My Winter Protective Style: Box Braids!!

Oh gosh...I haven't had braids for 3 years! I stopped getting them in the first place because my hair started growing past my "braid length limit". Back then, my braid length limit was armpit length. But as soon as my real hair grew to armpit length, I felt like I graduated from braids and had to find new protective styles to wear. I dreaded the idea of mid back/waist length braids for some reason, so I decided to just never get braids again until......the box braids trend started for 2011!

I love Solange for bringing the trend back! It seems like a lot of women wanted to get box braids for so long but they were afraid to because they probably thought box braids were "played out" or something. But as soon as Solange bought the trend out, everybody came out of the wood works getting braids lol...I'm guilty of this too...LOL. One of the first reasons why I got these braids was because they're long! I used to be afraid of waist length braids because I thought they would be too much of a hassle. But after seeing a lot of pictures and videos of girls with long braids and the different styles you could do with them, I thought they were actually kind of.....cool! My braids are 2 inches past my waist, almost hitting my upper thighs. So I know for sure my real hair is protected to the maximum level, which makes me happy :) Another reason for these braids is because of the endless styles I could do with them. I bought so many hair accessories, which I will blog about soon (I promise!). The style I want to do the most with my braids is a high bun! So chic!

I got my hair braided last Sunday (December 4th) in Harlem, NY. Unfortunately, my braiding lady went on vacation to her home in Africa, so she left me in her sister's hands. Long story short, I had 2 women braiding my hair, one on each side pulling in different directions! I started at 11AM and finished at 3PM...4 hours of pain!

The braids were TIGHT! I'm super tender-headed! I always flinched when somebody tried to touch my braids after I first got them done. Also, the weight of the braids made my neck stiff for 3-4 days...I felt like I had an invisible neck brace on. On top of that, I caught a cold...so yea my week was pretty bad. Tight & heavy braids, stiff neck, sore throat, runny nose, all at the same time...imagine that! I had to see my doctor for my cold and for my stiff neck...he prescribed me some medicine and I feel about 90% better now (My nose is still runny). I'm not trying to scare you guys or anything, but I'm just not used to carrying all that weight on my head, plus the cold wasn't making it any easier. Around the 4th day of having the braids, they were loosening up pretty nicely..and now today is day 6 and I feel like my head is as light as a feather!

I used 8 packs of Zury's Kanekelon hair in the color 1b. My braids kind of have a old school flavor with a twist....old school because of the medium-large sized braids, and the twist is because of the long length (almost hitting my thighs). The ends of my braids are straight because I got them dipped in hot water. The hot water actually acts as a locking technique so that your braids wont unravel. I used to be scared that my braids would unravel, but they stay locked up to the point where the braid stops. I paid $80 for these braids and I think I just might get them again next year for the Spring...we'll see. I will be leaving these braids in for 2 months (December 4- February 4). Btw, I am currently almost 11 weeks post relaxer and don't plan on relaxing anytime soon.

I will have a separate post with more pictures of my braids. I wasn't able to take a lot because I'm still kind of recovering from my cold and not really in a picture taking mood...sorry ladies :/

Excuse my face lol..I still wasn't feeling well when this pic was taken.