Whether you’re natural or not, you can always find several reasons to rock such a great long-term protective hairstyle as box braids.
What Are Box Braids?
Box braids is a very popular hairstyle of the 90s, which is based on individual braids that are commonly divided by rather small squared off parts or boxes. This braid style may be of any length or width because you can always add synthetic or natural hair to make your braids longer as well as thicker and fuller.
By the way, these braids have one great benefit that makes them so unique, they are not attached to the scalp (like, for example, cornrows) and this means they can be styled in a variety of ways.
Moreover, box braids are a cute and pretty fabulous hairstyle that can protect your hair against environmental damage, increase length retention, and reduce excess breakage from heat styling.
It also looks gorgeous in any season of the year and is really well-suited for different types of weather.
How to Take Care of Box Braids?
If you decide to wear box braids, you should know how to care them properly to minimize discomfort and maintain the braids as long as possible. Especially box braids for beginners need extra care.
You realize that it can take a long time to complete this hairstyle, but the finished result is beautiful and lasts for months, you just need to remember that these braids require little daily maintenance.
This daily maintenance is very easy and doesn’t take a lot of time. But it’s so important to know about it and don’t skip it.
Clean Your Braids and Scalp at Least Once a Week
If you don’t know how to keep your braids clean, don’t worry, it’s really not so difficult to do as it may seem at first glance. You have to clean your hair and scalp necessarily because during the day the build-up of dirt and sweat can accumulate and clog your pores.
You have to wash your braids and scalp minimum once a week with a good shampoo and your hair as well as scalp will be nicely groomed. And one more important thing here! Try not to rub your braids when you wash them.
Thus, wash your hair from scalp to the ends, with the movement going in a vertical angle. This can prevent frizziness at the roots and braids. Immediately after cleaning, most stylists recommend using a hot oil treatment to hydrate your stressed scalp.
Keep Your Hair and Scalp Moist
Be ready that box braids expose your scalp and hair a lot more than usual and leave them prone to dryness. So just like any living thing on our planet, our hair and scalp need moisture to survive and the best moisture for us, in this case, is water.
To make your life easier, you can buy a spray bottle and fill it up with your moisturizer. A braid spray is very useful and you must spritz it daily along the length of your braids and scalp to keep them moist.
If water isn’t enough for your hair and scalp to satisfy the thirst, you may try natural oils like good coconut oil, almond oil, castor oil and so on. Any of these oils are very good for maintaining and soothing your scalp and hair.
In addition, this can also help you keep your hair neat.
Dry Your Braids before Styling
Wet braids that aren’t properly dried can cause some really unpleasant scalp problems like fungus, dandruff or even mildew! So be careful! You should never start styling your braids until they are completely dry to avoid its damage!
Protect Your Hair at Night
If you have box braids, you can’t forget to wrap your hair at night. Wrapping your braids at night will help you be sure that they don’t get frizzy and, moreover, such wrapping will prevent moisture to leave your hair and scalp.
Thus, don’t forget to cover your hair to protect it whilst you sleep. By the way, if you like styling your braids into a bun, ponytail or updo during the day, it would be better to take them down before you go to bed. When you leave your braids tightly pulled overnight, it can place too much tension on your hairline and it can lead to hair loss.
Remove Your Braids after 8 – 10 Weeks
Don’t leave your braids for longer than 10 weeks. An 8 – 10-week time frame does not hurt your hair and scalp, but if you decide to make this term longer, you’ll have a greater risk to damage your hair and scalp as well. When you remove one braid extensions, you need to take a break minimum one week before moving into the next set.
Also read out our disclaimer section and these amazing blogs to know more about your braids and taking them out
Credit for this article goes to the Lovely STAR From African American Hairstyles. Check her page out by clicking here