Phenomenal . . .

Phenomenal . . .
Life, Growth, and Connection (This sunflower was nourished by my hands.) 2010; Photography by Benita Blocker. Please become a follower of this blog.

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Showing posts with label invisible braid styling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label invisible braid styling. Show all posts

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Invisible braid styling

For this Invisible braid styling, I used Janet New Yaky Straight Hair. You must leave some your relaxed/texturized hairline out. A hairstylist such as myself will have to perform the haircut. Braiders just put the hair in.
You can see the braids at the roots. Your hair gets blended in! I do suggest that you get your hair shampooed, treated/conditioned, blow-dried, and flat ironed/straightened before getting any invisible braid service. Why? When your hair is not flat ironed/straightened, it looks thicker and is essentially less condensed. The braider seems to pickup less of your hair as she is braiding and more of the extension hair. The extra weight of the extension hair on the less condensed strands of your own individual hair can cause breakage. You will be able to feel the heaviness from day one. If it is heavy from the first day, then you need to get them removed within a month. That seems like a expensive hairdo right? Yes. So I strongly suggest straightening your hair first to condense the strands so that more of your hair is in each individual plait. The hair should not feel heavy if less of the extension hair is attached to your own hair.
For this invisible braid styling, I used Boyhme Remi 20 inch Natural Wave hair (around $100 per pack) on top and front. I used Enstyle French Refined Wet and Wavy in the back. Yes. I was trying to save some money . .
My hair is not fully relaxed; I keep it texturized because I want to maintain the strength of the hair. The braiding process can be stressful to already weak hair. Invisible braids is not suggested for completely natural hair either. Because your hair is partly loose and mixed in . . . you do not want to have different textures showing up within your hair style. You can see the braids at the roots. I still recommend flat ironing/straightening the hair first before getting "wet and wavy" hair extensions as well. You may be asking why straighten hair if you are planning to re-wet it anyway? Again, you want more of your "condensed" hair to go into each individual braid in order to support the weight of the hair extensions. Once you wet the style, your straight hair will definitely blend in. Invisible braids are great to allow the hairline to rest. Just twist set the front hairline into the wet and wavy hair; then just watch it grow. You can keep it moisturized and oiled with VO5 conditioning hairdress and Carefree Curl instant Moisturizer. (See my separate article on "containing curly hair") These simple "old school" products seem to not weigh the hair down and seem to nourish the hair while sporting the braided extension style.
The invisible braids look like strand to strand, but there is no adhesive nor glue involved. My braider that I use charges around $150 Labor only and takes about six hours on average. I have to cut and thin out the final hairstyle for my individual, personalized look.


Friday, August 6, 2010

High Demand; Low Hair Supply

This invisible braids service cost $150 labor. The market value for the human hair (Janet) is $54.99 per pack. Two packs of hair required. I cut and styled the hair myself. (Hairstylist: Benita Blocker)

The price of commercial human hair is skyrocketing!

I just had invisible braids done. Luckily, I had left over human braiding hair which I paid $26.99 per pack. I found out that today's market price for the same pack of hair is $54.99. The price of hair has doubled in 10 years.

There are a few things in my mind that has doubled in ten years: gasoline for the car, human hair, paper products and food?

I think the demand for commercial human hair is much larger than the supply. Either people are going to be forced to buy less quality hair or GROW their own!

I suggest that people invest more into higher quality hair products; learn to be patient with the roller sets, and keep it simple. These tips will keep the length on your hair!

For the smart investor, I suggest stocking up on high quality 100% human hair and hold on to it for about 5 years. You may double your money if you can find a buyer.

It is like diamonds. They are worth a lot of money to somebody. You just have to find the right somebody.