The Best Style To Stretch Hair and Keep it Detangled is...

Cornrows.

As you all know, I just recently put in some mini twists. The style took FOREVER--16 hours to be exact. And the reason I feel it took so long is because I still had a lot of detangling to do.

The last time I tackled mini twists the process went by so much faster. Of course my hair was a little shorter then and the twists were a little larger. However, I did not have to detangle any parts of my hair when I did that set. And the reason is because I had just taken my hair out of some cornrows.

Cornrows really do eliminate tangles. The reason for this is...in order to properly cornrow the hair you must take it strand by strand and smooth each section before connecting it to the next. This really ensures that you catch any tangles that may be in your hair.

In addition to the elimination of tangles, cornrows also provide a great stretch for the hair. I like to stretch my hair before putting it in mini twists. Of course, some people use other methods such as blowing out the hair, banding, etc. But, I feel that cornrows (or braids) are the safest way to go. It helps to eliminate stress to the hair and decreases your chance of breakage or damage.

So, now that I have compared the two. I feel 110 % sure that cornrows are a much better method of keeping the hair stretch and detangled rather than the individual braids.

Hair Today: Prepping My Hair for Mini Twists

 This is my hair after I put the individual braids in (Wednesday).

This is my hair today (Thursday). I plan on taking the braids out tonight and put in the mini twists.

So, I have decided to put some mini-twists in my hair tonight. I plan on doing an all nighter immediately after I get off work. I am hoping to be finished with my hair no later that 2:00 AM. I have been feening for some mini twists for about 3 weeks now. But, life has been getting in the way of those plans. So, I decided that no matter what I was going to put this set of mini twists in my hair this week.

I prepped my hair on Tuesday by doing the following:
1. I shampooed with one of my sister's sulfate free shampoo bars. *review coming soon*
2. I then oil rinsed using a 50:50 mixture of castor oil and EVOO
3. I then deep conditioned with Suave Naturals in Coconut for 30 minutes.
4. I rinsed the conditioner out and generously applied Extra Virgin Coconut oil to my entire head.
5. I then put some individual braids all over my head (I applied EVCO to each section) so that my hair could have a little stretch with the mini twists.
6. I wore the individual braids in an updo yesterday and today.

Individual Braids (Extensions)

Really, I am not one for extensions or weaves (for me, not judging anyone else). But, I have to admit that I am really digging the sorta comeback of long individual extension braids. I was looking in the Glamour magazine for this month and this photo of this beautiful lady rocking individual braids in a top bun was simply GORGEOUS to me!

These are the pictures from Glamour magazine (April 2011 issue)

It had me searching the internet for more pictures of individual braid extensions. And below are just a few that I am really digging--some are old and some are new.

Honestly, I don't think I will be rocking the individual braids because my hair can't take that kind of tension and pressure. My hair loves loose, no-pressure styles. And it was the picture below that stopped me from ever considering rocking the extension braids. 

That pressure on the edges just puts fear in me.

But, you never know...Maybe some day in the faaaar future I'll be able to rock the look with my natural hair:-)