Box Braid Wash Day

Wash days when protective styling are the easiest wash days ever! After about 3 weeks or so with my box braids, I decided it was time to wash them - more like my scalp decided it was time to be washed. I used my usual method of washing box braids. Here's how the day went:

{1} Divided my braids into 6 sections and braided each one. Secured each braid with a small rubber band.

{2} Cleansed with a mix of CON Moisturizing Argan Oil and a small amount of ORS Creamy Aloe shampoos watered down in an applicator bottle. I focused on my scalp and the roots of the braids. Lathered twice.

{3} Watered down TRESemme Naturals in an applicator bottle and applied that from the roots of the braids down the length to where I believed my hair ends. Massaged it in and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Rinsed with cool water.

{4} ACV and aloe vera juice rinsed spraying both my scalp and the length of my hair. I didn't rinse this out.

{5} Towel wrapped the braids to soak up excess water for about 20 minutes.

{6} Unbraided each section and applied some coconut oil to seal in the moisture.

{7} T-shirt wrapped the braids to let them finish air-drying.

Once the braids were completely dry, I decided to re-braid around the perimeter of my head to freshen them up a little. I felt like I had about half an inch of new growth with some of them. I didn't make them as tight as I did initially though. After that I put my hair in the big, high bun at the beginning of this post.

Braided sections

 
4 weeks is usually my limit for these types of styles, but I've been trying to figure out a way to get a couple more weeks out of this style. My hair is doing well in them, it's easy, and I'm still not sure about what to do with my hair when I take these out. So, I figure keeping it put away for a little while longer will be good for me.

How was your wash day this week? Be sure to check out other Wash Day Experiences over at SavingOurStrands and JustGrowAlready!

9 comments box braid maintenance, protective styles, wash day, washing in braids

Share:

Best Products for Protective Styling [Box Braids]

I believe that the techniques that you use to maintain your protective styles are very important, but I also believe that choosing the best products for your hair during this time is valuable as well. Especially because you most likely have little to no access to your hair, and therefore, are unable to truly evaluate how your hair is reacting to the products. If things are going well, you're in great shape, but if they're not - fast forward six plus weeks and you may be in for trouble.

This is my list of "brief" reviews of all the products I used whille protective styling with box braids. I purchased 6 products and made two of my own. I found all of them at my local beauty supply stores for about $3-6 each. There are websites listed in case you would like to check out the ingredients. There was only one product I didn't like at all, but everything else I used pretty much the entire six weeks of wearing this style. These are products that helped make my protective styling very successful and many of them I picked up based on the reviews of others on blogs, YouTube and people I know personally. So, while there is always a chance that some of these may not work as well for you, I think it's safe to say that a number of these products are pretty popular among healthy-haired ladies while protective styling.

African Pride Olive Miracle Braid Sheen Spray (website)

My experience: This braid spray was awesome! It smells really good, doesn't leave a sticky feeling or film behind, and does a great job moisturizing my hair. I used it every other day and sometimes daily. I also diluted it some with water (3:1 ratio) after awhile and still loved the way it treated my hair. I did this for two reasons: 1) I felt a lot of the product was going on my extensions (read: being wasted) and not just my actual hair, and 2) using it as frequently as I was, I wanted to make sure it lasted the duration of my style.  My only complaint about this product was the packaging. It could have just been a fluke, but my pump was terrible. It spit all over me and dripped down my arm everytime I tried to use it. I ended up just transferring it to one of my own spray bottles... problem solved.

Mane 'n Tail Hair Strengthener (website)

My experience: This product, I felt, was my risky one. I've never tried any products from Mane 'N Tail, but I know people looove them. I think that was what made me comfortable with going for it. I wanted this spray to kind of balance my extreme use of moisturizing products. I am never this product heavy with my hair on a day-to-day basis, so, I was a little concerned with taking my braids out and dealing with moisture overload if I didn't add some kind strengthening/protein treatment in at times, too. I didn't use it as often as the braid spray, probably just a couple times a week. I like the way it smells, it wasn't sticky, and it didn't stiffen my hair. I think it worked well because when I took my hair down, it still felt pretty strong; like it wasn't weakened from the style. 

