Trying new hairstyles are always a plus, especially when it’s a style you’ve always wanted to wear. For me, box braids has always been a look that I’ve wanted try experiment with and fortunately for me, I had $120 to spend on getting my hair done. I had never had these types of braids before so the whole shopping for a specific type of hair, sitting in a chair for 5-6 hours, my neck about to snap because my head is 10 pounds heavier experience was quite interesting. I have had my hair braided before when I was younger but never with added hair. The finished product was beautiful, I loved my braids. However, nobody warned me of the difficulties I would experience when my box braids were installed.
1. They weigh a ton.
If you’re someone like myself who has never had box braids or any other style that involves synthetic hair, you don’t know how heavy all that hair is until it’s installed. Despite what people make it seem, my neck felt like it was working overtime just to keep my head up. If you know you wouldn’t like that feeling then box braids might not be for you.
2. Itchy Scalp?
Your scalp is super exposed to the weather with box braids, so keeping your scalp moisturized is essential. If you don’t put some type of oil or moisturizer on your scalp, your head is going to itch all day and night! A couple of other reasons your scalp may be irritated is the alkaline residue that is in the packaged hair, or the braids themselves may be too tight.
3. No Bumps Allowed.
After I got my braids done, they didn’t feel too heavy but I definitely felt the extra pressure on my head. When I tried to wrap my braids up later that night, the braids in the back and on the sides of my head felt like they were pulling my skin off. It was very uncomfortable but I just figured they were suppose to be tight so they can last for a while. A couple days go by and my head has been itching like crazy! I was feeling on the back of my neck plus by my temples and I discovered some small bumps. On top of my braids being too tight, it didn’t help that I was scratching my head like I had fleas. The severe irritation caused bumps and slight discoloration around my hairline and the back of my neck.
4. Beware of the flakes.
Since I’m natural, my hair is always in a simple style such as a bun or ponytail, that way my scalp isn’t too exposed. Your scalp is similar to your skin in a sense, because whether it’s cold, windy or even hot your skin and scalp will become dry therefore inducing flakes. In order to reduce the flakes, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.
5. No, you’re not going bald.
Just like a lot of different animals, humans shed skin and hair too. Since your hair is in a braided style for a long period of time, you can comb your hair to remove the shedding hair. Therefore, your shedding hair is going to build up, and when you take your braids out there is going to be A LOT of old hair coming out. Don’t worry though, you’re not going bald. The old hair has to be removed to reduce tangled hair and prevent your hair from locking up.