So a couple years ago I traveled to beautiful, tropical Cancun for a girlfriend's birthday celebration. Between the balmy night air, swimming and endless dancing (or at least my version of it) I knew my curls (Natasha) would become quite unruly...in addition to that, I wouldn't have the time to care for her properly.
It became my quest to find a low maintenance, carefree style that was safe for my natural hair. After searching Instagram and YouTube for endless hours for inspiration, I stumbled upon Crochet Braids! The whole process was amazingly easy and taking them down was quick as well. The major key for me was that my natural hair was perfectly protected and healthy while wearing this style.
Here's the process of having my crochet's installed, which is easily my favorite protective style.
Although this was a couple years ago, protective styling is perfect for anytime! And since the weather is breaking, I thought I'd share my tips on preserving the look.
- Deep condition your hair prior to having the braids installed. I used our Leave In to blow dry. This helps to nourish the hair as it is braided away.
- Mixing the texture of your bundles will create a more natural look. I mixed 27, 30 & P4/30 in Cuban Ripple & Dominican Deep.
- Preserve your crochets with a large satin bonnet or scarf at night.
- Moisturize daily with a leave in conditioner, our Rice Flower & Shea held me down wonderfully! I also used the Curl Refresher Spray daily as well.
- I did wash my hair once while having the style. I mostly concentrated on cleansing and rinsing my scalp. I let it air dry.
- Trim away fuzzy ends. The hair I used shed a LOT, so I trimmed quite often.
- Grab a cute headband, hat, scarf or even create a cute top bun and rock your new look!
Natural hair is empowering, fun and and so versatile, but every now and again, life happens or you just crave a change and I think crochet braids are a wonderful option that's easy on the natural health of your curls and with so many hair textures and colors, the options are truly endless! This style lasted me about 6 weeks.
Happy Protective Styling!
