Return of the Box Braids

Syd's box braids are back! Tomorrow morning we will be leaving on a 9 day missions trip to Guatemala and we needed a style that will hold up while we're gone. I thought about doing mini twists, but Syd offered some input. She said that twists are a lot hotter on her head than braids because they don't keep the part lines as exposed as braids do. She said she can feel the breeze on her scalp when she wears braids so her head doesn't feel as hot. Since we'll be without air conditioning in an area where the temps will be in the upper 90's every day, I figured I had better do what I can to keep her as cool and comfy as possible. Enter box braids.

I aplogize for the poor quality of some of these photos. My camera is already packed so I just used my phone.

The other night, Syd washed her hair. I added some Shea Moisture Curl and Style Milk, thoroughly detangled, and banded her hair overnight. The next morning, we started with her hair looking like this.

I started in the back, using crescent shaped parts. I wasn't at all concerned with making the parts looked perfect because I figure her hair will probably be up for most of the time we're gone and her part lines will rarely be visible. I added just a bit of my shea butter-coconut oil-jojoba oil-vitamin E oil mixture to each section and then braided it until I was an inch or so from the end. Here's what the first dozen looked like.

After I finished around 30 braids, we had to go run a few errands, so I had to find a way to make her hair look decent. We went from this:

to this:

Unless you look closely, you'd never be able to tell there are over 30 braids hiding in the middle of these banded pigtails. The look is a little juvenile for an 11 year old, but it did hide the half-done hair and Syd really isn't too concerned with what others might think.

We did another 20 or so braids that evening. I spent about 3 total hours the first day and ended up with 58 braids. We re-banded the hair that was still out and she went to bed.

I finished her braids the next day. When I got to the top I made a small side part, but again I wasn't too worried about what the parts looked like. The sections aren't all shaped alike, but the braids are about the same size. Here's what the top looks like:

Since the hair was dry when it was braided and the ends were left free, the braids were fluffy at the end. I dipped the ends in some water and added just a little Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. This made the ends curl up and give the style a more finished look. In all, I spent just under 7 hours braiding and we have 128 braids.

As a fun little bonus, check out this picture of Syd and her cousins. This was what she did while I took a short break from braiding. Her french braids are really starting to look good!