My experience with box braids

Hey y’all! I just took out my box braids today. I kinda miss them and I kinda don’t. Feels good to be able to feel my scalp again, and eventually rub my fingers through my hair…can’t do that quite yet because my fingers keep getting caught in the tangles 🙂 But, since it was my first time getting box braids, or any other kind of braids besides cornrows, I figured I’d share what I loved and didn’t love quite so much about having them.

First of all, they felt so darn heavy. I remember on the first day, during the night I started to rethink my decision because my scalp felt like it was on fire! They weren’t necessarily braided too tight, but I could definitely feel the tension. And then a couple days later, the itching started. OMG, I really wanted to take them out after a week. But after I cleansed my scalp with witch hazel and greased my scalp with Sulfer 8, I finally got the itching to stop. Thank God!!!!! I also recommend cleansing your scalp with witch hazel at least once a week because I did, and my hair is still very clean and no product bulild-up. Be careful not to use too much product, like braid spray so that you don’t end up with knots from product build-up.

This is how they looked a day after I had gotten them done. They did kinda look helmet like because they hadn’t loosened up yet.

After a couple weeks, I was finally able to style them without my scalp hurting. I Googled how to style box braids and was able to find some styles I could recreate. Here are some of my favorites. But first, I have to show you why I could never wear them all down…I have no idea why they braided my hair like this, and if I ever get them done again, I’ll be sure to tell them not to. But I’m so annoyed because I never could just wear them all down.

Side French braid…or whatever

I really don’t know what to call this braid, but I’m calling it a French braid. I thought it was super cute, and an alternative to wearing them all down.

Half top-knot

Hands-down, this was my favorite look of all. Because my braids were larger, and I had so many of them, I never could quite get them all up at once, so I had to settle for a half top-knot. It was super cute and I wore them like this the often.

Side pony

I only wore them like this once while I was on vacay,  but they looked super cute like this, and especially with my big, floppy hat.

High pony

This was my second fav look and I wore them like this the most. I hated them falling into my face, so I had to wear them in a way where they would stay out of my face.

I kept them for about 6 weeks. I had only planned on keeping them for 4, but ended up keeping them a little longer. I did love the break from doing my hair everyday, the versatility, and keeping my hair protected from heat and styling…but they were just so heavy. If I do them again, I want them done with fewer braids, and in a way that I can wear them all down without falling into my face. Once I started taking them out, I also noticed some of my hair had knotted for some reason. It wasn’t dirt or product build up, but I’d definitely recommend if you have soft/fine hair like mine, don’t keep them too long. They’re cute, but not worth losing your hair over. I freaked out so bad when I saw the knots, but thankfully the hair braider was able to get them out, and I didn’t lose any hair! It actually looks like it grew quite a bit, but it had already been 8 weeks since I had gotten a relaxer before I got them.

Next time I get my vacay hair, I’ll most likely stick with cornrows because they’re easy, but I’m glad I tried box braids, and I’d recommend them if you have fine/soft hair like me because they did well with my hair. If you think of any questions, just let me know!