time, you can even get creative and try out some hairstyles in this gallery. I will be coming up with other natural hairstyles in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned to nonyestic.com or nonyehairbraiding.com for your African braid and beauty updates.

Nonye

So many Hair Styles - Which one to choose ?

I am really glad to be living in this day age. With man going to the moon man, 'men' giving birth to babies, Sarah Palin running for president, and a black man running the greatest country in the world we have never been bombarded my so much choices and possibilities. Innovation is all around us and getting by with the ordinary is no longer enough. The world is hungry, people demand more and men and women desire to keep up with the change.

As a hair stylist I feel the pressure as well every day as I seek to differentiate myself from my competition, as I attempt to research, innovate, educate or advise my clients on what works or does not work. Please see below for some pictures of my work in this wise, and I am glad to say that this is only the beginning of the possibilities in hair braiding/styling as innovators, designers, stylist like you and me study and work some more to keep it coming..

Braids
We hope that we are not too cheesy in saying that all braids are not created equal. But it is true, braids come in different styles, sizes, lengths, you name it. Lately, some of the most popular ones have been tree braids and freestyle braids. Braiding times are equally as varied, expect between 2 - 8 hrs depending on style, length and complexity.

Tree Braids

Arguably one of the most popular hairstyles in our collection, tree braiding is a unique braiding style that can be made to achieve different looks and effects. Tree braids typically last 3 months (as long as micro braids), can be done within 5 hrs (unlike up to 8 hrs for micro braids) and are easier on your scalp - think breakages at the edges. We are constantly seeking new ways to style tree braids and we welcome your suggestions, ideas on that. Call us today and inquire about our tree braid specials!

Twists

We have all sorts of twist hairstyles: Nubian twists, Puffy twists, Kinky twists, Senegalese twists, Sista twist. Do you want to hear what is funny? We have more twist hairstyles coming. Keep tuned to Nonye Hair Braiding.









Weaves
Our braiding speed and expertise greatly impacts our proficiency when it comes to weaving. Whereas some of our clients have experienced weave jobs done in the upwards of 5-6 hrs and maybe sometimes 7 hours, we are happy to inform you to expect us to sew your full head weave within 2-3 hrs. You can even carry our sewn in weave for 4 months although we do not recommend carrying it for that long.

Kid's Gallery
As you can see from the pictures in the kids\' gallery, adults are not the only ones that leave Nonye Hair Braiding smiling, we specialize in making school aged children happy too. Bring your child today and see if she would not bug you for the next couple about going to Nonye\'s to get her hair redone. Nonye is light handed and highly skilled in dealing with different scalps. In case you are wondering what that means, it means that your child might fall asleep while getting her hair braided. No more running to CVS to buy Tylenol after braiding your daughter\'s hair.







Feed-in Cornrows
Reiterating, all cornrows are not created equal. There are feed-in (no-knot) and there are with-knot cornrows and the looks are miles apart. Cornrows that start with knots are so old school that merely looking at them might make you become older than you really are. Please call and ask us for our modern feed-in cornrows and our different styles, and you will be happy that you did.

Natural Hairstyles
As more women realize the dangers and consequences of using chemicals on their hair, there seems a movement towards going natural and relying less on relaxers to straighten hair and maintain a beautiful look. Need we say that you are beautiful already? And should you need to look even \'more beautiful,\' we can help you as well without sacrificing the little hair you have left in the sea of chemicals. That was meant as a joke, but we hope that you reckon that you've got choices. Comb twists, dreadlock extensions, cornrows, straw sets, etc could do.

Picture of me doing tree braids on my hair
We even have expert help for those who don\'t fancy paying people to get their hair done. Just visit us, get our service, and ask us questions on how you can go about maintaining the hairstyle on your own. We will glad tell you what to do. We are not stingy; we are all here for one another. Thank you for supporting us thus far!

Tree Braids, Tree Braids, Tree Braids

There has been a huge buzz in some circles regarding tree braids and I thought that I should show some of the styles and effects that can be achieved by treeb braids. Tree Braids are a unique braiding style and requires special skillsets; many people claim that they can do it, but only a few truly know how to tree braid. I think that I should let the pictures speak for themselves.

These two pictures show the new buzz braid known as Tree Braids. I will discuss in a later post the process of tree braids, the different styles that can be achieved with tree braids and address some other questions you may have. Stay tuned for more on tree braids.

Tree Braids & Weaves

Tree Braids

Keeping up with other life’s numerous demands. Lately, many people have been coming to my salon to inquire about tree braids. I am sorry for not writing for some time now. I have been overwhelmed by the demands of running a business. There are already a lot of write ups on them over the Internet, so I won’t stress them anymore than I should. Rather, I would use this occasion to share some step-step pictures of some tree braids that I did with the hope that you learn more about them through my pictures.

My website http://www.nonyehairbraiding.com/ also has some more in the gallery section. Please check them out at your convenience. I came to the U.S. from Nigeria last April, tried a lot of hairstyles and so have a huge repository of styles in my portfolio. Incidentally, I didn’t know what tree braids were until I came to the U.S. and when I finally saw the hairstyle that people called tree braid I was astonished. It is called another name in Nigeria and maybe in other African countries. The above picture shows my first photographed attempt at tree braiding. The second picture to the right zooms into the braids. As shown, strands of hair extensions and my hair are braided as extensions are fed in and dropped subsequently. It gets tricky, but I will try my best to show the process through pictures.

What I like most about Tree Braid is its weave like look. Some of my customers have commented about the confusion that is written on onlookers faces when they see them wearing tree braids. "What is that?" is written all over their faces. This is a picture of me still working on my braids. This feat was daring as I had never tried such completed hairstyle on my own hair. It is difficult enough doing it on someone else’s let alone on mine.



If you look closely at the third picture, you should be able to see the trick. New hair is added to the braid while the old
hair is dropped which gives it the weave like look.The process of dropping could
be very tricky because if the wrong hair is dropped, the whole braid comes out
and the hair becomes a mess. So, it is very important that you get your tree
braids from a braider who knows what she’s doing.


Many people have inquired about whether the Tree braids can be done on natural (unpermed) hair, and so I decided to show pictures of tree braids done on natural hair.



These are before and after pictures of Tree braids on natural hair.The last picture shows a close up of the braids. You would notice that all of the clients hair was braided in, and so the only hair left out is commercial hair. Personally, I think tree braids are advantagous to people who have natural hair because it keeps your natural hair safely tucked away in braids and at the same time gives you any color and type of commercial hair of your choice to play with.
With the tree braids, you can just 'get up and go' on days when you do not have a lot of time. You can flat iron, roller set and do a lot of things to it.

Hair Braider and Salon in Austin, TX

For those of you in Austin, TX or those who know people in Austin, here is your stylist and natural hair care specialist Nonye checking in. This is an open blog to discuss issues concerning braids, cornrows, twists, dreadlocks, etc. I operate a hair braiding business in Austin, TX.



So, please drop by whenever you like and holla at your girl. Better yet, check out http://www.nonyehairbraiding.com/ for galleries of my hair styles. I have pictures of hair styles ranging from tree braids to men's cornrows. You'll also find collections on feed-in cornrows, dreadlocks, sew-in weaves, etc.