I get frustrated every time I think about the fact that I'm a Black girl who can't braid. To clarify, I can easily complete a simple, three-strand braid, but my attempts to do anything more complex than that — cornrows, french braids, fishtails — always prove to be a joke. I know I'm not alone in this, and it's tough when you're someone who frequently wears protective styles [1], but it's even tougher at a time like this when hairstylists aren't so easily accessible. It was for this reason that I decided out of sheer desperation that I'd try my hand at doing my own box braids [2] — and you can imagine my surprise when I actually didn't hate the results.
I can't think of a more perfect style to wear than braids (or any protective style, really) when making an appointment with a hairdresser is close to impossible. Protective styles give you the option to tuck away your ends and lay off your hair for at least a few weeks at a time so you don't have to worry about manipulating or styling it every few days. I chose to wear box braids [3] because I knew it'd be an easy way to keep the manipulation to a minimum, but I knew going into it that doing the style on myself wasn't going to be an easy feat by any means.
It was a journey, but I managed to get the job done. Here are a few of my biggest takeaways.
Tip #1: Wash and Moisturise Your Hair First
It's much easier to style hair when it's clean and properly moisturised. Before getting started, I shampooed with OGX Nourishing + Coconut Milk Shampoo [4] ($6) and followed up with the Dove Beauty Moisture Recovery Mask [5] ($7) to deep condition for 30 minutes afterward. I then applied Dove Beauty Moisture Locking Leave In Conditioner [6] ($7) and let my hair air-dry instead of blowing it out, but I made sure to moisturise with jojoba oil before installing each braid.
I'd recommend you also consider washing your braiding hair. If you've ever dealt with itchy box braids, know that it's not always the result of a dry scalp; some synthetic braiding hairs contain an alkaline coating that can irritate the scalp if you don't wash them before installing. I used three packs of Xpression Braiding Hair [7] ($6) and soaked them all in apple cider vinegar [8] to get rid of the coating before rinsing them out a day ahead of time. Once I was done, I hung up the bundles on a towel rack to let them air-dry before starting my braids.
Tip #6: Don't Forget to Accessorise
The only thing more fun than wearing braids are wearing accessories with said braids. Once I was done braiding, I decided to liven up my hair a bit by tying some gold yarn [9] around a few of my braids and decking some others out in hair rings [10]. Of course, this isn't a required step, but it's a fun and cheap add-on.