Protective Styles: Weaves or Braids with Extensions???

So, I've only been transitioning for a couple months but I really would like to go a year (or more) before my big chop and I think that I'm going to need some long term protective styles every couple months just to give my hair a rest. Right now, I have about an inch of new growth (stretched) and 5+ inches of relaxed/texturized hair.

I'm trying to decide between a full head weave with curly extensions or some kind of twists with extensions... but am open to other suggestions too! So here are some of my questions and concerns.

• I definitely think I'm leading towards a weave and I want the hair to be curly and quality hair like from halleyscurls.com... the little research I've done, this seems to be quality hair. Would folks agree?
  
• I swim alot and it seems that swimming with a weave is frowned upon and wearing a swim cap is definitely discouraged. I really shouldn't wear a swim cap even if I wet and conditioned my hair and braided prior to putting on the swim cap??? Although swim caps are great to protect your hair, it also helps with how you move through the water so I'd like to still be able to wear one.
  
• Should I do a sew in or some other form of weaving method? I'm very concerned about making sure that my own hair is kept healthy but gets a rest from my transitioning too.
  
• Part of why I decided to go natural was because my hair was thinning... does weaving pull on your hair the way that braids do? I just don't feel like I can lose any more hair than I already have!
  
• So on to braids, I'm super concerned about braids pulling on my natural hair. It seems that shorter kinky twists or fluffy twists may be lighter on my hair? I know that if the braider does it too tight, that will be a culprit but are there braids/twists that are better for you if your concerned about hair pulling?
  
• And if you have any good salons and such for braids or weaves, I'd definitely love to hear about that too!!!
  

So I think that's all my questions for now. Any help is much appreciated!

Hi Jamaicamecurly,

I wore weaveS both full and partial during my first year of transition. I would have liked to wear braids yet my sides are thin and I did not want to lose anymore hair in this area. My last install was my first weave with curly hair and I loved it. I purchased it from Halleyscurls.com and you can view the pics below. After using this quality of hair, I will never rock a straight weave again. The texture I purchased blended well with my hair. I kept my sides out and some hair in the front.

Seek a stylist that will not braid your hair too tightly and always incorporate human braiding hair into your base braids to protect your hair during the sewing method. I wouldn't advise the bonding method because you're a swimmer.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thank you Hamptonfnst. I never would've thought to use human hair for the braids as well. Did you find that it caused your hair to dry out faster?

No, I feel secured to know that this added hair can help protect my hair from breakage and thinning during the braiding and sewing process.

Thanks so much @hamptonfest! That's exactly the information I was looking for!

That last install looks exactly like what I'm looking for!