Turning My Box Braids into Faux Locs

Faux locs or loc extensions seem have become quite popular recently. So, of course, I have been wanting to try this style. (If you follow me on Instagram you saw these when I first did them a couple weeks ago) Especially since I've been on my long-term protective styling challenge. However, every single video I watched talked about how ridiculously long it takes to put them in. This style is basically two styles in one and that's why the installation can be so long. Because of that, I knew there was no way I was just going to up and do this style one day. But as my box braids grew out, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity for me to try the faux locs. I figured with about 4-5 weeks of new growth, my roots would blend perfectly with the locs. And turning my old style into a new one would hopefully help me hold onto it a couple extra weeks.

Another reason I decided to try faux locs this way is because I had a few concerns about them. A lot of ladies say they can be really heavy, which makes perfect sense since you are adding more hair to your head full of braids or twists. I've had a bad experience with too much hair on my head before... definitely don't want to repeat that. I also was concerned that this style might be "too protective", as in all the extra hair might make it hard to moisturize my own hair or even dry it out. 

So, in putting these over my old box braids I wasn't going to be too invested in them, no matter the time comittment. I knew if I felt something was off about them or anything, I wouldn't hestitate or feel bad about taking them out. My hair had been put away from a month or so already. 

There's two ways you can go about loc extensions: yarn or marley hair. I chose marley hair because I think it looks more natural and the thought of yarn wrapped around my hair just didn't sit right with me. This whole process is not difficult at all, just time consuming. I do not understand how anyone has the patience to install these from scratch all at once. I will never do that ya'll! Lol! I pretty much did it all in one day and my arms were so tired. I cannot imagine installing box braids or marley twists and then wrapping more hair around them straightaway to install the locs. Nope. My arms would just fall off I'm sure.


It might go without saying, but I do not like too much hair on my head ya'll. I always try to use the most minimal amount I can when doing these protective styles. With my box braids, I used about 2.5 packs of hair and I pretty much added the same amount of marley hair to complete the faux locs. As I watched videos of people completing this style, they were talking about using 7-8 packs of hair, which is just way too much for me. Wouldn't you just feel like your neck was going to snap from all that weight up there?! I can't.

One thing I did to prevent having to use so much hair is cut my box braids. I knew that one reason ladies have to use as much hair as they do is to get long lengths. So, first I cut the braids to about mid-back length. Then I unbraided each one until I found my hair so I could be mindful of around where I needed to stop cutting. I was always pleasantly surprised at how quickly I found my hair, too, not having to unbraid very much. I left the back at the longer length and layered the top of my hair with shorter lengths. I wanted it to look natural, but have a style to it as far as its length. I knew since I was cutting it, I wasn't going to be able to do a lot of the updo type styles, I've seen done with faux locs so I wanted it to look nice just being worn down.


People typically finish their locks by burning them to secure the ends, but I was kind of uncomfortable with that since the ends aren't too much longer than my real hair. So, initially, I did the typical wrap back up method, but just palm rolled the hair to get it to stay. The majority of my locs stayed perfectly with this method. There were, however, a few that just continued to unravel so I had to burn those.


Overall, I was really happy with the way this style turned out! It had to grow on me at first, I wasn't really sure how I felt about it. Probably because it's a very different look for me. But I ended up loving it. 

Has anyone else tried faux locs before? Let me know about your experience!

25 comments box braids, faux locs, protective styles

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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

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My Box Braid Installation #2

I'm still on my protective styling til the end of the year challenge. So my hair was out for about a week or so before I started installing my box braids. Initially, I planned to do them crochet style, but that ended up not working out the way I wanted so I just did singles. When I was putting the braids in around the perimeter of my head, I had a moment where I felt like my hair is actually getting pretty long. Am I the only one whose definition of long hair has progressively changed during this hair journey? Yes? Oh... ok. Well most of the time, I don't think my hair is actually that long. However, when I was able to compare it to the braid I had just installed, which is clearly long, I was like wow! my hair IS getting long! :-D Of course I had to take a pic to share!

I used my usual X-Pression Braiding hair (some of which I used again from my twists) in 1B and 1B/33. After the perimeter of my hair was done, I started installing braids crochet style and I was just.not.feeling.it! I didn't get too far before I realized this either. So, I took them out and started putting singles in. It actually made for a really easy process since my hair was braided straight back. I would take out one cornrow, put all that hair into box braids, and then move onto the next cornrow. Not a lot of fighting with my huge hair for parts and such. 

