I recently had a hair experiment gone right that I wanted to share. I have been experimenting with Ghana Plaits (African Hair Threading) on my daughter for a while now. One day, I had an urge to try it on myself. For the first time in almost 6 years of being natural, I finally found a way to style my thick hair into a bun!
Below is a video of my first attempt at creating a bun using the Ghana Plait technique. This style requires weave thread. I also used Kinky Curly Knot Today Leave-In conditioner and Curls Brand Goddess Curls Gel. I kept this style up for 1 week (although I am sure that it would have lasted longer). I was very pleased with the results!
When I decided to try the Ghana Plaits, I was motivated by a second reason – it’s a great way to stretch your hair! Here is my hair after I removed my Ghana Plait Bun and thread:
I like stretching my hair out this way better than doing the braid method, because it requires less combing. I do not like to use combs on my hair when it is dry.
What say you? Will you try the Ghana Plaits method?
I want to try this on my hair but I want to know what kind of thread to use. It is strange that in my country (Trinidad and Tobago) no one ever did these plaits although our heritage is African.
I want to try this on my hair but I want to know what kind of thread to use. It is strange that in my country (Trinidad and Tobago) no one ever did these plaits although our heritage is African.
@Anonymous 6:12 pm, that is the video that I watched to learn how to do this style. Her tutorial is excellent. I don't know how they got the name "Ghana Plaits." I just used the same name that she used in that video tutorial.
Thanks everyone for the feedback and comments!
love it! im zambian n this brought back memories for me my mum used to thread my hair all the time when i was younger n my hair flourished so i revisited it a while ago due to this youtube post http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG2Kn2GznMY its a great protective style, it reminds me that sometimes we shouldnt be quick to reject old methods :)lol at calling it ghanian plaits though i seriously wonder how it got that name hhhmmmmm
Yea I definitely agree with most of the comments: I was shocked when I read the title. I am Nigerian and I wondered how it got the name "Ghana Plaits". I guess know at least the people who read this will know, but spread the word, especially since it is done all over Africa.
The style does look really nice and you can get even more creative as I have seen and my mom has done on my hair. It's a great protective style and easy to take out and have stretched, untangled hair.
OMG! This brings back memories. My parents are from Ghana and I used to have these "Ghana Plaits" (we call them threading) on my hair. It was a great way to stretch hair and retain length. I might have to revisit this now that I am natural again after ten years of getting relaxers. Oh how I love Ghana! lol
Thanks for the comments & replies. I love reading a bit of the history of this style. I have been doing it on my daughter's hair and thought that I'd try it on my own hair – so far it's the only way to wear my hair in a bun. Some of you mentioned getting funny looks, people actually thought that my hair was twisted – no funny looks. Thanks again!
@anon 10.51 I'm british Ghanaian and I totally agree with you. I chuckled when I saw the title. We call it threading and this style's worn all over west africa lol It's very good for stretching hair my mum used to use this method everytime she washed my hair when I was young
I love this! My grandmother used to do this for me when I was a kid (i actually hated it back then) but it did wonders for my hair. I can't wait to show her this, she will be laughing for days. I am also a Ghanaian American.
@Anon 11:41pm. Absolutely not. It is one of the safest styles to do. As the other Anons above, I'm Nigerian and remember threading my hair. I wore it for 2 weeks at a time, and my hair grew long. I wish I could wear it now that I'm older, but I really can't deal with the heads turning for it, lol. But here's a nice tip for anyone who wants to take it on. You can thread the hair and wear in under a wig, massive hair growth coming your way.
Wouldn't the thread cut the hair? I have never seen this before and I am just asking.
Hi LV!!! This is beautiful!!! 🙂
lool. this really made me laugh. im not making a statement of opinion about them but many Ghanaians in Ghana would be horrified to know that its being called "ghana plaits" abroad. Its associated with "village life" and not worn in public above a certain age (however problematic you want to argue that is). We just call it threading or "ahorma" (meaning thread). Just an fyi for those who call it "Ghana braids".
I'm Ghanaian American myself. I used to get these done by my Grandmother. I'm actually visiting my family in Ghana in a few weeks and will definitely be getting this done while I'm there so I don't have to mess with my hair.
I'm glad its getting some love!
This very cute :). I am Ghanian American :D!
This made me smile, we used to get these all the times as kids. I am from Senegal (west Africa). Thanks for the post.
loves it…ill definitely try it some time this year
Very nice, once I get more length I will definitely be trying these!
@Anonymous 4:05 I'm Nigerian too and had the hair threading style when I first came to this country at almost 7 years of age. But of course peer pressure and looking different than the rest of your peers made me start to dislike it. It wasn't until I got older that I learned to appreciate it.
I've heard of hair threading but I never knew what it entailed. This is definitely going on the list of styles to try out.
I saw a Ghana Plaits/threading tutorial on YouTube a couple of weeks ago and loved the look of them, especially these coily ones. Definitely something I'd like to try eventually. And LV, your updo is absolutely lovely. Very pretty!
Very, very nice! I am Nigerian and very familiar with hair threading. For some reason, these days, it's only done on school age girls but way back before westernization and hair relaxing became the norm, people were very creative with it. There are like a million styles (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit) that can be created with threading. It's an excellent protective style and stretching style at the same time. My Mom threaded my hair a lot in high school and as a result of that and her fabulous hands, my hair grew from a twa to almost apl in about three years. I still thread my own hair sometimes….