By Jay
#4a, #4B, #afro hair, #braids, #kinky hair, #long hair, #loosen, #mini braids, #natural hair, #take down, #take out, #twists, #undo
Here’s a quick tutorial for how I take out my mini braids. For more details check out my ebook on Growing and Retaining Afro Hair With Mini Braids.
An Afro-American girl with afro textured hair. I found a method of maintaining my hair in braids that I'd like to share! :)
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Hey,
Thank you for your insightful content.
What is your opinion on washing your mini-braids right before you take them down?
I have fine 4B hair which I feel is somewhat prone to breakage. In order to reduce that, I try to always wash my mini braids before takedown. In that way, I don’t have to wash my hair in loose state.
Now, I am wondering if this method might affect my hair density. I am thinking that maybe washing my hair in loose state, will allow new hairs to feel free and in that way increase volume of my hair.
What are your thoughts on this?
Thank you in advance.
For fine hair, I wouldn’t recommend washing right before takedown. Wet or damp hair will be quite fragile when wet. I like to shampoo and deep condition my mini braids, then wait until they are entirely dry- this may take a day or more- before taking the braids out. You’ll likely still have buildup at the base of freshly washed mini braids, so there’s no advantage of washing right before taking them down. You’ll have to wash your hair again anyway but you can do that in large twists, braids ,or sections.
In my opinion, hair shedding or breakage are the only things that will affect volume. Shedding is natural, but excessive shedding is likely due to internal factors- diet, hormones, stress, etc… Breakage is preventable. Ensure your hair is probably taken care by using moisturizers and protein. Don’t over-manipulate it or cause mechanical damage.