Hi people, what's been on?

 I decided to finally put in crochet braids as my protective style for 3 weeks....I hope!
It's a big deal for me considering I style my natural hair myself and most of my hairstyles take less than 30mins to do and my favorite "Cheat bun" takes 15mins at most. So to actually spend 2-4hrs with my hand digging into my hair........it's a really big deal!



I've done crochet braids on other people using different types of hair. I've used Noble Kinky Hair, Supreme Afro twist braid, FreeTress and Janet Noire Marley Hair and my favorite brands are the marley hair just because they feel softer to touch.....but goodluck finding them in Nigeria!

Enter, Expression braiding hair. This brand of hair is really popular in Nigeria for twists, braids, Ghana weaving, tree braids and every braided hair you can think of. The best part about this hair is that you can make long lasting curls by dipping them in hot water.

This is actually not my first time using Expression to do crochet braids. The last time I did it, I used the hair to do a twist out to get the crinkly natural hair look. This time however, I did something different with inspiration from Instagram....pictures do say it all!

Here's a step by step tutorial of how I did my crochet braids with Expression braiding hair.

First I prepared my hair since it will be a long term protective style. I shampooed my hair in four section then deep conditioned for 30mins using a portable heating cap. Since I was using a silicone free conditioner, I didn't bother rinsing off. I just blotted off excess water and coated my hair with coconut oil.
I didn't bother rinsing off the conditioner because I needed the slip and detangling power of the deep conditioner to make it easier for me to braid my hair without tangles or breakage. I let my hair airdry until it was just damp then started braiding in the pattern for the crochet installation.

Not me o...but this is the same pattern I used courtesy of www,adesiredbeauty.com

While waiting for my hair to dry, I prepared my hair. I used two packs of Expression Kanekalon hair....one black (color 1) and one purple. A friend of mine gifted me a quarter of her blue colored braiding hair. ( I've always wanted blue and purple hair!). I bought each one for N350.

I divided each pack of hair by folding into 4 (to give me chin length to shoulder length curls). You can divide into 3 parts or 2 parts for longer curls.




Then I feathered the hair so the ends won't be blunt. Then curled it around flexirods. To save time and so the curls won't be too tight, I wrapped thicker pieces of hair around the rods so finally I only used 20 medium sized flexirods in all.

I placed the rods in a basin and poured freshly boiled water on it and allowed to set until cool. Then I removed the rods from the water, unwrapped the hair and allowed it to dry. It dried faster than if I used Marley hair.



I attached the hair using a bobby pin (for some reason, I find it easier to work with than the crochet hook....probably the size). Here's a pictorial courtesy of Nafisah

www.coilyheadofhair.wordpress.com

2 hrs of installation later, here's my look!






I can say I'm mighty pleased with the outcome....not too full and the colors played beautifully.



I'm be maintaining my hair the simplest way....satin bonnet at night and in the morning, fluff and go. I'll tame any unruly strands with a slippery conditioner. None of that moisturise and seal since it's synthetic hair. I still don't understand the concept of moisturising synthetic hair especially when your hair is nowhere in sight....


You can also use this crochet braid method to install braids, twists and faux locs.

Crochet twists installed by NappyGirl...Joanna

 Who else has tried crochet braids?