Co-Existence: Braids and Regular Styling

There is no reason why there should not be co-existence between braids and regular hair styling, in fact, the two should be complementary. I have experienced situation where hair stylist would "bad mouth" braids by saying that it is damaging to the hair but the fact is anything can be bad if it is done in excess -- like braiding too tight, keeping in braids for too long (over 10 weeks) etc.