Braid Hairstyles for Black Women
Braid Hairstyles for Black Women with Natural Hair...
Protective styles are awesome. Full stop. They are the remedy for hair growth, they help us to achieve they desire for a low-maintenance-yet-still-gorgeous hairstyle and, they also have a way of letting us tap into our creative side. Plus, is it just me or is there something that’s super-empowering about wearing braids or twists? Yeah, without question, there has not been one time when I have gotten a protective style and regretted it.
DO NOT use non-water based products. I adore my hair braiders; I really do. I go to a shop that is filled with nothing but happy Kenyan women. It’s a beautiful and soul-uplifting experience every time. In fact, there is really only one thing that I would change and it’s the Let’s Jam gel that they put on my hair as they are braiding it. I get that it smooths my natural texture down so that it blends in with the extensions. But, after a couple of weeks, it tends to create build-up.
What that has taught me is if I decide to put any kind of other product in my hair (which is pretty rare, to tell you the truth), I make sure that it’s water-based. That way, it penetrates my hair without caking up as much. What’s a good example of what I’m talking about? A spritz bottle that contains witch hazel and a little bit of tea tree and lavender essential oil. It protects my scalp without any flaking or build-up.
A great deal of Black women have a head full of beautiful hair that they never show because they low-key think non-Black texture hair is better.
“I love myself so I love the way I look without adding anything to me, such as, makeup, extensions, etc. I’ll wear extra things for fun but not because they define me.”
Recently, I have learned that 4b fine hair does not thrive in extensions and hair dye jobs done wrong. At first, I thought it was just me. I thought I was doing the right thing when I wore weave and braids to protect my hair while I attempted to grow it waist-length.
However, there have been certain things that I have done while wearing a protective style that I wish I had done differently. Those are the things that have inspired me to pen this piece for you. Whether you’re thinking about getting some box braids, goddess locs, Senegalese twists, feed-in braids or any other kind of braid-or-twist-related protective style, if you want them to last and your own hair to remain healthy in the process, here are some things that you absolutely should NOT do.