ORS Herbal Cleanse "Dry Shampoo" (website)

My experience: I've mentioned this product before because I bought it to keep my scalp clean while prolonging the time in between my wash days. It did exactly that. Initially, I was a little skeptical about it because it's gel-like, unlike the spray form of most salon brands I've read about, but it worked very well. It doesn't leave any kind of residue behind either. It's easy to use and there are several different ways you can use it to get clean your scalp, the length or your hair or both. It smells antiseptic, which isn't really surprising when you consider its ingredients and purpose. It pretty quick start to finish, too. I think a main difference between this and most salon brands is that it is formulated for braided, twisted and extension styles. That is why I chose it. A little goes a long way so I feel like I'm going to have this stuff forever. 

Vitale Itch Relief (website)
My experience: This is the one product I didn't like! It was so weird to me. When you spray it on, you do feel like the itchiness goes away almost immediately. But the problem is that that relief is very short-lived. Yes, I know you shouldn't expect too serious of a solution for itchiness from a spray, but it was like I would have had to spray this on hourly for continued relief. Once, maybe twice a day would have been fine, but never that frequently. Also, it left a weird filmy-like build up on my hair and scalp. It was a little sticky, too. So, this was just a fail for me. 

Satin Braid Bonnet
My experience: Loved it! This was a life saver! I tried so many different ways and used multiple scarves night after night to tie my hair up before I got this. My scarf would either fall off or my braids would fall out of it before the night was over. This bonnet made it so easy to just put all that long hair right into it like a sack. Then you just tie it up in the front or back. It worked wonderfully. 

I also made an oil mix to apply to my scalp and a moisturizing mix to give my hair an extra boost when I felt I needed it. You can read about how I did those here and here. They both worked great for me. Of course, you can always use the oils and conditioners of your choice.

Have you used any of these products? Let me know how they worked for you!

4 comments box braid maintenance, box braids, product review, protective styles

Share:

Maintaining Box Braids/Protective Styles for Maximum Length Retention

After my traumatizing experience getting my box braids installed, it was safe to say that I was a little on the hypervigilant side about my haircare. The whole experience just kind of put me in the mindset of "setback avoidance". Needless to say, I was very determined to figure out the ins and outs of the best ways to maintain protective styles like mine. I didn't want to go thru all of that trouble in vain and end up having to do a major trim or something because of not taking good enough care of the length of my hair. Some women feel like protective styles equal "set it and forget it". And there are probably a few that get away with it, but trust me, they are the exception, not the rule. These are the things I focused on to maintain the style and the health of my hair:

Moisturizing & Sealing
This is one of the most important things!  Especially if you have in extensions; the braiding hair can be very drying to your natural hair making this step even more necessary. Just like any other time, you have to make sure the length of your hair does not get dry and become prone to breakage. It's best to do this with sprays because of the fact that you don't have real access to your hair to be able to judge how moisturized it is or isn't. Spraying it will ensure the moisture is distributed throughout the hair and isn't just sitting on top like it could when just rubbing a typical moisturizer in with your hands. 

Tip: Make Your Own Moisturizing and Oil Mixes
I made a moisturizing mix after washing my hair the first time, when moisturizing with a braid spray didn't seem like it would be enough. Especially since I wasn't doing a deep conditioning treatment. I mixed water with Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner and let it sit for a few hours. It became a very light creamy spray that I could spray directly on my scalp or into my hands and apply to the length of my hair. It made my hair feel very soft even after it was dry and ensured I wouldn't need to moisturize again the very next day. I also made an oil mix to seal with by adding grapeseed and olive oils to Shea Moisture Raw Shea Butter Reconstructive Elixir.  

Washing & Scalp Care
I know I have already somewhat went into detail about how I washed my box braids and how I kept my scalp in good shape in previous posts, but it's worth mentioning again because both of those things helped me maintain the health of my hair and scalp during that style. If your scalp is dirty, has product buildup or other issues, it is not going to be a good environment to promote hair growth or retain moisture. Your hair will inevitably grow, but not like it would in a healthy, clean environment. One thing that's bad about product buildup is that it disables you hair from accepting anymore moisture or anything you may try to put on it. If this is the case, you hair may get too dry and break off at the ends. 