People always ask me how long it takes me to complete a style like this on myself and I can never give them a real answer. I don't like to sit and do my hair straight through for some reason. I'll do the perimeter of my hair first so that I can hide the unfinished part with a bun until I'm ready to finish. I would guess I spent 5-6 hours on it total? Who knows.

I've had my braids in for a few weeks now. I actually don't remember when exactly in September I put them in. That's how I know I'm really enjoying them. I haven't been counting down the days til I meet a goal and can take them out or anything along those lines. I'm loving them! I think the ease of protective styling is allowing me to hold on to them for longer. It's so awesome when you don't have to worry about what you're going to do with your hair in the morning.

Before I gave up on the crochet idea

When I put these in, I was coming up on 14 weeks post. I definitely could have relaxed my hair, but I chose not to because I knew I wanted to put another protective style in quickly. I would have had to wait some time after relaxing before I could put these braids in and I was not up for waiting. So, I'm thinking by the time I take these out and am ready to relax my hair I'll be around 20 weeks post. Eeek! I'm a little nervous about that. I've only stretched that long once before (25 weeks to be exact) and I really had no desire to ever do it again before transitioning. But I will be excited to see how much of a difference protective styling for the past few months has made. The comparison pic makes me feel like I've made some good progress!

13 comments box braids, protective styles

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My Senagalese Twists/Crochet Braids

I finished my twists! I LOVE them, too. I'm so surprised at how they turned out since it was my first time doing them. I keep getting asked where I get my hair done as if it were done professionally, which makes me feel really good. Yay! 

I am so indecisive ya'll. I tried two other ways, got half of my head finished, and then completely took it out before I settled on this way of doing it. Originally, I was going to do single twists all over my head, but I was not really feeling the way it was turning out so I decided to leave the perimeter of my hair that way and do the middle crochet style. It would have all been done in one day if it wasn't for me running out of hair. Fortunately, it did not end up taking as long as I thought it would.

I used the same kind of hair I did for my last set of crochet braids, Sensationnel X-Pression Braiding Hair. I had 3 packs of 1B and a little more than a pack of 1B/33 total. I cut the hair in half. My braiding pattern was simple, but not straight back. I wanted it at a slight angle so the twists would hang the way I wanted. I did not think about combining the braids near the bottom until it was too late - probably because I had already been in my hair for too long. So I just flipped each end up and sewed it on top of the braid.

When crocheting the hair in, I would pull half of the hair to the other side of the braid and tie it instead of pulling all of the hair through the loop and knotting it. I hope that makes sense. This technique allows the hair to completely surround the braid and eliminates the "knotty" look that a lot of ladies find unattractive with crochet braids. You can see in the picture about how the twists covered up the braids as I began filling them in the top section. 

Once I was done twisting a section, I would wrap the ends around a flexi-rod to help keep the twists tight until I was ready to seal them and because I wanted my ends to be curly. This also made sealing them really easy. When I was done, I just dipped each rod in extremely hot water, leaving it for a couple minutes. After soaking up most of the excess water with a towel, I let my hair air-dry overnight with the rods. I had great results in the morning. The curls, of course, loosened up pretty quickly. So the longest lengths are grazing my waist. I didn't think I would like it that long, but I actually do. It'll be pretty versatile to style, too.

My goal is to leave this style in for a month. Just four weeks! It shouldn't be as hard as it is for me to leave a style in for just a month. I can always find a seemingly good reason to take them out early. I really want to be very mindful of protecting my ends in hopes that it will help me stop feeling like my hair "needs" to be trimmed. Hopefully, that will be enough motivation.

10 comments crochet braids, protective styles, senagalese twists

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Twisted Back Updo | Tutorial

I love styles that look intricate, like they took forever to achieve, but really they're pretty easy to get done. This is one of those styles. It really comes down to six twists pinned up. I waited probably too long to do this tutorial so that I would be able to show what it looks like on my own hair, too. Big, crochet braided hair is not required to achieve this awesome protective style.

The state of your hair - textured or straight - when you begin is really up to you. I go for big, air-dried or stretched hair though because I like the fullness it gives the style. You do want to make sure your hair is well moisturized, as this is a style you can keep in for a few days.

