Tips: Ghana braids for natural hair

Hi loves.. I’ve been meaning to put up this post for a while but life happened. Most of the time, ladies on a healthy hair journey especially Naturals are restricted to wearing certain hairstyles so that we don’t cause damage to the hair we are trying to care for and that’s very reasonable. But asides from the fact that I don’t do well with restrictions lol, I also lust over some hairstyles and it’s just weird that I don’t get to do them. This is actually not because it’s wrong to make them. It’s just because when these hairstyles aren’t properly done, they set you back in your journey. One of such hairstyles for me has been the Ghana braids. I mean I see the various styles and I keep wishing but my edges are so fragile that I wouldn’t dare — until very recently. I took a leap of faith lol and did this style, wearing it for about two weeks and my hair did just fine. So I’m going to share a few tips on how I did this incase you ever find yourself in my shoes.

1. If you literally have no edges, there’s no point in wearing this hairstyle because it won’t even fit you.. All you’ll end up doing is exposing your secret to the world lol. Jk.
2. Of course make sure you hair is freshly washed, deep conditioned and properly detangled before installation.
3. You want to blow dry your hair before you make it trust me. It just makes your hair smoother and makes the process a lot less painful. I made the mistake of not blow drying my hair and even though my hair was properly detangled, it still hurt. If you won’t blow dry then you can thread. Just make sure your hair is stretched.
4. If you’re going for small cornrows, it’s very important that you start each corn row with your own hair not with the extensions. At least 1/4″ from the start of the braids should be done with your hair before the extensions are added. This takes the weight away from your hairline and helps protect your edges. Saved me.
5. You can do styles that start out at a point e.g the center or side of your hair. That way, the tension from the braids is not throughout your hair line. You can also go for styles with a little brushing allowance or better still, big cornrows like the one that’s been ‘named’ after a certain reality Tv show celebrity..

6. If your hair is natural then spritzing it with water while it’s in Ghana braids will jeopardize the longevity and neatness of the hairstyle. So I suggest you just sleep in your satin bonnet, oil your scalp and apply a leave in conditioner once in a while to your hair..
7. Very importantly, remember that you own your hair and not the other way around. So have fun with it once in a while just don’t ruin it.

As usual I hope this post was helpful to someone. Please follow the blog if you aren’t, share and leave your comments.
All my love.. Ella