DIY Box Braids on Natural Hair


Almost waist-length

Hello everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, I installed box braids on my hair by myself. Yes. Hold On! 

I have had my hair out for about 6 months plus and I felt it was due for a protective style. The last one was kinky twists which I did in September 2013 and rocked for about 3 months before my big chop. Fast- forward till today, I've been able to grow my hair out successfully with my edges in tact and I just needed to tuck them in for a few weeks. Well, I decided on box braids since it was the easiest to make. Problem was, I didn't have a capable stylist and I wasn't ready to put my edges in jeopardy. Prior to now, the idea of box braiding my hair myself had crossed my mind and so I went on Youtube to satisfy my curiosity. Long story short, I  started with my mum's hair. By the time, I was ready for mine, after a few trials, I had fairly perfected the skill of braiding and so I was ready.  

Because I cherish my edges.
Prep. 
  •  Two days before, I deep conditioned with Organics Hair Mayonnaise, washed with African Naturalistas Black Natural Shampoo, conditioned with African Naturalistas Moisturizing and Detangling Conditioner and moisturized with Hawaiian Silk Herbal 16-in-1 moisturizer freebie from NITC8, sealed with Castor oil and Shea butter(LOC method) and then braided my hair in sections.
  • Bought 1 pack of Xpression extensions, Color 2. The big size. ( Should have bought one small one along but I didn't want the braids to be too full so I made up my mind to make do with the single one)
  • Cut the extensions into 3 equal parts (Sorry no pictures, maybe next time)
  • Took each one and stretched it(like the stylists do)
  • After which I moisturized each one with EVOO(Extra Virgin Olive Oil). No, I didn't comb it. I probably would next time 
  • The morning of the day I braided my hair, I quickly co-washed my hair(the same one in sections two days earlier) and allowed it to air-dry. 

The back is slightly bigger. Love it still.

Procedure
  •  As my hair was still in sections, 9 to be exact, I picked it each one after the other, moisturized with shea butter again, divided it into smaller sections of about 3 or 4( I ended up using my fingers instead of a rat-tail comb/cutting comb) and began braiding. 
  • It took my about 4-5 hours to go round my head sitting in front of a mirror even though I almost ran out of extensions. It was raining cats and dogs so I couldn't go out to get more. 
  • I unconsciously left my edges out. I didn't know when it became a ''brush'' style. Lol 
  • When I was done, I dunked my hair into a bowl of hot water(there was no one at home. I promise, I was careful.) to smoothen the ends. 


Maintenance 
  • Because of my dry scalp, I spray my scalp with my hair spritz daily.
  • Co-wash every 2 weeks concentrating on my scalp and moisturize and seal afterwards. 



I plan to leave it in for about 4 weeks before taking it down and re-installing 4 weeks later. Surprisingly I didn't find it strenuous or tasking. I guess that was the whole idea considering the number of braids. So yeah its some I plan to do over and over and possibly try twists and others. I'm DIY-savvy like that.

So, what do you guys think? How did I fair? Is it something you might actually consider?

Love, knits and knots
eBunitehair









8 comments

  1. Love the size of your braids! I'm currently installing senegalese twists on my own hair, after googling all day yesterday (I've had my hair out for two months now, weekly styling does get a bit tiring after a couple of months, I think). It's my second attempt; this time around it's going better, thank goodness. I youtubed box braids tutorials but felt discouraged when I saw the process of dividing the extension hair before braiding. Kudos to you!

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  2. To everyone that can install extensions themselves, I say kudos to you.

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  3. That's wonderful. You did great. Don't tink I can tho

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  4. Appreciate this post. Will try it out.

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  5. Thanks for finally writing about >"DIY Box Braids on Natural Hair"
    <Liked it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Howdy just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of
    the pictures aren't loading properly. I'm not
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    ReplyDelete
  7. Begins at newcomers stage and goes by to advanced.

    ReplyDelete

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