Supplies Needed: Bobby pins, 2 hair clips to hold the sections

Steps:

1. Separate your hair into front & back sections (part from ear to ear), clip to hold in place.
2. Divide the back section down the middle and make 2 two-strand twists on each side. 
3. Secure each twist underneath the other with a bobby pin. 
4. In the front section, part your hair how you like it (middle or side-part), clip to hold 1 section. 
5. Divide the other section in half (top to bottom) and two-strand twist twist each.
6. Secure each twist in the back with bobby pins.
7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 on the other section in the front. 

Voila! That's it. On my hair this looked a little more like a faux bob style because of how loosely I twisted my hair in the back sections. If you two-strand twist your hair tighter, you will get more of the detailed look I had with the crochet braid style. I like it both ways. Also, you can switch this style up some by simply using the tuck, roll, pin technique in each section instead of a two-strand twist (pictured below). Happy styling ladies!

15 comments crochet braids, protective styles, tutorial, twisted updo

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Crochet Braids #2 - Box Braids

For my second set of crochet braids, I went for a box braid look. If it's one thing that can be said of crochet braids, it's that they are so very versatile. Who ever would've thought that that old childhood style would come back better than ever? Not me. That's for sure. Or was I the only one whose mom braided her hair up and then put those fake curly braids in it??? Oh... ok. 

If you've never looked up crochet braids on YouTube, let me tell you - ladies do alllll kinds of things with this style. I seriously had no idea! Because of the fact that it has been working out well for me, I realized I could easily keep styling my hair this way for months on end without getting bored or having to repeat a certain look. With that, I'm sure I will get better at installing, too. I think I am going to be protective styling a lot longer than I originally intended. Especially since I am planning to cut 2-3 inches sometime this month. My nape is just thriving and that is no small matter. Of course, it's benefitting all the rest of my hair, too. I want to at least protective style through the summer, taking little breaks in between each style. I'm not sure if I am going to be using crochet braids that whole time or not, but I do know I want to do them at least one more time after this. 

So, to achieve the box braids, I used pretty much the same braiding pattern that I did the last time, but I switched up my technique of crocheting in the hair. Normally, you grab a loop of hair with the crochet hook, pull it through the braid, then pull the length of hair through the loop to create a knot. Instead of pulling the hair through the loop to knot it after crocheting it in, I pulled half of the hair through to the other side of the braid (pictured below). This way, once the hair is braided, it surrounds the braid (covering it), instead of creating a knot. It may not sound like it, but it wasn't any extra work to put the hair in this way and it actually makes the hair a little easier to take out. For those reasons, I think I like this technique better than the regular way when it comes to going for this look. 

I used a different kind of hair this time (Sensationnel X-Pression Braiding Hair), which was about $4/pack at my local beauty supply. My sister gave me 3 packs and then I bought a couple extras just in case. I used 3.5 packs and then... I basically gave up. Ha! This all happened over two days. I don't like sitting for too many hours at once and just doing the style straight through because I get bored. Maybe I should try it that way next time though. 

I definitely could have used another pack of hair to fill it in more and do a better job covering up my own braids, but umm... I got tired!! I made the mistake of putting most of the hair in before I started braiding it. OMG ladies never do that!! It created so much more work for me than was necessary. Which is probably the real reason I got tired and gave up. If I were to do this style again, I would definitely braid as I put the hair in. I don't know what I was thinking ya'll. The hair started blending together and I had to be extra careful to separate it since it hadn't been secured on my head yet and could basically slide right out from under the braids. Sigh. Bad idea Melanie. Bad idea. Lesson learned. 

Other than that little mishap, I love the braids! It's like all the fun of box braids without any of the "Aaaahh-I'm-bout-to-lose-my-edges" hassle! No "Eeek-my-braids-are-so-tight-I-could-cry" moments! Yessss! That's a win. After I was finished braiding, I dipped the ends of the hair in hot water to set the braids. That's it! I love that it looks like I really have braids in my hair. I could even get them up into a high bun! I've had them in for a little while now and am enjoying styling them. The only problem I'm running into right now is excessive dryness. It's so weird, too. I'm moisturizing and sealing just as I have with my other protective styles, but the next day my hair will be bone dry as if I've never attempted to moisturize it. I'm beginning to suspect it's just the hair that I used that is drying my hair out. No good. I really liked working with this non-tangle prone hair, but I will definitely be taking these out sooner than planned if my hair keeps up this way. Either way I'm gonna rock it as long as I can!

