So, yeah.
Hair is closer to waist length than I thought. My thumb on the right is where my natural waist is. Should be fully WL by year end.
Box braids with extensions did not happen. As much as I really, really wanted them, I simply could NOT bring myself to fork over the insulting price that I was quoted to get them done. I get it. I have a lot of hair, and – to my surprise – it is much closer to getting back to waist length than I realized – but c’mon son (a little piece of NYC that came with me to ATL)…more than double what other people are paying? A naturalista’s version of the buyer’s dilemma…
I was thoroughly disappointed. But I quickly realized that my hair on its own could rock box braids. I previously did them on a regular basis when I was pregnant with kiddo #1. Not sure why I fell off…they led to a lot of length retention. In addition, its a protective style without the added tension that comes from adding hair.
These are just pulled back and secured with a bobby pin.
And so, they are back. Box braids without extensions. I started with freshly washed and detangled hair. I spritzed each section with water, then coated strands with Oyin Handmade Honey Dew, and finally sealed with shea butter before braiding. To preserve, I have been spritzing my hair lightly with plain water, shea butter over the roots, and tying down with a silk scarf at night. This has kept the frizzes at bey. I have also made sure to spritz and seal my ends every other night.
Chunky, medium-sized braids.
I decided to create my own little protective-style-self-challenge. In a perfect world I would love to keep these in for about 6 weeks, but realistically speaking, I want to start with keeping in the same set of braids for stretches of 3 weeks, separated by 1 week of rest and deep conditioning. August 2nd marks the end of a 3 week period. I might have to make some adjustments as I start a new rotation on August 4th, but for now, I’ll just keep spritzing and sealing.
Anyone rock box braids with their own hair on a regular basis? How long do you keep them in? What’s your regimen?
Naturally Kinkerbelle 