Miki Ahmed-Jefferson with synthetic braids woven into her own hair. Happy to be nappy Deborah Williams, a professor of cosmetology and department chairperson at the School of Cosmetology and Barbering at Florida Community College at Jacksonville, teaches many of the techniques of the ethnic styles of locks and braids in her classes and has suggestions for people interested in them for the first time. Foremost is research. Do your homework ahead of time concerning what goes into each style, and especially which practitioner you will choose.
Web sites abound.
Get on the Internet, call around, visit salons and talk to other customers. Finding the practitioner for you is always the hard part, said Chantay Jones, a chief in the Navy who was having long, glistening extensions braided into her hair at Happy 2B Nappy. Too-tight braids can cause headaches and lead to hair loss. Many other things can go wrong in the hands of an unqualified person. It's word of mouth and talking to people,'' she said.