3 comments box braids, crochet braids, protective styles

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Installing My Sister's Crochet Braids {Inspiring My Own}

My little sister and I (hey Mariya!) are almost equally hair obsessed. She was the first person I told about all my initial hair care research and even started her hair journey/lifestyle with me. Definitely one of my biggest supporters. Anyway, it is nothing for us to spend too much time on YouTube together figuring out what to do next with our hair, even when we're hundreds of miles apart. So, after watching many videos about crochet braids, we decided to give it a try. 

It just so happened she had recently removed some Marley Twists, so after cutting that hair in half, we were ready to go. In one of the videos we watched, the woman used a hair pin to crochet the hair onto her head. Seemed easy enough since we didn't have a crochet hook. The braiding pattern was simple - 12 straight back in the front combined into 6 straight down in the back. Here's the style's progression in pictures:

She loved it! And so did I. It was actually a pretty easy process, even with a dinky hair pin. However, it was pretty time consuming - two movies and a TV show. I definitely think a crochet hook would have cut down on the time some. But hey, you gotta use what you got, right? We both thought it was worth it though, for a style that could easily last a month or so. It looked very similar to her natural afro and a number of people thought it was hers. That's always a win in my book. 

I mentioned in my previous wash day post that I started protective styling week by week for the sake of my nape. I saw SO much progress with my nape from wearing my box braids I was impressed! It made me want to make more of a commitment to protective styling. Even though I don't particularly like longer-term protective styles {because I like to play in my hair too much}, I think it will be worth doing so for a couple months if I can make some more great progress with the state of my nape.

The week by week styles were working pretty well: I didn't have to worry about styling  throughout the week, spraying to moisturize & seal was a breeze, no hair worries during workouts, great wash days... pretty well indeed. Still I wanted to reach for something a little more long term - and by more long time I mean like 3-4 weeks! Ha! I'm certain 4 weeks is my max for a style at this point.

So, after putting crochet braids in my sister's hair, I figured I could try it out on myself. And if wearing it for a few weeks works well for me and my hair, I'll do it again. Then I'll have met my goal of protective styling for a few months. 

8 comments crochet braids, protective styles

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Wash Day Recap: What's Been Working For Me

Over the past few weeks, I've had great back-to-back wash days. There are some new things I've been trying out that have been working quite well. Yet, much of my routine has remained normal: keeping my hair in 3-4 sections, pre-poo treatment (when I'm using shampoo), deep conditioning, and apple cider vinegar rinses. Here are a few new techniques I've been enjoying - 

Co-washing

after blow drying

I'm so glad I tried co-washing out again, even if it is in my own way. It has definitely been helping my hair retain more moisture. Every other time I wash my hair, it's a co-wash. It's almost like I've cut my shampoo usage in half, but not exactly. I might co-wash mid-week after an intense workout then a few days later, I use shampoo. Other times, it could be two weeks before I use shampoo again. It really depends on how my hair is feeling to how frequently I "wash" it, but the adding of a conditioner only day every other time has really made a difference. 

Blow Drying on Cool
Initially, I started doing this using tension toward the end of my six month stretch. It was pretty helpful so I wanted to keep practicing it. I'm loving it. I've gotten quicker at it. I've done it with tension, without it, and with a brush attachment. All methods have worked well, without the use of heat or causing breakage. AND it cuts down on drying time in a major way. Since I only do my roots, I still end up with sizable hair similar to my beloved air-dried hair. I think this practice is a keeper now. 

Tresemme Naturals Conditioner
My little sister, a natural head, came to visit for awhile with this conditioner in tow. I've heard a lot about it and she loves it so, of course, I had to try it. I used it twice and my first impressions of it are great. It worked quickly, my hair ate it up and it smells really good. Plus it's cheap so I will be picking up a bottle of my own to try out more thoroughly.  

Low-Manipulation/Protective Styling (the day of)
In an effort to reduce some manipulation and protect my nape, I started styling my hair in ways I could wear for at least a week. This has been awesome. I've been losing less hair due to breakage and keeping my hands out of my nape. My hair stays moisturized longer and is easy to refresh. Winning! This has also been great for my workouts 3x a week. I don't have to worry about what to do with it during or after, which is an added bonus. Hopefully it's helping me retain some more length at my nape too. 

