Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The Finished Product

Full Sew-In With Lace Closure

I finished washing and stretching my natural hair, drove two hours, and arrived at the salon.

How to braid hair before a full sew-in with lace closureI've never been to a weave salon before, so The Weave Express was a new experience. I went on a Sunday which was by appointment only. There was a "weaver" and a "braider". They worked like an assembly line. A customer comes in and, depending on what kind of sew-in they're getting, the braider braids the hair in a style that suits the kind of sew-in she's getting and the weaver sews the weave. To thicken my braids, the braider added strands of braid hair to thicken and strengthen my braids for the sew-in. It took the braider about 20 to 30 minutes to completely braid my hair.

I'd recently seen an article discussing traction alopecia. Since I just had a full sew-in, I was a little worried about how the back to back braids and the pulling of the extensions would affect my hair. Unlike last time, the braider made my part and braided the front half of my hair down to the sides; then braided the hair in the back in a circle. The change in the direction of the braids was best for the health and safety of my hair so this put my mind at ease.

Full sew-in with lace closure and the Visso 100% human hair used
The hair I decided to buy was Visso, 100% human hair, Natural Yaky 10", 1B. I wanted to get a lighter brown but 1B was the color that best matched the closure. The weaving process was simple and quick. I liked having the protection of the net over my hair, so I got the net again. The most time-consuming part of the weaving process was sewing the closure down.

Overall, I'm more pleased with the results from this sew-in when compared to the results of my last sew-in. It's not that the last sew-in was bad, but my experience was not as customer friendly as I like for my experiences to be...ESPECIALLY considering what I paid! This time, Carla, my weaver, did an excellent job with the sew-in and the customer service was more than what I was expecting!

As I write this post, I've had the sew-in for 4 weeks. I can't do anything but love it! I opted for a shorter hairstyle because I had trouble keeping a "polished" look with the longer extensions. The longer hair rubbed against everything which made it frizz out often. It's winter, so (even with the tapered bob) coat collars give me the biggest trouble. I always have to have a mirror handy after I take off my coats to make sure my hair isn't looking crazy but that's such a small price to pay!

Full sew-in with lace closure cut into a tapered bob For night maintenance, I put a wrap cap on to hold the closure down and in place and cover the hair with my bonnet. In the morning, I flat iron the top layer of hair to get rid of the line created by the wrap cap. I might curl the ends if they get twisted around in the wrap cap but that's depending on where I'm going. Other than that, this hair is the definition of wear and go! I can see this sew-in lasting for 12 weeks.

UPDATE: One of my coworkers convinced me to try wrapping my sew-in at night. It was difficult at first, but once I got the hang of it I felt as if this would have extended the life of the hair. Putting so much heat on the hair early on may have warped the hair just a little bit, but you live and you learn!

I'm still taking Hairfinity. I've been taking them for about 6 months now. I talked about trying to measure the growth of my hair with the pills before getting another sew-in but we see that didn't happen. Be on the lookout for that post some time in the Spring.

My hair has grown already because the hair is starting to lift. I'm sure no one can tell but me but my edges (aka "baby hair") are all over the place! The hair is growing out from under the sew-in, mostly in the front and back. No amount of edge control can hold it down, so I don't use any. These are good "problems" to have so these things aren't complaints! I can also tell it's time for some sew-in home maintenance but I'm trying to hold off on on that. I'm not sure how I would maneuver around the closure and I definitely don't want to mess that up! I'm going to look up some techniques on YouTube to see what I can find, so that may be a post for a later date too (part 1 and part 2).

Sew-in #2; Like it?!


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15 comments

  1. Love this look on you! You're making me want a sew-in too!

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  2. Love this, very natural looking!

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  3. Loving the hair journey looks awesome :)

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  4. I love it! You're making me want to get a sew-in. I like how you added hair into the braids to reinforce the strength of your braids. I would have never thought of that. Looking forward to your maintenance post. :)

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  5. I love it, Mi. It looks super natural, which I think is most important when wearing weaves/wigs.

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  6. Your hair looks great! This is a very natural style on you. I think sew-ins can either look good or horrible. You, my friend, have nailed this look!

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  7. I love it! This style definitely suits you well. As for my journey, I ended up having to have a really big trim. I shudder to think what it looks like in a shrunken state. But anyhoo, I'm past that now and getting extension twists this weekend. My hair feels great though. Hopefully this protective style will prove good for me as yours is for you. :-)

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  8. I've always wanted to try a sew-in again...techniques have improved since tried one (a kitchen stylist...being cheap). Question: Did you purchase the hair and bring it with you or did the salon have options available for purchase? Just curious.

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  9. I've never tried a sew-in before (just quick weave) and this looks great! But I also look hella crazy with a lot of hair on my head...LOL! Looks really nice and low manipulation is always the best for growing hair.

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  10. Nice sew in lady. I really considering getting one. I am so in need of a protective style.

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    1. I would definitely look into getting one. Study the kind of style you want and make sure the person putting it in knows what they're doing! It's been great for me. The first experience...not so much...but it wasn't totally a bust! I learned a lot. My hair still grew so I can't be too upset. It's addictive though. I get the growth without having to put my hands in it. I love it!!

      Let me know if you try it!

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  11. The sewn-in looks good! Love the cut. I've always wanted to try one. #BLMGirl

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  12. What a post this is one! How to take care our hair care at low cost that's tell here with a great solution. So this is post different from other site to me. Thanks. See more This is our beautiful Brazilian Lace Closure lace closure It is 6A grade 100% Brazilian Hair. Brazilian lace closure is avail in Body Wave or Straight hair texture.

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  13. Thanks Kasi. It really was a help. I love giving my hair a break. That's when it seems to do it's most growing! You should give it a try!

    (Sorry for the delay! I usually comment using email addresses, but for those who I can't find email addresses for, I comment here. My comments weren't letting me reply so I've installed Disqus! I hope this message gets to you!)

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