African braids and plaits have many advantages. As protective hairstyles, they protect hair from external aggressions. But that's not all: we don't think of them spontaneously but they are also powerful allies in case of strong heat. A must to adopt urgently in summer.
Here comes summer! But there's no question of suffering while sweating under your hair! So in case of strong heat, we immediately opt for African braids or plaits, in order to free the skull as much as possible. The types of possible hairstyles are legion, we have chosen two:
African braids with thread
Braiding with thread has been very popular in Africa for a long time now. In concrete terms, we take a portion of damp hair (usually braided after shampooing), apply a moisturizer, or even an oil to seal in the moisture, detangle, then finally wrap and tie the thread at the root before going up the length. When the entire portion is covered, fold the thread over itself to have a piece of thread sticking out, then tie a knot. Repeat this operation on all portions of hair.
Good to know, you can connect the different braids together to create more or less original hairstyles!
There is only one pitfall to avoid with braids: do not tighten too much at the roots at the risk of causing traction alopecia or patches.
Glued mats
We untangle the hair and make a straight parting. We tie one side while we braid the other side (and vice versa). We select a lock of hair and divide it into three separate locks. We then braid in reverse, always starting with the lock that is on the forehead side. We pass the branch in the middle and then make a normal turn. We then take the branch that is on the forehead side, but before passing it to the center, we add a small lock of hair to it. The same with the branch that is on the hair side, before passing it to the center, we also add a small lock of hair to it. We finish in a classic braid (but always in reverse), that is to say without enriching, and we stop before the ends. We attach them with a fabric elastic or a small metal pin. In the latter case, we pierce the end with the pin then twist it and wrap it around the braid. Once you have completed one side, you do the same thing on the other side.