Nothing too fancy there, just a few things that have been working well for me. 

How have your wash days been lately?

1 of my weekly styles

10 comments hair journey, protective styles, tension blow-drying, wash day

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Wash Day - 20 Weeks Post

This is the wash day after I took my box braids out (late post!). I was a little anxious to really wash my scalp since I hadn't had a deep clean in six weeks.  So, after awhile of rocking my box braidout, I went for it. My 20 weeks post roots were kind of intimidating, but I'm going to have to get to know them sooner or later. Here's how it went down:

{1} I did a hot oil treatment on my scalp with a homemade garlic-infused mix of grapeseed, olive and coconut oils and put Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose on the length of my hair. I was having issues with shedding before my box braids so I figured it best that I do a treatment in case I was still having issues. I covered my hair with a plastic cap and let it sit for about 30 minutes of so.

{2} This might be where things started going downhill. My scalp was loving Giovanni Tea Tree Triple Treat while I had braids so I decided to wash with that. Lathered twice and my hair felt gross - dry even though it was soaking wet. So I reached for my CON Argan Oil Moisturizing shampoo and my hair felt better, but it seemed to be tangling so much. I was confused because my technique of washing in sections and only washing my scalp usually prevents that from happening. My scalp might like that shampoo but my hair certainly hates it.

After taking the towel off my hair, the sight of my hair was a wee bit scary. The picture above doesn't really do it justice. It looked almost matted because it was sooooo tangled. Aaaahhh! I had a minor freak out moment as I struggled just get my fingers through it. This never happens!! It was a sad sight, too. That's for sure. It was already late at night, so I had to wake myself up some to come up with a game plan. I quickly figured that, combined with whatever effects the shampoo had on my hair, I had not done a thorough enough job removing my shed hair after I took my braids out. When I washed my hair, the shed hair just tangled up in it creating the worst mess I have ever had the pleasure of detangling.

{3} I took a smaller section of hair and attempted to add conditioner(s) and detangle that way. It worked, but it took a very long time to do that small section. I knew I had to take my time so that I could prevent losing an unnecessary hair, but I couldn't deal with moving that slow for my whole head.

{4} New game plan: let hair air dry before detangling. This is how I always detangle my hair, but I don't think I thought of it initially because I had not even deep conditioned yet. I let my hair air dry, still in sections, to about 80% and sprayed a little bit of each of my leave ins (Aphogee Green Tea & Keratin Restructurizer and Elasta QP H2) to make sure it wasn't dried out for this detangling session.

{5} One by one, I divided each of my four sections into three and went to work! I started working my way up by finger detangling first then using a wide tooth comb. I found a number of knots that were making so much trouble. Fast forward three hours... yes, I said three hours later I was done detangling!!! -_- Good news is pretty much every thing I lost was shed hair. So, I was glad I took my time. I also don't think the amount I lost was that bad considering it had been over 6 weeks since my hair had been combed.

{6} After I detangled each section, I added conditioner and braided it up. I pulled out a number of conditioners initially, but I primarily used Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose and L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Damage Erasing Balm I put on a plastic cap and scarf and went to bed!

{7} The next morning, I rinsed my hair in the braids, let it air dry and added the same leave-ins from Step 4 (at about 80% dry). It was a bun for me that day. I was very over my hair at that point.

I never thought my 20 weeks post relaxer roots would have been the least of my worries on this wash day, but they gave me no trouble. Especially in comparison with that shed hair detangling ordeal! I think my real question after all this is: WHY, I say WHYYY don't I own a real detangler?!?! Maybe because I've never had enough trouble with tangles to buy one over a new conditioner I've been eyeing... yep, lesson learned. I'm positive a good detangler would have shortened the time that took. I'll be buying or making one of my own very soon. That can.never.happen.again.

I am thinking about purchasing It's A 10 Miracle Leave-in and/or making one using marshmallow root. Does anyone have any good detangler recommendations?? 

6 comments 20 weeks post, box braids, protective styles, taking out box braids, wash day

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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

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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

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Salon Review: Kadi's African Braiding Salon

When I was deciding where to get my hair done, I relied mostly on word of mouth. I looked online, but didn't find anything very reliable. After the experience I had, I decided a thorough review would be good. I hope people can learn from my experience and be better prepared when it comes to how to approach getting a protective braided/twisted style done by a professional. It should go without saying, but all African braiding shops are not the same. You shouldn't assume every shop will be like the experience I had at this one. I went to Kadi's twice: once for my initial box braid installation and then six days later after I had taken the majority of the top of my hair out. This is a pretty detailed review so I broke it up into categories to make it easy to skim through. 

