Emerge From Summer With Healthier Hair

Have you ever experienced the trauma and disappointment of taking out your braids, only to find your hair dry, brittle, lacking its former luster, and the style you do after won’t last past lunch? Do you dread the day you have to remove your braids? If you want to know why your hair style doesn’t last after coming out of a protective style, it’s because protective styles rob hair of hydration.

We’ve all been here.

Give yourself some grace, and get it right this time around. Change the story.

Following these simple, yet comprehensive steps will prevent this from happening to you.

Here, in this blog, lies the cheat codes to emerging from protective styles with healthier hair.

The key to maintaining healthy hair and protecting the life of the hair you plan to keep, lies in the often overlooked steps of pre (and during) and post braid care.

In this blog post, we'll delve into the importance of these essential hair care practices and show you how they can transform your hair, and emerge out of it with the healthiest hair of your life.

Imagine your hair like a lush green forest, full of life and vibrancy. Now, picture what would happen when that forest goes through a scorching summer with inadequate access to water. The leaves will wither and dry up, losing it’s life and beauty. Likewise, without proper care and enough access to water, protective styles can leave your hair just like those dried leaves, devoid of moisture and vitality. According to Thesaurus.com, endurance, stamina, strength, among others, are other words for vitality. This is what is sacrificed when you wear protecitve styles and overlook the most overlooked steps.

Pre-Braid Care: Setting the Foundation

Before jumping into those fancy braids (or weave), it's crucial to prepare your hair adequately. Your hair should be in good enough condition to go into a protective style. Pre-braid care helps set a solid foundation to safeguards your hair's health throughout the process. Here are some key steps to consider:

1. Hydrate: Start by building up your hydration levels. The literal definition of hydrate means cause to absorb water. You can do this by cleansing and conditioning every 5-10 days for at least 4 weeks prior to going into braids or weave.

2. The Protective Prep: Within 3 days of your install, invest in a salon grade molecular repair treatment that repairs the hair at the molecular level. This will require going into the salon and getting it cleansed with a clarifying shampoo and providing the molecular repair service. This will mitigate damage, reinforce strength and elasticity to your strands, making installation easier for your braider/stylist, AND you can bid adieu to post-braid dread as it makes hair easier to remove. Clean, prepped hair provides a strong and clean canvas for your stylist to work with.

3. Trimming Egregious Split Ends: I know many braiders do not like freshly trimmed ends. However, when the ends resemble crows feet, the ends tend to intertwine while the braider is swiftly braiding. This causes the braider to pull apart the ends while braiding. Your ends will suffer damage at every turn, including the removal of the braids. As a result, the splits will travel up the shaft, causing irreparable damage. You don’t have to trim it bluntly, but it’s better to be safe, than sorry.

But if your hair is damaged and dehydrated before going into a protective style, you will emerge from braids with even more chronically damaged and dehydrated hair. Hair in this condition need to stay out of protective styles, get a hair cut and chill.

Sustaining Hair Health

You are in your stunning new braids (or weave), now what? To maintain the integrity of your own precious locks, it is crucial to keep a healthy scalp and ensure your hair stays hydrated. Here’s how to do just that:

1. Keep your scalp clean! Cleanse the follicles you want to keep. Cleanse with a superior quality, gentle cleanser- Malibu Hard Water Shampoo for your first lather.

2. Follow up with a superior quality hydrating cleanser. The G.O.A.T. of hydrating cleansers is Innersense Hydrating Cream Hairbath.

3. Condition with a rich, hydrating conditioner. AG Boost, Innersense Hydrating Cream Conditioner, Innersense Color Radiance have worked wonders for those who rock braids/weaves. Rinse all conditioner thoroughly to prevent buildup at the base of your braids.

4. Set: The hair you don’t set, is the hair that will frizz and be susceptible damage. After you have rinsed all conditioner, towel blot excess water and use a foam, such as, The Doux Mousse Def Styling Foam and set the hair under a hooded dryer.

5. Keep Your Edges Intact: Avoid excessive manipulation. Minimize excessive pulling, tugging, or styling that can strain your hair and lead to breakage. Be gentle when styling your braids and opt for protective hairstyles that don't put excessive tension on your hair.

Simple.

Post-Braid Care: Resuscitate

Post-Braid Care Service

This is an actual photo of a client’s hair after receiving a post-braid care service. This is a curl set after coming out of the dryer.

Congratulations! You've confidently flaunted your braids for weeks (hopefully, not months), but now it's time to bid them a fond farewell. However, rest assured, your hair's revival awaits. Enter the realm of proper post-braid care, the essential nourishment for maintaining lustrous locks and preserving the longevity of your post-braid style. Here's your roadmap to hair revival:

1) Clarify: Once you have removed your braids and removed all shed hair by combing or brushing them out, use a gentle clarifying shampoo (Malibu Un-Do-Goo). Carefully cleanse your scalp to remove dirt and buildup that accumulated during those weeks of not being able to fully access the hair and scalp. Slough off dirt by smoothing the shaft, working from the ends and working your way up. Scrub your scalp with your finger tips and rinse. Follow up with a hydrating cleanser.

2) Hydrate: On your second lather, use a hydrating shampoo (Hydrating Cream Hairbath), smoothing your cuticles in a downward motion. This helps to align the cuticles, making it easier to detangle, and retain moisture.

3) Lock in Hydration: Using a good quality moisturizing conditioner like those mentioned above will seal in the hydration. Use generously. While conditioner is in the hair, gently detangle with The PeterKINdred Healthy Hair Detangling Brush, working your way up from ends to scalp. Brush the scalp with the brush to gently massage the scalp.

4) Style: Opt for a style that doesn’t require metal plates.

5) Rehab and Resuscitate: Book your post-braid service to rehabilitate and resuscitate worn out stands. This restores your hair’s elasticity and vitality, making hair bounce back and last longer.

Conclusion

Protecting your hair is actually taking care of it, rather than avoiding it. Pre, during, and post braid care may require the extra time and effort you sought to avoid, but the rewards are worth it.

Is it “protective” if we’re creating a breeding ground for bacteria? Are we really concerned about hair loss if we’re not maintaining a healthy scalp by keeping it clean? By following these comprehensive steps, you can enjoy the ease that healthier hair provides, minimize damage, and prolong the life of your future hair styles.

So, embrace the power of pre, during, and post braid care. Give your hair the ability to flourish and radiate with vitality on it’s own. Your hair deserves the utmost care and attention as it is the first and foremost part of your body, and with these practices, you'll unlock the secrets to EASY healthy, gorgeous locks that turn heads wherever you go.

Discover nurturing routines with The Ultimate Protective Styling Guide complete with video tutorials and on how, what, why. Skip to the sign up to receive your copy when it becomes available. Make yourself a success story.