We love seeing your glorious braided styles like colored box braids, marley twists or knotless jumbo braids, and goddess braids. Once you’ve selected your coveted style, it’s more than just cute pictures for the gram and travel photos; you’ve got to maintain and protect them. The scalp underneath is just as important as the style you’re sporting, so you want to shop for products that will help with moisture retention, frizz, edge protection, and more.
Whether it’s your first or 50th time rocking a braided style, you don’t want to be unprepared because it can not only ruin the style but wreak havoc on your scalp. You want to develop a routine that can help you protect your hair before, during, and after styling to minimize damage and prepare your curls for fall.
Products Before Braiding
Before you can begin getting your hair braided, you want to focus on prevention and protection to allow your hair a chance to grow and remain healthy. Some braided styles manipulate the hair more than others, but that shouldn’t prevent you from ensuring your hair is cleansed, conditioned, and moisturized before seeing your stylist.
You never want to go with your hair unwashed, tangled, and dry; this will make it harder on your hair and the stylist. Your strands and scalp are the two most important aspects of your braided style, so invest in a good, clarifying shampoo, deep conditioning masque, and pudding or custard to set your hair.
- Camille Rose Naturals Coconut Water Style Setter
- Premium Wide Tooth Comb
- Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil and Strengthen, Grow and Restore Treatment Masque
Products During Braiding
While most stylists may have their own products, they use during braiding, keeping your own products if you’re DIYing at home or have specific allergies to certain ingredients is always handy. Getting your hair braided is not about the braids themselves but ensuring your hair is as healthy as possible while it’s in the style.
Moisture is one of your biggest tools when sporting braids, so you should consider products that will cleanse your potentially exposed scalp and prevent breakage along your hairline. You want to use soothing products to help relieve your skin of any itchiness or flaking and reduce the amount of buildup on your scalp.
- Taliah Waajid Protective Styles Thick and Full Bamboo and Coconut Milk Moisturizing Mint Shampoo
- Ampro Shine ‘n Jam Conditioning Gel Extra Hold
- Aunt Jackie’s Curls and Coils Flaxseed Recipes Tame My Edges Smoothing Gel
Products After Braiding
Now that the style is complete, it’s time to preserve, maintain, and protect those braids. Keeping a satin bonnet is going to help reduce frizz and allow your hair to stay moisturized, which you will most definitely need from constant sun exposure. Restorative sprays, balms, and oils can help to add moisture to your roots and prevent breakage and dryness depending on the length of your style. Be gentle with your scalp during this timeline, and make sure you are using your fingers to rub on the scalp, between your braids, and in any crevices where you can have product buildup, sweat, and flaking skin.
- Yanibest Satin Bonnet
- Mielle Organics Rosemary Mint Scalp Hair and Strengthening Oil
- Girl + Hair Protective Restoring Balm
Community Members’ Favorite Products
Taylor Bobb
Photo Credit
“It’s the mousse for me! Maintaining my summer braids is always a breeze with styling mousse! My favorite styling mousse is the Creme of Nature Pure Honey Avocado Smoothing & Frizz Control Mousse. It controls the frizz and flyaways on my braids. What I love most is that it’s infused with pure honey, shea butter, and coconut oil, which moisturizes my natural hair and scalp!”
Benita Oseleononmen
Photo Credit
“Braids are my favorite low manipulation hairstyle. While giving my kinks a break with this style, the Mielle Organics Pomegranate & Honey Super Hold Edge Gel is a must-have styling product for my braids. As someone with thin, fine type 4 hair, I love an edge gel that sleeks down my edges with maximum hold and without flaking.
Glycerin and honey are two of its main ingredients, and they act as both an emollient and humectant to moisturize one’s hair. I love this product because it lasts all day, even in the summer, and it causes no breakage to my edges.”
Sandy
Photo Credit
“To maintain my natural hair while using proactive style braids. I use Aveda Nutri-Plenish Shampoo and conditioner, as well as a treatment mask. I maintain my braids by washing them when needed. To help my braids last longer. It also helps to cleanse my braids and keep my natural hair hydrated.”