1st Impressions: I was greeted when I came in and directed to the owner, Kadi. The shop just looked regular to me - nothing fancy or impressive. It was clean and being cleaned regularly. It doubles as a beauty supply so there's weave aplenty and other hair supplies along all the walls and shelves. It also has two big screen TVs that keep the romantic comedies rolling. I guess that's kinda fancy, huh?

The Stylists: There were at least 10 different women working both times I went to this shop. There could be 2-4 ladies working on a client's hair at once. They have a system: 1 or 2 will start the braids and then 1 or 2 other ladies will come to start finishing them. If it's one thing to be said of these ladies, its the fact that they all work very well together; whether ensuring the uniformity of a style on a client or making sure everyone is paid to their satifaction, they're a great team. There is definitely a language barrier though. Yes, they do spend the majority of the time you are there speaking in their native tongue. However, I don't think you should take that to mean they are talking about you. I have a background in French so I could pick up on a lot of what they were saying and they were mostly talking about their home lives and plans after work. Pretty normal stuff, but I can understand why some people find it frustrating. 

What I will say is IF some of these particular ladies are talking about you, they will make it known. When I went back for the second time with my hair half undone, honey, I received alllll the shade thrown my way. They were too mad I wanted my money back. I mean eye rolls, dirty looks, fingers pointed! Like really?! That's unprofessional yo. While it wasn't all of the ladies working, it was enough to be completely unacceptable. 

Pricing: When calling around to different shops, I found prices for box braids to be from $160-200+. Kadi's was on the low end of that. Plus there's a coupon on their website. When I sat down, I confirmed the price that she gave me as we discussed my style. However, after half of my hair was done, they tried to up the price and say the coupon was "built in" to that price. What?! My solution: I only brought enough cash for the price I was told anyway plus a tip. No tricking me into paying more.  

Quality of Work: To me, this depends on whether you're concerned with simply the appearance of your style or that AND the health of your hair. If it's simply the appearance, you're good. They're great at giving people beautiful, braided/twisted styles. Their styles are also known to last at least two months without looking old. If you are concerned with the latter though, you might have some issues getting them to give you a style that is both pretty and protects your hair. Yet, it is possible; they redid my hair exactly the way I wanted it when I went back the second time. 

much too long for me

Customer Service: After the problems I had from my initial visit, I felt they had mediocre customer service. They were all really nice to me the whole time I was there. But I wasn't sure if they didn't actually understand that I wanted bigger spacing along with the bigger braids or if they just didn't want to do it the way I wanted. Also, I asked them to cut the braids several times once I realized how long they were. I wanted them to the middle of my back. They pretty much refused; they kept saying they would, but never did. I ended up cutting them myself.

On the other hand, when I went back the second time, dealing with Kadi and one of the ladies who did my hair was great. Although they were convinced their way was right, they understood the issues I had and my concern for my hair. Apparently, their technique of small parts with lots of hair ensures a styles longevity. (AKA they understood what I wanted the first time and didn't do it because they were more concerned with how long it would last. Rude!) Once they realized that I wanted my hair the way I asked for it and was more concerned with its health than how long the style would last, they redid my hair the way I wanted it. For free, of course. It shouldn't have taken all that tho. 

My Recommendation: Surprisingly, I wouldn't say no one should ever go here. The fact that they redid my hair gave me some hope. If you want this kind of style done by a professional, please be willing to stand up for yourself - no matter where you go. Discuss exactly what you want, including an agreed upon price. Bring pictures. Check and triple check throughout the process that it's being done the way you want. Let them know if it's being done too tightly. I recognize that all ladies are not as vocal as I am, however, you should ask yourself: would I rather speak up now or end up unhappy and perhaps crying about my hair loss later? Being quiet is not worth the risk in my eyes. And besides, its YOUR money! 

