As I mentioned in this post, it is important to continue to take care of your hair while it is in a protective style. It is counter-productive to “protect” your hair and then have to deal with breakage once the style is out, due to lack of maintenance.
Today makes exactly 21 days since I’ve had my Crochet braids in and I’ve managed to keep my hair in good condition with these steps.
- Wash/Cleanse – I’ve shampooed my hair on a weekly basis using a new Ayurvedic Shampoo bar that I’ve had the pleasure testing out. Every 2 or 3 days, I used a Q-tip dipped in some Witch Hazel with lightly clean my scalp. This helps to keep my clean free from build up which can cause itching and flaking.
- Condition – I had to get creative with this one since my hair was braided to my scalp. I decided to make a Herbal Tea rinse using conditioning herbs like Marshmallow root, Fenugreek, Calendula Flowers, Nettle and Rose buds. After shampooing, I applied the tea to my hair and let it since for a bit, then rinsed about 90% out, the rest was left in.
- Moisturize – I made a concoction containing a tiny bit of Jane Carter’s revitalizing leave in, Giovanni Direct leave in, Distilled water, Avocado oil(can penetrate the hair shaft) and a few drops of Tea tree oil mixed together. This acted a my leave-in/moisturizer. I used the Jane Carter bottle to spritz it onto my hair daily.
- Seal – I used Jojoba Oil (it closely resembles our natural sebum produced by the scalp) mixed with a bit of Castor oil, Rosemary oil and Peppermint oil in a applicator bottle and applied after my moisturizer. It felt tingly and GREAT. I made sure to give my edges some EXTRA loving 🙂
With proper maintenance, I think my scalp held up well. I didn’t fill in the spaces as my hair grew solely due to laziness, plus I mostly wore my hair down covering my edges and my ears.
So here we are, Day 21 of a planned 30 Day protective style, it was well maintained and looks OK but I think it’s time for it to COME OUT! I really miss my hair. I used to roll my eyes when people said that but know I understand.
Plus I want to give my hair a good deep conditioning treatment, so I think I’ll say good bye this weekend!
Plus I want to give my hair a good deep conditioning treatment, so I think I’ll say good bye this weekend!
How do you maintain your protective styles? Share you techniques and tips below.
Until next time
How much do you use of each ingredient for the seal?
Hi, I spritz my scalp with water and gently rubbed a shampoo bar on my scalp. You can also dilute shampoo in an applicator bottle for easy reach. I didn’t have any issue with them coming undone. They took about 3 hours to dry but you can speed up the process by sitting under a hair dryer.
How exactly do you wash with the braids in? They didn’t come undone? And how long did it take to dry?
Thanks Dovie 🙂 That’s the exact reason I used the pre-braided hair. Plus I was really in a mood for senegalese twists 🙂
lol..you’re welcome Ash! You can use conditioner and dilute with water and apply with to your hair that way, just make sure you wash it out cause if left on your scalp (esp if it has silicones) it can cause it to be itchy. I got my herbs from Nature’s Grocers/Vitamin Cottage. If you have one close by you can get some there. I haven’t seen them at Whole Foods though..
Yes, I plan on doing a some kind of strengthening treatment since I left them in for so long. I also did a light protein before I put them in. Just remember to follow up the protein/strengthening treatment with a moisturizing Deep conditioner. 🙂
Thank you and you’re welcome :0
Very informative! I think I will use this on the braid underneath my weave! Thanks for sharing!
yay!! Thanks so much for this post. I’m gonna have to figure out my own way bc some of that stuff I haven’t the first clue how to get lol. I was gonna ask u, would you do a protein treatment after u take them down?
I LOVE that your crochet style were twists!! I think I’m going to go that route the next time I put my crochet back in…the curly hair tangled too easily!