Braiding your hair can be damaging, whether you’re just doing it for a day or going for long-term micro braids. Find out how to protect your tresses by getting familiar with the most common braid mistakes to avoid.
Braiding Too Tight
Hair that’s prone to breakage should never be braided tight, but even healthy hair can suffer when it’s braided too tight, whether it’s for a day or for weeks. If you do the braiding yourself, make sure you don’t pull on your hair too much or create very strong tensions as you braid.
Not braiding tight enough can lead to frizz, but when the braids are very tight you’re committing one of the worst hair braid mistakes. Keep in mind that braided hair is more sensitive to any factors that can cause breakage.
Excessive Blow Drying
Heat damage is a threat anytime, but excessive blow drying is especially harmful to braided hair. Letting braids air dry is the best way to go.
If you absolutely must use a blow drier, have it on the low heat setting and always use a diffuser nozzle to make sure your hair isn’t exposed to excessive heat. Using other heat styling tools while your hair is braided is very high on the list of hair braid mistakes. You’ll only see the harmful results when you take out the braids.
Using a Combination Shampoo and Conditioner
When you wash your braided hair, the fast solution isn’t the best one. Avoid any product that offers a combination of shampoo and conditioner. Your hair should have regular deep conditioning, but mixing the two can have bad results.
Use dry shampoo when you need to freshen up and also give leave-in conditioners a try to keep your tresses looking good and to avoid subjecting your hair to too much product at the same time, one of the biggest hair braid mistakes.
Dyeing Your Hair with Harsh Chemicals
Hair braid care should be focused on putting your tresses through the least amount of stress. Most chemical hair dyes do the exact opposite. Even if you stay clear of all other braiding mistakes, don’t ever use hair dye while your hair is braided, unless it’s a natural gentle dye.
Taking Out Micro Braids Yourself
When you got the help of a stylist for micro braids, you should go back to have them taken out. Unless you have very short hair and it won’t take long to remove them, trying to take micro braids out yourself is one of the biggest hair braid mistakes. You’re likely to damage your hair when you get bored of this time consuming process.
