Why Crochet Braids Are Poppin
Before I returned to my natural hair I thought it was strange that so many girls would choose to go natural and then cover their hair with wigs, weaves, braids and the like. It seemed so pointless—why chop off all your hair when you were just going to cover it up anyway? Then I went natural, and it all made sense.Protective styles are extremely helpful for naturalistas. They give you and your hair a break from styling, they hide your ends, allowing you to retain more length, and they give you versatility without harming your natural hair. To top it all off, they’re just plain fun!
About a month after I big chopped (following ten months of transitioning), I decided to try out crochet braids, which I had stumbled upon on Pinterest a few months before. After watching YouTube tutorials and reading countless blogs I decided to try it for myself and I LOVED it. Crochet braids are a simple style that involves tying synthetic hair around your cornrowed hair.I purchased three packs of FreeTress Bohemian curl. Two packs were in the color 2, which is a really natural brown and the third color black with really light brown highlights. The retailer I used didn’t have 3 #2 packs so I chose this because it was black with a pop of color.
I left the hair at its full length initially (22") to see what it was like, knowing I would cut it later. It felt like a huge bird’s nest on my shoulder in the top left picture, so I cut it to about shoulder length (picture on the right) where it stayed the rest of the time.
To keep it up, I spritzed it with detangler and/or diluted leave-in conditioner. Occasionally I would run a leave-in through it to give it some luster every few days and make it smell good. When I slept, I put it in a high bun and used my silk scarf. To keep my scalp clean, I used cotton balls to apply hydrogen peroxide and spritzed a little oil on it to keep it from drying out.
Crochet braids are an easy style to do yourself and the learning curve isn’t steep at all. I’ve installed them on cornrows and flat twists and love the way it looks every time. I would recommend FreeTress for their wide range of textures and colors, which make it easy to install hair that’s literally fluff, spritz and go. If you’d like to style your hair like natural hair (as an afro or with perm rods, etc) I would recommend Marley hair. Happy crocheting!
To keep it up, I spritzed it with detangler and/or diluted leave-in conditioner. Occasionally I would run a leave-in through it to give it some luster every few days and make it smell good. When I slept, I put it in a high bun and used my silk scarf. To keep my scalp clean, I used cotton balls to apply hydrogen peroxide and spritzed a little oil on it to keep it from drying out.Crochet braids are an easy style to do yourself and the learning curve isn’t steep at all. I’ve installed them on cornrows and flat twists and love the way it looks every time. I would recommend FreeTress for their wide range of textures and colors, which make it easy to install hair that’s literally fluff, spritz and go. If you’d like to style your hair like natural hair (as an afro or with perm rods, etc) I would recommend Marley hair. Happy crocheting!