Tip: Use Dry Shampoo (pictured above)
This is a great way to make sure you hair and scalp stay clean without compromising the look of your style.

Night routine
Last but not least, wrapping your hair up at night helps preserve your style and retain moisture. Allowing your hair to just rub all over you pillow will bring fuzziness with the quickness! It will also rob your hair of all the moisture you were so diligent about keeping in it. 

Tip: Buy a large scarf or a satin braid bonnet
All of my scarves were too small for the length and weight of this style. Even if they were big enough to cover it, they were't strong enough to keep it held up. That braid bonnet kept all of that hair tied up off my neck and stayed on my head through my wild sleeping the night.

That's just three simple things you can do to make sure your protective styling is successful and you maintain all the length you can! 

Leave a Comment box braid maintenance, box braids

Share:

Box Braidout: How I Took My Box Braids Out

I spent a few days taking my box braids down. I don't think it would have taken that long if I had actually just sat down and did it all at once. But hey, it was the holidays! I was keeping my nephews for a few days... lots of family & friends were in and out of the house... so yea, I wasn't really focused on it. I was glad I chose to take them out during this time though because I was off work and had plenty of hands that were willing to help. I promise taking these things down takes so much more time than putting them in does.

I am so happy I forced myself was able to keep these in for 6 weeks. It was a nice break from my hair. Other than being bored with them at this point, I was starting to get a significant amount of new growth (see below), which I did not want to get out of hand. I've heard of people's new growth and shed hair starting to coil on itself and causing a terrible mess once it was time to take them down. Def didn't want that to happen either. I think four weeks is my limit. That was about the point when I was over this style. So let's get to the how to's of taking out this style without damaging your hair and/or ruining all the progress that was made. 

Only cut the ends off to around two inches longer than the length of your actual hair. I had already cut these braids once because initially they were hip length. So, this time I knew I had to be a lot more careful with the scissors. In an effort to ease the process, numerous ladies make the mistake of cutting too much hair off the ends of this kind of style, and unfortunately, end up cutting their own hair as well. I made sure I avoided this by going down the braid the length of my hair and then adding a couple inches before cutting. It's much better to be safe than sorry, in my opinion.  

Use some oil, generously. I sprayed my hair with a very generous amount of an oil mix before I began taking them down. I also put some oil on my hands. The use of oil helps reduce friction both between your strands of hair and between your hands and your hair. It also helps to ease the removal of shed hair. Everything just glides right out. 

Actually unbraid the hair, don't try to comb out the braids. That may seem simplistic, but I think it's worth stating. I just went in reverse to unbraid the hair. When I was watching YouTube trying to learn how to box braid, one girl said "think of braiding as going down stairs and unbraiding as going back up the stairs". I thought that was a great analogy. I witnessed the ladies at the braiding salon taking down these styles by simply combing them with a small tooth comb. EEEKK!! One of my friends told me that she went to a salon to have hers taken out and that's exactly what they did. She lost so much hair as a result. Of course, using a rat tail comb by sticking its tail in the braid to help unravel it, like you would do with your fingers is helpful, too. I did that at times. 

Finish removing shed hair & detangle. I used more oil for this step! I think this is an important step, even more now that I've gone thru the whole process. Excess shed hair can and WILL become a tangled mess once you add water. I did not do as thorough of a job with this step as I thought I had. And sure enough it became obvious that I had not done the best possible job after I washed my hair. Sigh. So, oil your hair and hands some more, if needed, and take your time finger detangling and removing built up shed hair from your protective style. It will be worth it in the end. 

That's all I did and the braid out once I was done was awesome. I loved it and yes, I actually got to wear this one out. It was so big and defined. I have to figure out how to replicate these results without having to have box braids in first. I think most, if not all, of these steps work well whether you have box braids, kinky twists, or just cornrows. Taking care when you remove your protective style is just as important in your style's success as making sure the style is done correctly and maintaining your hair's health throughout the duration of the style. If not, your protective style may no longer be protective for your hair. 

