Wednesday, November 9
Today was the day I got my hair braided. Once I knew Delali had a hair shop, I went there to watch her put some locks into someone’s hair last week. This is pics of that…
Delali suggested that I get my hair braided while I’m here. So I thought more about it and asked her a bunch of questions and decided, why not? You only live once, and if I don’t do it while I’m in Ghana, I probably wouldn’t ever do it. So Tuesday morning we went to pick out the different hair colors we were going to use. I picked two natural looking colors that they blended together, and I picked teal for my fun color. So they blended all of them together to make it look more natural, which is in this video.
This is what the hair looks like when it's mixed together.
They got started braiding my hair at about 9am. The main girl who did it, her name is Forgive, has been doing this since 2007. This video shows how she actually puts the weave in with my natural hair.
These are a few pics throughout the 7-hour long process, for those interested.
I took some Advil before I went to the salon because I thought it would hurt. And I’m honestly glad I did! It took seven hours to get my hair done. By the end the Advil had worn off and I could definitely feel more pulling pain in my on my scalp. It wasn’t terribly bad but it was just uncomfortable. So while Forgive was leaving the hair, there were other girls doing things like finishing the braiding and trimming the strands for stray hairs. There were other processes that went into it too. They had to cut the ends off of it and they then put some stuff on it like conditioner and olive oil to set it, I guess. But literally I got there at 8 AM and I did not leave there until 4 PM. What a process! The total cost was 355 GHS which is about US$30. It was an interesting experience and I’m so glad I’ve done it! I really like my new hair. I think it should stay in up till like six weeks. So I will take it out probably then. That’s my goal anyway. It’s all about whether I can get used to it.
Update: After having had my hair in my for a few days, it is very heavy and my scalp itches. But it doesn’t really hurt. I went back to the shop on Tuesday (about a week after I got it done) because the itching got worse over the weekend. So I did some googling and talked to Delali about it. She said I should buy some oil spray that they sell at a cosmetics shop here (same place I bought the weave), that would get rid of the itching. It’s got jojoba oil in it. I took it back to the shop and Forgive washed my scalp with shampoo and water, and then she sprayed that oil all over it, then massaged it. It burned for about 30 minutes or so, but then when it calmed down, the itching was gone. Thank God!!!
I am still trying to get used to my hair because it feels like I have a new appendage. I have to work with it to get comfortable with it. But I love my new hair!
These are pics of the 5 women who did my hair, and my Ghanaian bestie, Delali, who owns the shop.
These are just some pics of my new hair!
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