Beyonce in braids
Thought I would write a long post about everything I know and everything I have learnt about braids! I don’t braid my own hair very often but I have been braiding my daughter’s hair for two months at a time consistently for almost three years now. Her hair has thrived and her hairline is intact. I will share my experiences from having to take care of her hair and making sure that she benefits from braids and that they do not ruin her hair. I hope you find this post useful.
Before getting braids
- Try and get your hair in good condition before braiding it. Do not use braids as a way to cover up and ignore your hair. Rather use them as a protective style – meaning you will keep taking care of your hair, even if it is plaited. Getting braids will not resolve any hair issues you may have. These are bound to continue even if your hair is hidden away.
- Choose a braid fibre that is light so your hair is not weighed down. I think nowadays almost all fibre falls into this category.
- If you can braid your own hair, rather do that. No one can be more gentle with your hair than you. If you can’t (like me), choose a braider that comes recommended. You want someone who is neat as well as someone who understands that braids should not be too tight.
- Wash, deep condition and moisturise your hair before it is braided. If you need to, blow dry it lightly. This helps in that the braider doesn’t have to deal with any detangling while they are doing your hair. They are likely to just rip through any tangles as they work!
Getting braids
- Super thin / micro braids look stunning but they can wreak havoc on your hair. The problem is that because they are so thin, if they get caught on anything they will rip out, taking your hair with them. The thinner parts in your hair also mean exponentially more knots when you take the braids out which really difficult to detangle. Rather opt for medium sized to large braids. More hair per braid means the hair holds up better to any tension.
- Many braiders will choose to take less hair around the hairline because the hair is shorter. This enables the hairline to look neater and also enables the braider to catch every little hair! This is not necessary and rather ask your braider not to do that. Smaller parts on the hairline often result in the braids falling and taking your hair with them. This is one of the causes of thinning hairline. There is no need to braid every single hair. You can always find a gel to neaten your hairline if you need to.
- Once your braids are done, do not style them or tie them tightly back for a few days. This allows your hair to grow out a bit and for the braids to loosen. If you need to get the braids off your face, rather use a hair band or tie them back very loosely. You will know when you can begin styling and tying them back because they will move freely and you will not feel any tightness or tension.
Braid care
- Treat your hair (braids) and scalp as two different things that each need to be taken care of. Take care of your hair as well as the scalp.
- Wash your braids weekly. I often get asked if this won’t make them look untidy and cause them to unravel. Trust me it won’t. Take a look at these pics where I have had the braids for eight weeks with weekly washing. Though my hair had grown the braids still look neat. When washing, concentrate on the scalp, massage it gently. Frequent washing helps to minimise product build up especially at the base of the braid. Product build up, dirt, dust and shed hair make up the knots we see when we take the braids out. You cannot really control the hair you shed but you can keep the braids clean!
- Dilute conditioner in water and spray onto the braids. Wear a shower cap for an hour or so before rinsing out the conditioner. Make sure to thoroughly rinse the braids to prevent any product buildup. Diluting the conditioner in water is so that it is easy to rinse out.
- Use a braid spray to moisturise the length of your hair every day. This is important. Hair still needs to be moisturised while it is in braids. If you don’t moisturise your hair, it will be super dry when you eventually take the braids out. This will cause it to be weak and to break as you take the braids out. You can buy a braid spray (I use African Pride braid spray) or you can make it yourself by mixing a combination of water, glycerine, any natural oils (like jojoba, coconut, castor, olive, grapeseed etc). You can even add aloe vera juice, a bit of conditioner as well as essential oils (eg tea tree, eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary etc) it all depends on your preference. When moisturising, concentrate on the parts of the braid with your hair. The braid fibre does not need any moisture.
- Decant your braid spray into a spray bottle. I find a spray bottle enables me to moisturise much faster. I am also able to get more coverage. Moisturise your hair generously, until the braids feel damp.
- Apply a bit of natural oil to your scalp every week after the braids have dried (when washed). This ensures that you apply it to a clean scalp. You can choose any natural oil or even combine two (or more) if you want to. You can also add a few drops of essential oils especially if your scalp itches or you get dandruff. You can apply the oil more than once a week if you feel you need to.
- Wear your braids for around 8 weeks max. The longer you keep your braids, the worse the knots get at the base of your braid.
- Cover your hair with a scarf at night while you sleep. It keep the braids neater, for longer.
- When you remove the braids, leave a couple of weeks between taking them out and getting new braids or relaxing your hair. In this time, make sure to give your hair some tlc to prepare it for the next round of braiding or for a relaxer.
Removing the braids
- Remove the braids yourself. Do not go to a salon for this.
- Once you are ready to remove the braids, give them a final wash to get rid of dirt, dust and product that you can.
- Smother the hair in a detangler. I use Organic Root Stimulator Softening Lotion. Be generous. This will enable the detangling to be easier and will also result in less hair breakage. Make sure there is detangler on each braid all the way up to where your hair ends.
- Begin undoing the braids from the back of your head. Do this so that you can undo them over several days if you have to, you will be able to tie the braids back and hide the fact that you have begun undoing them.
- Undo one braid, apply a bit more detangler at the base and gently comb out the shed hair. Make sure the hair is completely detangled before moving on to the next braid. This will ensure that you tackle knots and shed hair as you go. You will not be left with a head full of knots (which happens at salons!) After undoing and detangling a small section, twist up all the hair to prevent is tangling while you work.
- Once you are done undoing your whole head you should be left with a head full of twists.
