During the warmer months, my go-to hairstyle is braids. However, in order for me to keep them in for a long time, I have to practice braid maintenance. There are specific techniques that I trust to keep my braids intact and keep them clean. It took a lot of trial and error to realize that certain products work better during the warmer months and don’t weigh my hair down. Here are a few of my favorite braid maintenance tips and products I use during the warmer months.
Less Is More
I used to be oblivious to this idea, I admit it. I would pile on mousse, edge controls, oils and sheen sprays just to make sure my braids would last for a long time. Big mistake. Instead of making my braids last longer all it did was force me to take them out sooner. The build-up was no joke! Little did I know my own hair oils, light mousse here and there and a tiny amount of edge control was enough to maintain my braids. I’d only apply these products once a week if needed and my braids were good to go. Here are a few of my go-to products to use:
Understand How To Properly Wash Your Braids
For a while, I was under the impression that you could wash your braids the same way you wash your regular hair, wrong again. The same scrubbing technique and heavy conditioning we do with our regular hair can be detrimental to the neatness and style of your braids. From personal experience, it would make my roots extremely frizzy and you’d start to see my hair strands curl up outside of the braids. I had to do research to fully understand the right way to clean my hair without making my hair a fizz central. Here are a couple of routines I follow when washing my braids:
Braids are used as protective styling to avoid manipulation on your natural hair. So we shouldn’t be using as many products or washing our braids as regularly as we would our own hair. Let your braids breathe and the protective style will do the work for you. Try different techniques to see what works best for your hair so your braids can look fresh and last a long time.