Fall Protective Styling: How to Prep Your Hair for Braids

Pre-poo

This is always my first step. For those that don’t know, this is when you apply an oil (or oils) to your hair and scalp prior to shampooing the hair. This helps prevent the hair from being stripped of moisture right from the very beginning. It also softens the hair immensely and helps with detangling. I like to use one of the ‘powerhouse oils’, like coconut oil or olive oil (mixed with a little bit of JBCO) to pre-poo. But you can use whichever oils you prefer.

2

Shampoo

I always shampoo prior to installing twists – and I mean ACTUAL (sulfate free) shampoo, not a cleansing conditioner. Since I know my hair will be wound up for a few weeks and I won’t have total access to my hair, I like to go into braids with CLEAN hair. Plus clean hair takes absorbs moisture much better.

3

Condition & Detangle

This is when I like to detangle my hair. I saturate my hair in a conditioner with lots of slip and detangle properly and carefully. This is actually the only time I use a comb (a WIDE TOOTH one) to detangle my hair. Take it from someone who’s done braids since the age of 6, detangling your hair PROPERLY saves you a wholeeeee lot of agony and possibly tears when you start braiding.

4

Protein or Henna Treatment

It’s important to do some sort of strengthening treatment before installing braids. This is especially important if you’re adding extensions to your style – the extra weight could cause breakage if your hair is not properly strengthened.

Your hair will also be undergoing a whole lot of manipulation while it’s being braided so you want to minimise breakage. When I have time, I do the whole henna process but otherwise, I use my trusty (and super cheap) Palmers Coconut Oil pack.

5

Moisturizing Deep Conditioner

By now, we should all know to follow a protein or henna treatment up with a moisturizing one – you have to counter all that strength with moisture!! Also, you won’t have full access to your hair for a while and you may not even deep condition for quite a while so it’s important to make sure you do it now!

Find your most moisturizing one and go to town. You can even steam your hair, wear a heat cap or added some extra ingredients (e.g. oils, honey, Ayurvedic powders) for some added goodness.

6

Moisturize & Seal

After you’ve done all that, you need to make sure your hair stays moisturised. I usually do the LCO method when prepping for braids – that’s liquid, cream, oil and it works best for me when I’m doing a long term style. You can do the LOC method or LO, CO, LOCO – whatever floats your boat! And I tend to use a thicker oil or a butter (e.g. shea) to seal my hair.

7

Dry & Stretch

Here’s where you have options! But my advice is to STRETCH YOUR HAIR AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND MAKE SURE IT’S DRY! There is nothing more uncomfortable as a client, and probably as a stylist, than braiding unstretched and/or damp/wet hair. I can tell you that it’s not fun.

I try to steer clear of too much heat so I tend to put my hair in one or two braids to stretch it out (usually overnight). By the time I take it out, my hair is usually about 70-80% dry and I use my hair dryer to stretch the hair out – because the hair is already dry/almost dry, I don’t have to use too much heat.