Crochet Braids: Maintenance

"Maintiaing my crochet braids has been super super easy!  For the most part, in the mornings I just shake and go...  I leave any fussing with my hair to the evenings when I have time on my hands, so that in the morning I just take off my scarf, shake and I'm out the door!  BLISS!!!!"

Don't get me wrong, these braids do take a little bit of maintenance to keep them looking good, but it really isn't that much at all.   I usually 'work on the braids' every 3 days but no more often than that: 

Moisturising:

I moisturise my own hair, which is in cornrows, either every night or every other night.  I use either a 50:50 mixture of Taliah Waajid Protective Mist Bodifier dilitued with plain water from my shower filter or my moisturising spritz which contains rosewater, aloe vera juice,  Cantu Shea Butter Leave In Conditioning Treatment, grapeseed oil and rosemary essential oil.  I spray this onto my scalp and onto my cornrows (I have even sprayed this concoction throughout the lengths of the extension hair and it seemed to work well).

Sealing:

To be honest, I haven't really been sealing my hair with oil since installing these braids.  *Gasp*  If I had my hot six oil mist with me I would spray it onto my braids but as this sprayable oil is currently elsewhere I have been doing without it.   I have however, been applying Organix Coconut Milk Anti Breakage Serum to my moisturised ends which are secured  together at the base of the cornrows in a ponytail holder.

Growth Aid:

I started off applying the MN oil mix to my scalp at regular intervals.  I started off by applying it every other day for the first 5 days then I increased this to every day.  I am currently on a 1 day break, prior to washing my braids, and will commence with applying daily as I have been for the past 4 days.

Tidying Up:

During my regular tidy up sessions, I section my hair into two halves (parted down the middle).  I then clip one half up using a butterfly clip then start working on the first side.  I spritz the extension hair with either my SCurl No Drip Activator or the same moisturising spritz which I use on my own hair and smooth through carefully.

This is me straight after removing my headscarf, which only covers my hairline.  I sleep on a satin pillow.

Next, beginning at the first cornrow (right above my ear) I then begin to seperate out each of the crochets in sections of hair using a picking motion, to make sure they are not overly clumped together.

Items Used:  Butterfly clip, moisturising spritz and styling gel (I forgot to take a picture of the scissors).

Picking out and unclumping the small sections of hair.

During picking through the sections I cut out any frizzy or tangled pieces of hair by holding the scissors in a downward angle so the ends are layered as opposed to blunt cut.


Finally I grab a good glob of Organics Olive Oil Styling Gel on my finger tips and run this through the length of the extension hair.  I then take some of the individual braids and twirl them around my fingers to define the curl and then snip away any further tangles or frizzies that I come across.

I take this amount of gel and apply it to the hair using a quick smoothing action.

Getting my twirl on.  I do this for about 1 or 2 minutes maximum.

A quick shake - yep this is the part I do every day....I'm not gonna lie, it is a headache.

Et voilà....my hair is all done in less than 10mins and now I don't have to mess with it for another 3 days!

I had no time to get a decent photo - looking ropey after running around after my sisters little boy all weekend!!!

Personally, I wouldn't be able to keep this hair in for 2 months which some people have claimed to do.  I don't think this Aftress Water Wave hair would hold up that long, which is fine by me because I wouldn't want to keep it in that long.  To me the fact I can easily do this style myself and it takes a relatively short amount of time is a real winner for me.  It will definitely be my go to style for the foreseeable along with my beloved kinky twists.  If I transition to natural hair I will definitely do so with the regular help of crochet braids as I can continue to deep condition at regular intervals between installs and have really easy access to my scalp during the install.  I'm saying all this despite the fact that twice in the past week the BF has called me "Moses" due to my expanding centre parting as my hair is growing and the cornrows seperating and becoming wider apart because of this.  I can rectify this with the addition of a few strategically placed crochets, that should shut him up!

Can you tell....I LOVE MY CROCHET BRAIDS!!!??

It has now been 2 weeks since I last washed and deep conditioned my hair.  I'm pleased that I have not experienced any significant itchies thus far which is great, especially since I have been regularly applying growth aid.  Even so, I know that I need to keep my scalp healthy and a healthy scalp is a clean one.  I will therefore be attempting to wash and condition my hair tomorrow evening.  I have done a fair bit of research and there are varied accounts of how to wash your hair in crochet braids (wet shampoo vs dry shampoo).  I hope it doesn't matt up on me so I can get another 2 weeks out of this style.  If it does go all pear shaped I can always take it down and redo it so it's no real biggie.

Wish me luck!