Time for Box braids! Meet your blogger

       I just got my braids installed yesterday (27/December/2014) by a hair stylist, it looks good but after watching some DIY videos youtube, i just realized that i could have just installed my braids myself, I braid peoples hair but I never thought braiding your hair like box braids was possible, looks tiring,  oh wells going to have to do it myself next time.

So I decided to get my braids installed because I want some protection and need to retain some length. I have decided to leave my braids in for AT LEAST a month and at most 3 months. I'm not sure i'm going to last more than 2 months though because I might get bored of the hair style. 

         If you want to get your braids done to protect your hair, there are a few rules you need to follow so that it doesn't do more harm than good. 

         I watched a video on YouTube where a woman took off her braids after a month and a half and she was so very disappointed with her results. I felt pity for her too, why? There was massive shedding, even I was shocked. The hair that pulled out of her head was almost the same size as the hair on her head. She was also doing a sulfur treatment challenge I think, where she would apply it to her hair for 60 days or was it 90 days. I'm not sure if it was because of the sulfur or if her hair just wasnt strong enough for braids that caused her hair pull out. 

     My advice for you not to end up like her is to follow the tips below, if you plan on installing braids.

RULES BEFORE THE BRAIDS

1. Wash before braids.

   You should wash you hair a few days or less before your braids, so your scalp is clean And doesn't start itching you. make sure you wash with a sulfate free shampoo.

2. Condition

    Make sure you condition  your hair and leave the conditioner on for the given time in the directions. 

3. Protein treatment

    What I did before my braids was a mayonnaise treatment. I did a concussion actually. I mixed olive oil mayonnaise with actual mayonnaise and oil ( you should use coconut oil), you can add eggs too, it IS a protein treatment. Apply it to your hair, cover your hair with a plastic cap and leave it in for about 20 minutes, you can apply heat if you want,  then rinse it out. You can use a diluted shampoo if you want, I didn't.

4. Lock in moisture.

    Remove the excess water from your hair, let it air dry a bit, like 60%, then add Shea butter to lock in moisture, you can let it air dry afterwards.

5. untangle.

      Apply moisturizer to your hair, comb your hair out and make sure there are no tangles because if you plan on having someone braid your hair they are not going to be patient with the untangling so they will rip your hair out. Always carry your comb too. Where I made my hair, the tips of the comb where already jagged, and that can rip the hair, glad I found out before it was too late.

RULES DURING THE BRAIDING

1. Do not braid too tight.

You do not want to make it so that it's so tight that you are having headache while braiding.

2. Extensions should not be heavy.

Do not cut out extensions to be too big because it is going to be so heavy that it puts the hair on stress which can cause shedding.

3. Do not cut out your hair too tiny

Actually the bigger the better. Cutting out small part of your hair and hanging extensions on it aint good at all. If its tiny , its also going to be hard to take the extension out, and there is a possibility that your hair will rip out while taking it down. As you can see in my picture,  I did medium-sized braids, it's easier to take down too.

4. Protect your hair line.

   In my picture, at the front you will see that I allowed brushing in front of my hair, this puts less stress on my hairline   and I don't have to worry about losing my hair on my hair line, because the hairline can be weaker than the rest of the hair.

RULES AFTER THE BRAIDS

Take care of the braids. If you skip this part, you might as well just rip out your hair, to save you the time.

Take care of your braids as though you don't have braids in at all.

1. Wash/Co-wash

 Wash your hair every two weeks and you can co wash every other day, you can skip the co-wash, but make sure you shampoo your hair to remove the build ups and we don't want that hair producing bad odor ladies!.

2.Condition

   Yes, condition that hair, we want that hair soft, strong and tangle free when we take the braids out.

3. Moisturize!

     Moisturize like you've never! Depending on your hair type, and the weather, you can moisturize your hair from twice a day to any other day.

4. Oil that scalp.

    I suggest you use a mixture of oils, i just love concussions. I have some herbal products and I don't really know which I should put in first, so what I do is I get a container, I put in my oils, herbal products, water, moisturizer, Shea butter and I mix them all together, and I apply it to my scalp, and I try to move it down my  extension because I still have my hair in there.

5. Deep condition. 

     Deep condition once a month or twice a week, however you want.

6. Leave in conditioner

      Apply you leave in conditioner after every wash too.