Is My Daughter to Young to Wear Extensions in Her Hair + What is the Proper Age For Extensions

I get this question a lot.  "IS MY DAUGHTER TO YOUNG TO GET EXTENSIONS??"

Let me say this in writing! Not me, or anyone else can tell you if your child is to young for extensions. If you feel as a parent the best hair care for your child would be to have individual braids, cornrows or twists in her hair, by all MEANS, have some extensions put in her hair!  Now, if you are talking about a baby or a child that is a toddler, I wouldn't advise it.  But again, it is your child, and you should know what is best for her.

On another note, Black women as a whole will never deny the convenience of forsaking the daily routine of constant manipulation to our hair.  Not to mention how the extensions protect our ends from damage.  Why would you not want this for your daughter's hair? 

However with a child there are more things to consider when deciding to have extensions added to her hair.  One, how thin is her hair?  Two, how fragile is her hair?  The younger the child is, the thinner her hair is. And the older she gets the texture will change, hopefully becoming much thicker. Remember, with most children up until the point of puberty their hair is thinner and fragile and can break and get damaged more easily from the stress of extensions.  Even though this is a hair reality for a lot of children, it is not the reality for all.  I have added extensions in little girls hair as young as two years old, because their hair was thick enough, and healthy enough to handle the extensions.  I have cornrowed little girls hair as young as one year old because their hair was healthy enough to manage the style.  So, again, it would depend on the parent, and the state of the child's hair.

My opinion is, if you don't feel comfortable with having extensions in your baby girl's hair, a great way to get the same look is to braid, cornrow or twist her hair,  just as you would with extensions.  Her hair will still be protected, and the style will promote growth.  When all is said and done, age is just a number.  The appropriate age for extensions is, who really knows???

Tips For Removing Braids + Twists From Your Natural Hair

When removing your extensions be sure to cut the installed hair at least a half inch or more below your own hair and take down with the use of a rat tail comb from the end of the braid to the root. Be gentle when removing the extensions, depending on how long the braids have been in, you can cause some unnecessary hair loss by ripping and tugging to hard.  When uninstalling the hair, you might notice a gathering of product, dirt and lent all mixed together at the base of the hair or along the hair shaft. This is nothing to worry about.  This is a normal occurrence if you keep extensions in for any length of time.  If this happens, you can use an oil and conditioner mixture to loosen the hair that is matted starting from the roots to your ends.

After uninstalling your entire head, on a fully detangled head of hair, shampoo, condition and comb through your hair using a wide tooth comb.  Add a generous amount of deep conditioner to your hair. It can be leave-in or wash out. Now you are ready for a new hairstyle... even more braids or twists!

Signals That Your Individual Braids or Twists Are to Tight

After years of self styling, and styling others hair, here are some very important thing that I've learned during my journey of wearing, and installing extensions to promote healthy hair.

There are some stylist that will style you completely BALD! There are several things that come to mind when I think about installation techniques.

1. TENSION AND EDGE CARE
Some stylists are heavy handed, in which they use entirely too much tension on the hair, pulling it away from the scalp when braiding and twisting as if this is going to make the hairstyle more spectacular.  This is a major assault on the hair follicles and can lead to traction alopecia and even permanent hair loss. It is sad to say that this happens more often than I would like to say. 

Here are some signals to let you know that your braids are too tight.

1. If you have a headache after installation. This definitely should not happen. However, it can happen if you are extremely tender-headed.

2.  If you have little bumps or redness around your hair line or general scalp areas causing discomfort, tingling or itching. Those are inflamed or irritated hair follicles.

3. If you notice a nice amount of white bulbs around your hair line or general scalp area, that is being caused by infected hair follicles.

4. If your face and hairline have you looking like you have had plastic surgery because your braids are so tight, this should never, ever happen.  **This is when you call me to book an appointment. **

REASONS FOR GETTING EDGES RE-BRAIDED AFTER A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME

New growth can get ridiculous, real fast! There are times when you don't have time to uninstall and reinstall the entire set of braids, or twists.  No worries, the first two rows can always be re-braided/twisted.  Re-braiding the edges gives the look of newly braided head of hair.  And no one is the wiser that you only did the first two rows.  

This maintenance practice saves you time, and money.  After taking out the edges, be sure to detangle and deep condition before getting the braids redone.  Your edges are already fragile, so be sure to give them a little LOVE.  Doing this can make a protective hairstyle last a lot, lot longer.  i.e. a style can last for two months instead of one.

Need a touch up on those edges, be sure to contact Mosci at 619.642.9382!  Or book your appointment online by clicking here.