- Undo the twists, do a final detangle and then wash, deep condition and moisturise.
- Make sure to detangle your hair thoroughly. You should not wash your hair before all the knots and tangled are out otherwise the tangles become worse.
- See this post that shows pictures of the detangling process and what I am describing above.
Follow this and you should not have any problems with braids 
Related articles
- Braids … again! (africanhairblog.com)
- Hair update – 8 weeks post relaxer (africanhairblog.com)
This was so needed! Thanks, Tendayi!
You’re welcome Kavuli!
Thanks for this! Its super useful. I plan to get some braids soon. Where do you get your braids done? Will this regime work for natural hair? especially when it comes to washing weekly
You’re welcome Anna
I get my braids done by the same woman who does my daughter’s hair. She lives outside SA and comes round during school holidays to braid kids.
This regime will work for natural hair too (my daughters hair is natural).
Wow, very detailed and thoruogh post. Thanks for the advice. My only issue is the removing the braids yourself *sigh* This is not a fun process, but you are right at the salon they wont be as gentle and careful as you will if you do it yourself. I will revert back to this post after I do braids again. Right now I am still giving my natural hair some TLC. Been washing and conditioning at home…letting the hair air dry with rollers like you suggested. The result is that my hair has so much more volume, I just love it and definately less breakage. See my blog for photos.
I’m having a texlaxer done this weekend, instead of the very harsh blow dry I usually have, I’ll opt for rollers under the dryer..that should be gentler on my hair.. right?
Thanks Tendayi. Have a great weekend!
Your hair definately has volume. Love it! Keep up with the tlc. Hair always responds.
Rollers under the drier will be much better than the blow drier because they make it very hot at salons. All the best to you
Great post Tendayi. I had my hair braided a week ago and plan to religiously follow the advice in this article to the letter!! I’m already dreading the unplaiting process though. But I know its all worth it. Thanx for the info again.
You’re welcome Abigail. Just undo slowly. Just an hour or two a day! That way it wont tire you out!
HI Tendayi
Thank you for the informative post. I notice that you like doing the three plait and not the twists. is there any special reason for this
Thanks Xoe
Its only because I have been using the same woman to do the braids and she doesnt know how to twist properly. Since I am planning to braid twice more this year I will find some other braid style.
This is sooo helpful. Thank you for this Tendayi.
You’re welcome
Reblogged this on ladyifelove and commented:
A beautifully written and informative braiding fact file from one of m favourite hair bloggers. When I decide to put my hair back in braids I’ll be following these steps. And I hope you all find it helpful too.
Love the post and its so timeous as I plan on braiding real soon! I’ll be referring back to this post A LOT!!! Thanx, Tendayi.
You’re welcome Eloise
What a lovely post. I am taking my daughter’s singles out now! And I have been having so many problems. She never wants to sit still long enough for me to just finish ! So, we are on day 2!
It takes me a few days to undo my daughter as well. I sometimes use the tv to get her to sit still!!
Yeaa…. we use the tv… the game… food… snacks… juice…. etc:)
Thanks Tendayi lm already having braids will certainly use your analysis. Welldone we look forward to many happy hair days in 2013.
welcome
Where do u find aloe vera juice?
In SA aloe vera juice is available in Dischem as well as health shops. You can also get it in supermarkets too – especially the ‘Natures Choice’ brand.
It’s amazing the things we take for granted. i’m always in braids and was sure there was nothing else to braids except they had to look to really nice. i’ve recently switched braiders coz i realised the old braider’s techniques were making my hair break and shed a whole lot more. my own detangling methods when undoing didn’t help either and also to top it all off, i was using a completely rubbish spray. thanks to this post, i think i’ll now be able to retain some significant length each time i get braided.
good luck Grace! There is definately more to braids than appearance!
Hi Tendayi,
I am taking off my braids today after having them for 8 weeks and following all your suggestions (washing and DC weekly, spraying with a moisturizing spray daily), and I must say, I can feel the difference in my hair from the times I braided before. It’s much softer and so healthier!
Thank you so much!
You’re welcome
Do it every time you braid. Your hair will thank you!!
Hi Tendayi
Thanks a lot for the braids bilble. I am getting a weave(bonding) in a week’s time. How should I take care of my hair ,is it the same as the braids?
I do not have much experience with weaves (bonding) Patience. I dont know how the bonds would react to the frequent washing. What I do know is that regardless of the hairstyle, hair needs to be washed and moisturised regularly.
If anyone knows please help!!
Thank you. That’s Kavuli’s blog. I wasn’t sure whether it works fir bonding.
Hello What do you think of Brazilian Keratin treatments on African Hair?
I have been wary of them because of the fact that many of them give off formaldehyde as a by product of the process. I know that some manufacturers claim to have safer ones that do not emit this but I haven’d done enough research on them though to say much.
hi Tendayi
I am in the process of removing my braids after carrying them for 9 weeks, and your post on removing braids has been so helpful, unfortunately i couldn’t find the Softening lotion you recommended, but i did find the moisturizing lotion which really helped, now removing my braids is no longer so painful. Thank you
You’re welcome Lainah. You can use any other product that is a hair softener or a detangler. I have used JO’M hair softener before and it worked great.
Hi Tendayi.Thanks for sharing your experience and valuable information.I live in Pretoria and I just wanted to know who does your braids? I’m planning to have my hair braided for winter and would prefer that a professional do it for me….not looking forward to damaged edges(if you know what I mean) Your reference would be much appreciated…Thank you!
Hi Jen
I’ll email the details to you.