Long hair = Ratty Braids?

I recently made a hair care package for a new natural friend (I stole the shower comb out of it because it was cute...no I don't comb but somehow after ordering it, I wanted it lol). I also thought that I might refer her to my favourite fotkis and websites too.



Yesterday I saw her and she remarked to me that she loved the pictures of the hair. She also said that she doesn't want long hair because 'long haired naturals like ratty braids.' I am currently rocking some super fuzzy braids done two weeks ago and which have been to the swimming pool 4 times so I did give her my best squinting eye. She explained that from the images she saw, the people with the longest curliest hair usually kept their hair in braids or twists for long even if the parts were not visible or the hair was fuzzy/messy.



The poll question today is therefore, how long would you keep braids or twists in? The details

1. The braids/twists should be from your own natural hair not with extensions.

2. If you redo your hairline, this is fine, just state how long you would keep the overall style going.



My story - I used to have a super low tolerance for fuzzy braids. I would religiously redo any where the parting wasn't clean anymore. I could hardly keep them in for a week. Over the years, student life ebbed away and work started kicking my butt. I have a medium tolerance now for fuzzy hair simply because if I didn't I would probably go crazy trying to find the time in the day to redo the hair.



What is your story? Do you do own hair braids or do you prefer extensions? Can you keep them in for a month or is a week your limit?