I'm baack & my first visit to the salon for the year!

I am so glad to be back on my blog, I had really missed this part of my life - life and exams took over so I had to prioritize. Thankfully I had crochet braids installed in my hair before the crazy schedule started, so my hair was well protected. And I kept on track with the castor oil scalp massages, since I had joined the Hairlista castor oil challenge (advanced level if I remember correctly).

Anyway, I did not have the time to watch Youtube videos and learn how to cornrow and crochet my hair. So I took a leap of faith and went to the salon for the first time since I started my hair journey...

For the ladies in Kenya, I went to AfroSiri Salon in Westlands.

I was immediately served (which was awesome), and the first thing the lady asked me is whether she should wash my hair. Off course I said no, after which she asked if she should blow dry my hair.. Immediately I said no and that I wanted my hair to be cornrowed without the use of heat to straighten my hair. She was very polite and understanding and she went on to detangle my hair after applying some of the moisturizer that I carried with me to the salon.

I had removed my Marley braids the week before, and I missed a few knots that were still in my hair after I washed and deep conditioned it. She was very gentle and when she reached a knot or a section with a lot of new growth, she used her hands to detangle. At this point I had forgiven her in my mind for wanting to blow dry my hair...

She was very surprised that I didn't blow dry my hair with all the new growth it had, but she also acknowledged that I looked like someone who knows how to care for hair.

She then plaited my hair in cornrows, and I asked her to apply oil (which I also carried from home) to the ends of the plaits which she did very well. She was very gentle and I didn't feel like she was pulling my hair.

Then the real work began, crocheting in those Marley braids piece by piece took some time, and then setting them in perm rods took some more time (about 3 hours in total for this process). The Marley hair had to be brushed out before she could set the hair with perm rods. At this point I was so happy that I made the decision to go to the salon, honestly I underestimated the time needed to do this style.

Before:

After:

I left the salon pretty late, but very happy with the service I received. I would recommend this salon to anyone who is looking for a new stylist/ salon.

This protective style has been awesome, no need for styling when its' in curls, and super easy access to your scalp for oil massages and for moisturizing the cornrows. I had the braids in for 5 weeks. I washed my hair once and cleaned my scalp in between using the ORS Herbal Dry shampoo. So it is not a show stopper when it comes to taking care of your hair underneath all the crochet braids.

Here are a few different styles I tried while I had my crochet braids:

Have you ever done crochet braids, and what was your experience?

 

P.S. Mini length-check post coming soon...