Finally got my braids!

FINALLY! I got my braids, but not the Senegalese twists that I really, REALLY wanted. They only cost $200 at the African hair braiding shop. O.o So with my finances not cooperating I started to think of alternatives. The goal after all was to get a protective style for these harsh winter months that are upon us midwest living folks. I follow 4c Natural Hair Chicks page on Facebook and it was on their page that they had a post about crochet braids. Crochet braids have been around since the 90’s, and I got them for the first time in 2000. back then you used braided synthetic hair and simply crochet it into your hair. My sister in law taught herself how to do them and I was her guinea pig. She did a great job! I had short ones that were cut into a cute bob, and then the second time she did them they were long down my back. I haven’t had the crochet style braids since 2001.

I’m not exactly sure when crochet braids made a comeback or if they were ever out of style, but on the 4c Natural Hair Chicks page they showed how instead of using the already braided hair, women are simply using kinky, curly, wavy or any unbraided hair they desired and used the same crochet method. Do you know what this means? The hundreds of dollars spent going to a shop and the hours spent at the shop are over!!! You can get the same look you want for much, much less and in half the time!! There were so many women who posted pictures of their crochet braid styles and I was simply AMAZED that they were crochet braids, and many of them did their hair themselves! There was a woman who used afro kinky hair and she looked like she had a beautiful afro. It looked so real and gorgeous. They were crochet braids. It was amazing. So of course I showed these pictures to my sister in law and told her “I want this!” Being the sweetheart she is she did my hair Thursday night. It took 5 hours versus 8 or 12 at a shop, and the cost? Not even $20.00 for the hair! What made me laugh was one woman on the FB page said she went to a shop and asked how much it would cost for the crochet style using the hair she wanted and the stylist told her $142.00! She said she laughed and walked out of the shop. Why pay that much when there’s a zillion YouTube how-to video’s that can show you how to do just about anything yourself? The money you save doing it yourself or having a friend or family member do it is bonkers!

Trust me, I appreciate having professionally braided hair. I will gladly pay for neat, beautiful work when it comes to having my hair done at the shop. However…..when my money is funny I will do the next best thing, and right now that’s crochet braids. They are neat, my sister in law did not braid my hair tight nor did she crochet the hair tightly into my hair. I have no pounding headache and no need to pop some Advil. AND, with this new way of doing the crochet braids it’s not so obvious that you have the crochet braids like it was years ago where you could see the rows of crochet braids. That was the equivalent of having your tracks show with your sew in weave. Not cute. Also, you can still achieve whatever look you want using whatever type of synthetic or human hair that you choose.

The take away for me is don’t be afraid to explore other hair options. For months I was hell bent on dropping $200 for my Senegalese twists that I didn’t think about any other options or solutions. Little did I know that people are even crocheting Senegalese twists into their hair and achieving the same look! When your money is funny there are always other options, CHEAPER options that can give you the same look you want. Who knows, later on when my finances are looking better I may still go to an African hair braiding shop and get my hair professionally braided. I will never rule that out as an option, but until then I’ve found the next best thing.

Please feel free to post your comments and “like” this post if your heart so desires. Thank you! 🙂