Now, would I go back to them again? Nope. Pretty positive I'll never go back here. The whole experience was just too much trouble for me to ever put myself through again. If they had the ability to redo my hair the way I wanted, not too tight yet still secure, they could've done it right the first time. So, if you live in Columbus, OH, you be the judge of whether you'll pay Kadi a visit or not. And if you're considering going anywhere for a similar service, please take my advice: SPEAK UP!!

That was a lot! Thanks for reading! :)

7 comments african braiding salon, box braids, heavy box braids, protective styles, salon visit, stylist, too tight box braids

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My [Traumatic] Box Braid Installation

I have had my box braids in for almost three weeks now and I intentionally waited to post about the whole experience. Why you ask? Because, initially, it was kind of traumatizing to be completely honest. I was miserable the entire first week. I felt if I wrote a post during that time it would have been way too angry and negative. Plus I'm known to have a flare for the dramatic anyway so, at this point, I'm glad I waited until now when all is well.

I went to an African Braiding Salon for the first time. A couple of my family members and a family friend have been to this particular shop in the past and while our experiences share some commonalites, they weren't really the same. Let me first start by saying I think my hair looked SO nice walking out of the shop. I'm very Poetic Justice slash Brandy in the 90s right now. As far as appearance is concerned, they did a phenomenal job. Unfortunately, that may have been one of the only things I was pleased with as far as this installation is concerned.

Because of the fact that I've gotten headaches previously just from someone else flat ironing my hair, I decided to take a few ibuprofen before they got started. That might be why I didn't realize exactly how tight they were braiding during the process. Much too tight. As soon as they were finished and began moving all the braids backward to dip them in hot water, OMG I wanted to cry. Seriously, it hurt so bad I did not even want anyone to touch me. Not only that, but they were soooo heavy I couldn't believe it. I communicated with the ladies that were doing my hair exactly what I wanted... so I thought: chunky or medium-sized box braids just slightly longer than my hair, to the middle of my back. I discussed this with them before they started and several times throughout the process, to the point of even stopping them to make sure they were not too small. I'm going to do a review of my experience in the salon itself, too. I really felt I was doing my due diligence and that we all had an understanding, only to stand up and find out how wrong I was. Le sigh. They were all the way to my butt! 

I was so confused as to how the braids appeared to be the size I wanted, but there were SO many and they were SO heavy. Aaaahh! At first, I thought maybe it would loosen up over time and I could wait it out. Wrong! By the next day, I was ready to give up. I tried using steam, sprays and oils to loosen them, but could not get enough relief. I was irritable, my head was in a constant state of throbbing, my eyebrows were stationary (lol I can laugh now) and all I could think of was my edges snapping off. Consequently, I started taking my braids out ya'll. I was so mad at myself for the way this situation was playing out. Once I took the edges out I realized why I was having such a problem - there was way too much weave in my head! 

Left: my edges (stretched), Right: amount of weave taken off my edges

Left: center of my head, Right: amount of weave taken out of it

With the combination of the extreme tension and the ridiculous amount of hair in my head, I think a set back would have been inevitable if I hadn't done something about it. I got over the facts that I had spent so much money and it looked really pretty for the sake of my own sanity and the health of my hair. I would have been so upset if my hair suffered a major set back just from this style. Especially after I've been diligent about caring for it and getting it to its current healthy state. Call me crazy if you want, I don't care. That's just not worth it to me. Do you see the amount of weave on those little sections of my hair?!?! That is never okay to me! And it shouldn't be for anybody else, honestly. There were 16 braids just on my edges and 12 braids on that very small center section. 

Once I took my edges out, I taught myself how to box braid and turned those 16 braids into about 9 the next day. Relief! However, relieving my edges made the crown of my head very jealous. It was day 3 and I still could barely touch or move my hair. My scalp was so sore it would randomly send chills through my body and make me grimace. I've never even heard of that happening before! So, I started taking out that area, too, and by the end of the week I had taken out almost the whole top of my head. My scalp was so tender I couldn't even think of putting the braids back in for a couple of days, but I still had my hair!  Ha! That was all I cared about at this point. 

I actually did end up going back to that salon before I redid the middle section. Yep, hair half done and all. Just so they could witness how bad the situation was while I described the problems I had with the way my hair was handled. That, however, is another story for another post. Here's the difference between the amount of braids in the front of my hair before and after it was redone:

Before

After I redid my edges

What do you think? Would you have tried to wait it out longer??

38 comments african braiding salon, box braids, heavy box braids, protective styles, too tight box braids

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