How To Prepare Your Hair For Braiding

Any length of natural hair would always look good in braids. Hair can be braided when you want to give your hair a break from a particular style...
Braid styles are easy to keep as you can have them on for weeks with little maintenance. In order to enjoy the duration of your braids, the following should be done.

Pre-existing problems. It is better to sort your hair out if not in good condition before braiding it. Treat any itchy scalp, fungal infection or dandruff first before having your hair braided. Having your hair braided with any hair/scalp problem will only make it worse because you might end up loosing the braids in a short period of time. Atleast two weeks before braiding your hair, ensure your scalp is in good condition. Otherwise, treat all irregularities before you start making your braids.

Washing. For the fact that you will be staying with your braids for some weeks, it should be given proper washing with good shampoo and conditioner before braiding the hair because after the braids are done, it will be quite difficult to start washing each strand of braid. Scrub your scalp thoroughly with a neutralizing shampoo and quality conditioner to eliminate all craps in the scalp. Therefore, moisturize the hair very well after washing and before braiding the hair.

Deep conditioning. The pre-braiding period is the last chance you have to add extra strength to your hair and also moisture because your hair will be in braids for quite a long time. Ensure your hair and scalp are capable of withstanding the tension coming with braids. The period you are preparing to do braids is the best time to add extra ingredients that will benefit your hair. Ingredients like conditioner, shampoo and essential oils(coconut oil, avocado oil and the likes) will work wonders in your hair.

Detangling. It is very important you have a smooth hair that is tangle-free. Detangle all residuals in order to reduce the pain when braiding and to avoid hair loss. Detangling helps to reduce the time the hairdresser will spend smoothing the hair and also lessen you of pain. A tangle-free hair will be very much easier to comb through before and even after the braids leaving you with a less painful detangling session.

Stretching of the hair. This can be done using a hair stretcher and it will make your hair much easier to braid. The braids will even come out neater and finer. Even though heat could damage your hair through the use of a hair stretcher, you can just plait your hair into big corncrows.

If all these are properly done before making braids, then the braids will be perfectly fine and won't bring any consequence to your hair.  The preparation of your hair for installation of braids is the utmost step to carry out in order to rock the style for as long as you can. With adequate preparation and maintenance, they would always produce beautiful results. The braids can even last up to two months before you undo them.