Why I Stopped Wearing Braid Outs

I haven't worn a braid out in at least two years.  For those of you that may not be familiar with the term braid out.  It's a method of braiding the hair to set curls and elongate the natural curl pattern.  To break it down, wash your hair, apply cream, gel, and oil to seal in moisture and braid the hair.  I typically part my hair in 4 squares and then divide those squares in half, or sometimes create one more section at the top of my head for a total of 9 braids.  The hair is braided when wet, braided or twisted on the ends, and then allowed to air dry.  Quiet as kept, I sit under the dryer for 15-20 minutes before going to bed, especially if I'm going to bed late.  You definitely want to make sure that the hair is dry before taking your braids down because otherwise, you'll end up with a frizzy mess.

Ok, I had to break all that down first, but here's the 411.  I stopped wearing braid outs because they took more time for me.  I prefer a wash and go, because I wash and let my hair air dry.  I can then wear it out, style it up into a puff, or down into a low bun within 5-10 minutes by misting with water, oil, and/ or gel.  To me that's convenience.  On the other hand, when I wear a braid out, I have to braid my hair up, as if I'm roller setting it.  Next, if I want my hair to look well defined over the next few days, it's best to rebraid every night or every few nights.  Ain't nobody got no time for that!  I get up early, make sure that everyone else in the house is woke (uh huh my husband and children), encourage everyone to get dressed rather than hit snooze, coerce one child into feeding the dog, and another into cleaning up after the dog as assigned, and then head out trying to get to work on time, except it never fully works out like this.  Braid outs are rough for me.  In the past, I did stretch my braid outs for 5 days by pineappling, however I'm enjoying the definition of freshly braided hair.

As much as I complain, I've gotten tired of my wash and go and wanted a different style this week.  So instead of flat ironing I washed my hair and braided it up.  I've been braiding nightly, but if I make a mistake and go to sleep, I'm going to have to attempt a wash and go early in the morning before work to look decent, because I only added a small amount of gel after washing.

For now, I'm enjoying a style that I haven't worn in a while.  This week I welcomed my Braid out back into my life!  I'll keep you posted on how long I keep this up.

Also check out this bloggers info. about doing a braid out.