How to Do Box Braids on a White Person?
How to Do Box Braids on a White Person? For the past year or so, I’ve been growing out my natural hair. During this process, I’ve been trying out a variety of protective styles to keep my hair healthy during this process.
And this past January, I got box braids for the first time and decided to make a post about How to Do Box Braids on a White Person.
This was my first time having any sort of fake hair or extensions and there was a lot that I learned about hair care throughout this process.
Even though I was happy with the overall experience, there are still a few things I wish I had known in advance.
How to Do Box Braids on a White Person Tip #1
Braid on Freshly Washed Damp Hair
Hair Spray Bottle (to dampen dry hair)
Braiding on damp hair allow you to better grip your hair and the extension braiding hair as your are braiding your box braids.
How to Do Box Braids on a White Person Tip #2
For Silky Textured Hair, Braid with Toyokalon Braiding Hair
Toyokalon Braiding Hair (for silkier hair)
Kanekalon Braid Hair (for coarser hair)
How to Do Box Braids on a White Person Tip #3
Secure the Braids By Hot Water Sealing or With Super Glue
Nail Super Glue
Braid Sealer
What Are Box Braids?
In case you aren’t familiar, here’s a quick rundown of what box braids are and why they’re a popular choice for women rocking natural hair.
Box braids are a type of hair-braiding style that is predominantly popular amongst Africans and African-Americans.
This type of hair style is best described as “boxy”, consisting of square-shaped hair divisions. Box braids are generally created by using synthetic hair to add thickness as well as length.
The Installation Of Box Braids on a White Person
You might have heard about box braids but may not have a clue how to do this in your hair. This trendy look may seem tricky, but if you follow our step by step tutorial your hair will look amazing in no time!
- Like normal, wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner. The more important aspect is conditioner – since box braids are more permanent you’ll want to make sure your hair has a lot of moisture. The good news is that once your braids are in you can wash them, but for now make sure you give your hair a good washing.
- Next take your dry locks and section it into four different parts. Now comes the tricky part. For each section, make sure that your hair is in four even and straight squares. If your hair is in quarters it will be much easier to master this style. After sectioning off your hair, find clips and use them to hold each section.
- Part your hair with a small part in the first section of hair. With a small amount of hair (like a pinch of hair), you’ll be able to succeed at the next step. Make sure all of your parts are about the same size.
- Now it’s time to either braid or plait your hair from the first pinch. After you have your pinch of hair, take the three sections of hair (of the pinch), and cross the left section under the middle section. After this part, put the right section under the middle section, which will result in a braid.
- Continue to braid the entire section from the top to the bottom (or root to tip). Secure your hair with a small rubber band so that it will keep your braid from coming out. Also, if it is at all possible not to use a band this will be better because sometimes bands will cause damage in your hair if you’re not careful.
- Now it’s time to make another part from the first section of your hair. Braid this section too. Be careful and make sure that all of your parts are even and straight. They should look like individual and tiny boxes.
- Once that section is complete, move on to the next section. You should have your full head of hair in individual tiny box braids by the time you are done.
- Once you are done with every section of hair where your box braids will be, you should have about 100 or more box braids! Each small part will result in box braids and if you want the braids smaller, make your part even smaller as you continue to braid. Keep in mind that this process can take hours to complete, so if you have a friend or a professional who knows how to braid quickly, they may be able to help you complete this look in record speed.
Tips to Remember:
Don’t braid your hair too tightly. You don’t want to lose some of your hair or damage it in any way. So style it tightly but not too tightly.
Another tip is that you can cover your hair with a silk scarf if you want to keep your hairstyle extra tidy as you braid or even after this look is complete!
Enjoy a style that looks nice without rubber bands on the ends, but the bands can be purchased from a beauty store if you prefer to have them in your hair.
Have fun braiding your box braids and tweet us a picture if you decide to try out this style!
Wearing the Braids
I wore my braids for about two months and I was really happy with them! They went down to the small of my back and I usually wore them in a half-up, half-down style. They were great because my natural hair is relatively short so it was a great way to change up my look and try something new.
I really appreciated them because they were so low maintenance. This makes them really convenient for college students. I could go to the gym and not have to worry about redoing my hair for class or any of my other activities.
I washed them every two weeks and I used the spray bottle method. also i fill a spray bottle with equal parts shampoo and water and then shake it until it got foamy. Then spray my roots with this and massage it in.
After that, I would rinse them in the shower and towel dry my hair. I would also spray my roots with oil and braid spray to keep the hair moisturized. I usually did this at night and then my braids would be dry by the morning.
My braids looked great for a long time – I kept them in for nine weeks total. It was easy to tell when it was time to take them out, as there was a lot of new hair and my braids started to look frizzy.
Uninstalling Them
Taking out my braids took about as long as installing them did. I took the braids out myself at home, and it took me about four and a half hours.
I found a video online that showed a method where you cut off the bottom portion and then undo the fake hair to detach it from the real hair underneath. This method worked really well for me.
Conclusion:
A big bonus? I noticed that my hair had grown a lot during this process and was also a lot softer than it had been before.
However, there was a decent amount of shedding that happened when I washed my hair for the first time after taking out my braids – it was concerning to see.
But that’s pretty normal, especially since that’s hair that would have been shed over the past two months but wasn’t.
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