An Easy Night Time Braid Out Routine

One way to achieve a quick curly do in the morning without sacrificing a ton of time in the morning is to do a braid out overnight. If you have early mornings with kids, hubbies and that ‘I must attend an early morning meeting’, time becomes an ever so precious thing.

If you have decided that this month, curly do’s will be your signature style but you don’t want to go through the ehhem… ‘Process of a wash and go’, then why not try styling the night before?

While a wash and go will define the curls you’ve already got, a braid out can look very similar. It is especially good because it will give you beautiful even frizz free curls.

It can also help give curls to 4b hair types who want a change from undefined fluffier styles or those who have multiple textures so wash and go’s don’t look quite right.

Braid outs are are known for the volume created once the style is achieved and can be maintained for up to 7 consecutive days if done right! Braid outs can be as simple as you want them to be or they can get very complicated, depending on what you are trying to achieve.

Here is a simple method that can be used to achieve a basic braid out, but just done at night!

1. Start off with freshly washed hair, ensuring that your hair is well conditioned for styling and moisture maintenance. (choose conditioners that are known to add moisture)

2. Section the hair to make product application easier and for detangling. (use a wide tooth comb* to detangle or just use your fingers)

3. With the shower running you are going to create 5-7 braids, the more braids you have the faster your hair will dry overnight. (Less braids will mean longer drying time but more volume) – be gentle but move quickly, we don’t want to waste the running water.

4. Grab a section to braid and use the force of the shower stream to help detangle the hair as you braid the sections, move to the next section until your hair is completely braided up. You should have 5-7 freshly detangled and gorgeously moist braids once done.

5. Once you are done its time to apply your leave in conditioner*. This part might be a little controversial to some of you but a quick way to add a leave-in is just over the length of the braid, there is no need to apply the leave-in conditioner* to every single strand because you conditioned your hair thoroughly during your wash or co-wash. Water is the real moisturizer here so there’s no need for overkill.

6. Seal your hair with your favorite oil or butter, make sure the ends of your hair are sealed properly so that you can trap some of the moisture you added during your wash routine. At this point you can decide if you want to add a little gel to the ends of each braid or to the length for added structure/ hold. (only add the gel after sealing)

7. Stretch the braids- this part is optional because braiding the hair keeps the strands nice and stretched anyway but you can get some extra stretching by banding the braids together.

8. Cover your hair with a satin scarf and head to bed.

9. Release the braids the next morning, you can tension blow-dry the hair if necessary, fluff and go!

The results should be highly textured, greatly moisturized, ‘wash and go esc’ hair!

To save the style just ‘pineapple’ your hair every night and sleep on a satin pillowcase. Release and fluff in the morning. Pineapple-ing your hair gives you the added benefit of having stretched curls daily!

Have you been looking for ways to improve your braid outs? If so what cool ideas have you come up with?