Frequently Asked Questions: All you ever wanted to know about braids and dreadlocks! Pictures included! ;o)

When I returned home from South Africa, I was still wearing braids and since this was something people could see and touch, I got lots of questions about my hairstyle. So, I decided to compile this little FAQ about braids (and dreadlocks, although I'm not quite an expert in that, you have to ask Tobi if you want to know more!) that will hopefully answer all your questions!

Q: Why did you decide to have braids?
A: Why not? This is a popular hairstyle among Africans and many people can make braids! I decided to change my look and try out how I look with braids. Also, this was a small surprise to my friends and family at home - I stopped sending them pictures of myself after I had the braids done. So they were quite surprised when they came to meet me at the airport!

Q: Where did you do the braids, in a saloon?
A: No, not in a saloon - my braids and Tobi's dreadlocks were done by the sister of Mr Matwa (Thabs), the mathematics teacher at school. It was done in his house (see the photo on the left).

Q: How much did it cost?
A: I won't tell you exactly, but it was much cheaper than to have it done in Europe. Besides, because we knew Thabs, it was even cheaper for us.
Q: How long did it take to make the braids?
A: Altogether it took 7 hours for the braids and 9 hours for the dreadlocks. So, we spent the whole weekend at Thabs's place. One morning we almost woke up his family, because we came so early and we thought that they must be really fed up with us. We started with the braids on Friday evening and finished when about 1/3 of it was done - it was quite late already and besides, we discovered that there were not enough hair extensions. So, I had to drive to Cape Town on Saturday morning with half of my hair done and bought more extensions. We continued Saturday morning and by the afternoon my hair was done. Tobi's hairstyle was started Saturday evening. When we continued Sunday morning, we discovered again that there were not enough dreadlocks - luckily we didn't have to drive to Cape Town to get them, but found a shop in Khayelitsha that sold them. Tobi's hairstyle was finished on Sunday night. When we appeared at school with our new hairstyles Monday morning, we got lots of attention and everyone was pleasantly surprised!

Q: Did it hurt?
A: Not really, at least not as much as I expected! Of course some hair breaks in the process of braiding, but this is inevitable. It took a few days to get used to the hairstyle, because the hair was quite heavy.

Q: What about the extensions?
A: Some people actually thought all this was my own hair! Well, we used 9 packets of artificial hair! The shop where I bought the extensions from, sold mostly black hair (obviously!), but there were some blond extensions as well. The colour I chose was a bit darker than my own hair, the tone was called 'golden'.

Q: How did you wash your hair?
A: This was a bit of a problem, I have to admit. The first time I tried to wash only my head, not the hair, but during the process, all the braids got wet and as a result became very heavy. I woke up with a headache the next morning! I was wiser next time.

Q: How long did you wear the braids?
A: Altogether about 4-5 weeks (of which 2 weeks in Africa). Then it didn't look so nice any more - my own hair started to come out in some places and my hair was actually growing (surprisingly!). Also, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't get the braids off if I kept them longer. Another thing - because the scalp gets dry, you get dandruff...

Q: How many braids did you have?
A: I have no idea. I didn't count them. ;o)

Q: How did you get the braids off and how long did it take?
A: Taking off the braids was surprisingly easy. It only took about an hour. I had 2 helpers though - thanks Adam and Tiina! ;o)

Q: Did you lose a lot of hair?
A: Not really, I feared much worse. I didn't really notice a difference between before and after. Tobi however, said that he lost some hair and had to cut it.

Q: Did you keep the braids?
A: Yes, I did.

Q: Will you do the braids again? If so, when?
A: Maybe. When I go to Africa next time! ;o)

Q: What about the dreadlocks - how were they made, were they extensions, how long did it take, did it hurt etc?
A: The dreadlocks were attached to Tobi's own hair. It took 9 hours. Tobi says it hurt only when Mr Matwa's sister accidentally poked his head with the needle while stitching the dreadlocks to his head! ;o) Tobi had a bit of a problem with the dreadlocks - some of them fell off after a few days. So he had to go back to fix them.

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A couple of amusing incidents related to the hairsyles
Generally, Tobi and I experienced that once we had our new hairstyles, we got more attention and more people approached us and talked to us, which was fun! And consequently, I opened up more to people! I also felt different with braids- I felt more free and Tobi said I didn't look so serious! And I think that Tobi also looked cool! He was addressed 'Yo, rastaman!' quite frequently. We were sure that he would be searched for drugs by the customs when entering Germany - luckily he wasn't, but instead I was taken aside by the Estonian customs for some questions.
I remember when we went to the Freshlyground concert in Khayelitsha with our new hairstyles - we were driving the Beetle and we really looked like hippies! It was so much fun!

Generally, people told me that I looked good with braids. Some people had doubts if I would be able to get them off without cutting my own hair or even shaving my head!
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Hopefully this little FAQ answered all possible questions about braids and we can leave that topic aside for a while! ;o)Close window