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Crochet braids are the hottest trend right now; easy installation, affordable hair, low maintenance, and big results, you can’t beat that! But what happens when it is time to remove them? How do you remove them and what needs to be done to your actual hair?
Follow these important after-care tips to ensure that your protective style does not become counterproductive.
1. Clarify
Clarify do not co-wash. When your hair has been in a protective style for six-eight weeks or one-three months it is important that your scalp is thoroughly cleansed, especially if you braided the hair down with a thick styler and regularly applied oils to the scalp while the extensions were installed.
2. Deep condition
After cleansing you will want to do a deep conditioning treatment for 15-20 minutes with a plastic processing cap. This will help restore moisture that your hair did not receive with weekly washes, daily refreshers, and moisture from the air. A major issue that many women who wear protective styles experience is breakage, which is counterproductive to the purpose of protective styling.
3. Strengthen
If you regularly wear crochet braids or other extensions, your hair begins to experience points of weakness along the length of the strands due to repetitive manipulation. Too much of anything can be bad for the hair (e.g. puffs, over conditioning, product buildup) so it is important to change your styling habits and incorporate protein treatments. If you are protein sensitive to even the lightest treatment, then consider hot oil treatments with oils full of ceramides like cottonseed oil. If the breakage persists, then it might be time for a trim.
4. Trim and relax
Although your ends will not be as weathered because they were protected, it is important to remember that protective styling merely reduces split ends, it does not eliminate them so a trim might be due. Lastly, give your hair a break! Like stated before, repetitive manipulation can do more harm than good to your hair.
To make the most of your protective style, it is important to care for your hair before the installation and after the removal. Most people (especially stylists) prefer to braid the hair down after it has been blown out to expedite the process, so if you choose those means then these steps are extremely important.
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