HOW LONG CAN WE KEEP BRAIDS?
Very popular with the return of natural hair strength, African braids, braids, vanillas or pasted mats are a way to express your creativity, to assert your personality. While saving time, braids are also a protective hairstyle, avoiding excessive handling generating breakage.
But for this protective style to really deserve this qualifier, to keep a healthy scalp, hair well hydrated and growing, many wonder about how long to keep your braids.
The question, with or without additions: ‘How long can you keep your braids’ arises regularly.
👉 Find the answer below:
WHAT IS THE RECOMMENDED TIME TO KEEP YOUR BRAIDS ON YOU?
Because the styling time is often long and the sessions of braids sometimes painful. Because you think giving the hair a rest is good for them. Because everyone agrees that the removal of braids is difficult, we tend to keep the braids longer than we should.
The maximum duration:
- 6 to 8 weeks on thick healthy hair.
- 3 to 5 weeks on fine, more delicate hair.
- No more than 3 weeks for children.
A good maintenance, with adapted care products will allow to extend a little their duration and especially to preserve the hydration of the hair during the storage time of the braids.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS IF I KEEP MY BRAIDS TOO LONG?
Soft, resistant, the scalp is the soil on which our hair grows… but it is allergic to dirt.
A protective style like braids tends to generate an accumulation of oils and residues of our skincare products, dust and traces of pollution, dead cells and desquamation, various particles, especially at the curly roots.
The scalp suffocates, it breathes badly, it itches, it scratches, the follicles weaken, the hair becomes brittle. And the deposit at the roots sometimes makes it difficult to undo the braids, to the point of having to cut them if they have been kept too long.
🚨Do not keep your braids too long for a healthy scalp🚨
HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR BRAIDS AND MAINTAIN GOOD HYGIENE?
Best practices for combining braids and hair at the top:
You adopted a protective hairstyle with braids. However, this does not mean that you should not take care of your hair, quite the contrary.
1. HYDRATED AND NOURISH YOUR HAIR
Even braided, even in protective style, your hair should be hydrated daily, or at least every 2 days.
Moisturizing Mist, Leave In Lotion or vegetable oil + water in your spray in DIY version, you have the choice. Make sure to adapt the force of the spray and apply along the braids in small sections for a better distribution to allow the moisturizing lotion to penetrate the heart of the braids and seal the hydration.
Be careful: keep in mind that the water of our taps, often limestone and loaded with chlorine is not the friend of our hair. Treat the lengths with a nourishing cream on the lengths once a week.
2- WASH BRAIDED HAIR REGULARLY
Even with a protective hairstyle, the hair needs a regular shampoo every few weeks
Over time, braids, whether natural or with additions, the scalp sees the accumulation of residues, sebum, pollution.
Initially, rinse the braids for a few minutes under warm water to release the dirt.
Then dilute your sulfate-free shampoo in warm water in a basin or sink. Apply to the scalp to the limit of the roots.
After that, stretch your fingers by sliding them along the braids without rubbing to avoid disturbing them.
Finally, rinse gently pressing the braids.
3- SOOTHE ITCHING
Does it itch? Even if the temptation is great, avoid scratching with the nails, the tail of the comb or any pointed object to not cause inflammation of the scalp, hair loss.
Do not apply heavy, viscous oil like castor encourage more dandruff by trapping dirt. Choose a light oil to fight drought, like olive oil, with Tea Tree’s antiseptic and calming properties.
4- PROTECT YOUR PROTECTIVE STYLE
Even with braided hair, you should continue to sleep with a satin cap or scarf to avoid rubbing the hair against the sheets at the risk of drying them out.
On the other hand, if you aspire to keep your hairstyle as long as possible, avoid excessive handling of your hair, for example to pull too much on the braids when you make buns, ponytails, or buns for example.
5- AVOID TOO HEAVY, TIGHT BRAIDS
The normal daily loss is on average 100 hairs per day, which means that braids kept for 2 months will imprison about 6,000 hairs, which you do not see, but which you will find on the comb when undoing them.
But braids too tight, too heavy weaken the follicles, causing the fall. We speak of traction alopecia. Reversible if the problem is treated as soon as possible, the loss can become permanent if you wait too long, then regrowth is impossible.
If you have to suffer to be beautiful, there are limits not to cross!
Ultimately, the length of time to keep your braids depends on multiple factors. A braided hairstyle can be kept from a few days to several weeks, depending on the nature of your hair, fine or thick, the weight of the additions, the care provided. In any case, it is strongly advised not to exceed eight weeks.
And note: after removing the braids, take the time to let your scalp and hair breathe for a fortnight before a new braided hairstyle. During this break, pamper them with appropriate hair care.