8 comments box braid maintenance, box braids, hair tips, protective styles, taking out box braids

Share:

5 Tips to Relieve a Dry, Itchy or Irritated Scalp [from Box Braids]

As popular as box braids are right now, I have found that there is not a lot of detailed info out about how to take care of them or the issues you may face when you have them. As I am about to hit six weeks with my braids and preparing to remove them, I have been reflecting over my experiences and want to share the things I have learned. The first two weeks of having these box braids were terrible on my scalp. It went from tightness, to soreness and irritation, to dry and itchy, the latter of which I probably would be dealing with in the winter time anyway. These are the best ways I have found to relieve all of those symptoms over the past month and a half.

{1&2} - Soothing Oil Mix & Scalp Massage

When I started taking my braids out the first few days after they were installed, I realized that I had not yet purchased any products particularly for caring for my hair in this style. My scalp was so sore and irritated that I knew it needed something. I found my essential oils: peppermint, tea tree, and rosemary. I mixed a few drops of each of those with about a fourth of a cup of (warmed) coconut oil and voila! It felt so good to rub that into my scalp, especially in the areas I had just taken out braids. I have been using this mix for the whole time now and I will probably continue to use it throughout the winter because it has kept my scalp in such good condition. It is also very easy to make and didn't cost anything since I already had the ingredients around my house.

The three essential oils I used are known to be great for scalp health. You will find them in most products marketed for helping with scalp issues. Peppermint oil has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, which help relieve itchiness. It also has the ability to absorb excess oils on your scalp and is stimulating so it promotes hair growth. I think peppermint oil is my favorite. It is a soothing treat. Tea tree oil has healing and antifungal properties. It blends well with our natural hair oils and prevents the growth of fungus on the scalp. Rosemary oil has pain relieving and antimicrobial properties. It is also known to stimulate hair follicles. Pairing this kind of oil mix with a scalp massage is awesome. Scalp massages on their own stimulate the scalp and hair follicles, which increases blood flow for healing and promotion of hair growth.

{3} - Braid Sprays
These sprays are kind of fundamental for this style; not just for moisturizing your hair, but also for scalp care while maintaining box braids. Two of the braid sprays I purchased also contained rosemary and tea tree oils. When I felt the dreaded "weave pat" coming on because my head was starting to itch, I often reached for one of these. There are braid sprays that are specifically for moisturizing, scalp relief, itching and tightness relief, and combinations of those. I bought three because I'm a product junkie I wasn't sure which would work best for my hair. One I pretty much used the entire bottle of because it worked so well, another was fine and the thrid I could've completely went without.

{4} - Dry shampoo
I have heard a lot about dry shampoo, but never had a real reason to want to try it before these braids. Dry shampoo allows you to clean your scalp and hair without having to wet your hair. Some dry shampoos are powder-like sprays that you just wipe off, while others are more like a gel that you apply and wipe out. The one I purchased was a gel-like, and although I was skeptical about it, I liked the concept of being able to ensure I only had to wash my hair every two weeks by cleaning my scalp in between wash days with this. It works well and my scalp felt fresh & clean enough to last to the next wash day. It was pretty easy to use, too. It didn't take very long to do my whole scalp. If you look close below, you can see the gel just stayed right where I put it on my scalp until I wiped it away.  

using "dry shampoo"

{5} - Wash It!
I know people try to resist washing their hair as much as possible when wearing this kind of protective style in an effort to preserve the style as long as possible. However, if you are having issues with your scalp and hair feeling dry, washing your hair might be exactly what is needed. Especially if you've tried every other tip and are still experiencing problems with dryness and itchiness. Product buildup is real and it will prevent your hair and scalp from accepting anymore moisture. Any product you put on will just sit on top of it. You may not have to wash it as often as I did mine, just make sure you are monitoring your scalp and washing it when it needs to be washed.

One reason women get braids is to allow their hair time to grow without a lot of manipulation. If your scalp is dirty, has product buildup or other issues, it is not going to be a good environment to promote hair growth. Your hair will inevitably grow, but not like it would in a healthy, clean environment. Plus there are ways you can wash your hair and still maintain a fresh look. Check out how I wash my braids here. You don't have to sacrifice the health of your hair and scalp to ensure your style is long lasting.  

39 comments box braid maintenance, box braids, hair tips, scalp issues

Share: