Tree Braid Questions

Here is another question from one of my readers:

Question 1 : I saw these pictures on your blog. I really liked it and decided to get some but I wanted you to answer a few questions before I let someone (other then you) do my tree braids...

Question 2 :Are they hard to maintain?

No I think that they are quite easy to maintain. I tell my clients to wrap it at night and wash it ever 2 weeks or so with a waterless shampoo or sea breeze.

Question 3 : About How long do they take?

They take me approximately 4 hours

Question 4: What is the price range for tree braids?

Between $160-$200

Question 5 : Do you do them yourself?

Any braided style that you see on my blog or at http://www.kristenlock.com are done by me personally.

Does the hair cover up the braids so they are not seen?

Yes!

How many packs of Kanekalon hair should I use for my cornrows?

Question:

I am getting my hair braided with individuals in the back and a row of cornrows in the front. My head is big and I want to know how many packs of 100% kanekalon hair should I bring.

Answer:

If I did your hair and I was doing the feed in cornrows I would use 2-3 packs of hair.

What hair to use for tree braids

Jennifer's Question:

Do you still recommend free tress hair? How long can people leave it in, how does it do with regards to tangling and shedding? Is it true that you can't wash your hair at all while in the braids? And you can't go swimming, etc? You have to wash your scalp with dry shampoo and a wet cloth? I got braids, but I'm not understanding from my braider what to do, do I put things on the hair, oils, mousse, I'm clueless. Can you put hair products on fake hair?

I used Miss Willow Elements and my braider hates the hair, not how it looks, but just she said it took 7 hours to do instead of I guess 4 to 6 because of how hard it was for her to pull apart and that it tangles as she braids it and she kept saying her fingers hurt too much. She says I need to get human hair next time like Milky Way, but it is a lot more money so I wanted to know if I really need to buy more expensive hair or just a different brand of synth hair that maybe she never worked with or is it that I need a new tree braider?

Also, is it different for Caucasian hair? She said the larger braids were due to the synth hair I bought, which was thermofiber, not due to my hair being slippery, but I think that the no washing or swimming at all is from my hair being too slippery to hold the braid if I do anything that might disturb it. Also now she wants me take it out after only 4 weeks because she thinks this hair will be too tangly and make it too hard for her to remove it if I go longer and I wasn't expecting after spending a little over $200 to only have that carry me 4 weeks.

I do like the way it looks now and I like the big even curl of the deep wave hair, but I wonder if human hair will soften the look up for me too much next time and also cost me a fortune.

If you do buy more expensive human hair for tree braids can you reuse it? I would think the hair would be in a tangly mess after being all braided up for weeks plus wouldn't it be kind of yucky at some point if I'm not ever supposed to wash it and plus it is summer right now so at some point on some days I'm sweating?

Am wondering if you know of any brands that truly don't tangle that I could use next time human or synth? I was wondering if you have you worked with the pro 10 brandy hair for tree braiding? And I guess there is no way to do any regular swimming with a swim cap with this hair style? Someone else suggested a wig if I want to go swimming, but how can my own hair grow with a wig glued to my head and wouldn't that begin to itch even more? I could see if I had chemo and was bald, but I do have hair so I'm not sure how the whole wig idea would work for long as at some point I'm going to have longer hair and it would get bumpy I would think and hot and sweaty and itchy. But it sounded good that you can swim, wet it, etc compared to what I'm being told now with my tree braids.

Kristen Lock's Answer:

WOW is all I can say... I am going to do my best to answer Jennifer's question if I miss a question I am going to apologize in advance. Well first I would like to say that I do still recommend the free tress hair for tree braids as I know it to be a great alternative to human hair. However the texture of hair DOES matter. Some of the free tress hair is too curly to be used and would cause your stylist to be very frustrated! I know because I have been there. When using synthetic hair for tree braids you want to make sure that the curl pattern you use is a loose one that will not tangle easily when separated. I do recommend the brandy pro 10 hair as well. I have had many clients who enjoy its versatility.

I do not encourage anyone to NOT was their hair. I think that that is just bad hygiene. I mean really your scalp is part of your body, and you wouldn't (well maybe I should say shouldn't you never know these days) not wash your face for 4 weeks right? well your scalp should get the same treatment. I say to wash it every other week . And yes you can use the waterless shampoos to help with cleaning between washings. I think that is a great idea.

Yes you can put products on the fake hair. You might want to stay away from products for the synthetic hair as there can be some adverse affects. If any of the products cause the hair to do anything that you don't want just wash them out! Not I don't mean get in the shower and was your natural hair, just wash the artificial hair and get the product out of it. I recommend my clients to do this all the time. It may not be time to wash your natural hair but the fake hair might stink! so wash it, and as long as you are not getting your natural hair wet it will not cause your hair to loosen prematurely.

As for the larger braids, I can bet that the larger braids are due to your braiders frustration with the hair that you brought. It was hard to separate so she wanted to speed up the process so she made the parts thicker thus making the braids bigger. She could have made the braids as small as she does with human hair, but it would have taken her even longer then the 7 hours she had already spent on your hair so to speed up the process she made bigger braids. You can't really blame her too much. She put you in a 4 hour slot and it took 7. She might have had another client waiting. She should have charged you more and took her time and done them the way you wanted.

As for the $200 bill she gave you... I think that if your braids were large then that price is a bit much. Did she put individuals in the back at least?

No you can't reuse the hair for tree braiding.

Well I hope I answered most of your questions.

How to curl the ends of Kinky twists with a string

I was about to film a quick video on how to curl the ends of kinky twists and then I thought to look it up on YouTube to see if someone has already done it and I found it. I have lots of people ask me how to do it so I wanted to make sure that I let you all see how it is done.

Also one of the great things about curling the hair this way is that you don't just have to do it with the kinky twists! Here is a picture of me with micro braids curled with a string.

Tree braider in NY

Question:

Hi Kristen,

I found your website in my search for tree braids. I have never done the style before, but I am interested in trying it, as it seems to be a different look from braids, and probably takes less time. Do tree braids in fact take less time? I wear my hair pretty short, and the texture is fine, is tree braiding a style you would recommend for someone like me? You do such a wonderful job with your styles, are you located in the NY area? If not, can you suggest somewhere in NY where they do a great job with tree braids? Your response would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

Kristen Lock's answer:
Yes tree braids do take less time then most other braided styles. Tree braids can take anywhere between 2-4 hours to complete. The length of your hair is not a problem. As long as your hair is long enough to be cornrowed then it is long enough to tree braid. As for the texture of your hair, you just need to find a braider who knows how to braid fine hair. There is a different technique braiders use when cornrowing fine hair. As for a tree braider in NY... I don't know... But if you are a tree braider in NY email me your information and I can forward it on to the hundreds of new yorkers who ask me if I know anyone in NY who can tree braid. I hope I answered all of your questions!

Nafy Collection Hair and Masterpiece hair for kinky twists

Nicole's question:

I wanted to know were can i get the Nafy Collection or the Masterpiece Hair at for getting Kinky Twist?

I get the Nafy hair from:

http://nafycollection.ecrater.com/

As for the Masterpiece my clients provide their own hair but when they do come they say that they get it from their local beauty supply store.

Nicole wrote:

Thank you for the fast reply
One more thing What is the difference in the two hairs?

Kristen Lock's answer:

Nafy hair is softer and makes the twist look neater. The pack comes with more hair in it then the Masterpiece. The Nafy also costs about $1 or $2 more. When I do my own I use Nafy. I guess I am a bit bias =)

Why does Kristen Lock like His and her brand hair?

Brittany's Question:

What kind of hair do you think is the best to get when trying to achieve the wet and wavy sort of curly hair look when doing tree braids? What exact type and brand.

This is the link to the hair that I think is the best:

http://www.hisandher.com/hair_extensions/shop/braiding/european_wave/50_italian_mink_european_wave_for_braiding/main_002/sub_004/1/details.html

If you don't want to pay for this one I would recommend this one:

http://www.hisandher.com/hair_extensions/shop/braiding/european_wave/regular_european_wave_for_braiding/main_002/sub_004/2/details.html

The reason I like this hair so much is because the quality of hair that you get for the price is great. If you go to your local beauty supply store you will get hair that is inferior in quality and the price will be just as much or maybe even more. Basically you can get the his and her hair including the shipping fees for less then the hair you would get at the local beauty supply store, and the hair quality will be better! Times are hard so save your money and get quality hair at hisandher.com

Where to get Tree braiding DVD

Question:

I would like to purchase your DVD when it comes out where can I get it?

Kristen Lock's answer:

I must say that my DVD is one of my greatest works. I am so proud of the quality and clarity of each step. That is why I am proud to let you know that you can purchase the DVDs at http://www.kristenlock.com/store

ENJOY!

Milky way Water wave Bulk 18 inches

Reader wrote:

This is just too beautiful!!! you always do a marvelous job with your clients!!! You are very gifted!!!
This is what I want to do using this type of curly hair. It just looks very human and natural. What type of human hair did you use? Can you also buy a human hair for weaving and cut it to use it for braids ? Sorry for all these questions but I never had tee braids before.

Kristen Lock's answer:

You could buy hair on a track and then cut it, but it is just easier to buy it already off the track. I used Milky way Water wave Bulk 18 inches

Yvonne's question:

Hello Kristin, I've been admiring your tree braiding work, I wish I was in the area since I know you do a good job according to your pictures. I was wondering about the hair from the (hisandhers) website, does it stand up well over time?Have you had any problems?


Kristen Lock's answer:
I really like the hair! I have never had any problems with it. I only recommend what I like and what I know works. But remember the more you pay for the hair the better the quality and the longer it will last. If you are getting the tree braids I would suggest you not spend too much on the hair as the hair will not be able to be reused. I hope this helps.


Yvonne's response:

Thank You!! I really appriciate your input and advice.

So what are individual tree braids/lacing

Question from a glorious reader of my blog!
Delma wrote:

"Hello... I was wondering if you had the time, could you give me a brief description if what lacing braids are? Or the process?"

Kristen Lock's answer:

Well lacing is just like micro braids however you pull a little hair out of the braid. So you attach the artificial hair and braid down a few strokes and then you pull some hair out of the braid. Then you braid down about 2 strokes and then you braid a bit more. You continue this pattern until you have the desired amount of hair out of the braid. Then you braid down to the end of the clients hair and close the braid by tying it or sealing it with glue. I hope this helps you!




Delma wrote:

Thank you very much..But I guess I'm still a little confused. I guess a better question would be what is the benefit of getting lacing apposed to micros? Does it require less time?

Kristen Lock's answer:

No it takes a little longer but it gives the appearance of a full weave from far away. You can style the hair in ways that you can't do with

Question from Charity:

How many packs of hair are usually required for tree braids? About how long does it take to do tree braids? I know it depends alot on the thickness and length of someone's hair but an average time would be great.

Kristen Lock's answer:

You will need 2 packs of hair for tree braids. It takes between 3-5 hours to complete depending on how small you would like the braids to be.

What lenght of hair to use

One of my amazing readers Elizabeth emailed this question to me and I thought that I should share it with you all as this is a question that I often get from readers.

Elizabeth wrote:

Hi, I was looking at some pictures of your wet and wavy tree braids. I wanted to know what length of hair did you use?
Thank you!


Kristen Lock's answer
24 inches