Protective Styling - How To Install Crotchet Braids Tutorial

Recently we wrote about the decline of relaxer sales over the last few years since the popularity of the healthy hair movement. As some of the comments suggested, the decline in sales was likely due both women returning to natural hair as a whole along with relaxed hair ladies realizing that stretching their relaxers for 12+ weeks was healthier and led to longer hair than the recommended 6-8 week period.

It was also fascinating to discover that this switch away from relaxers didn’t necessarily mean that the average woman on the street was now rocking her natural texture, no, weaves* and wig* sales remained strong even growing in sales in certain locations. To the average person who has been involved in the hair care industry for any length of time, the reason for this is obvious: Protective Styling!

Yes, while many of us are finally embracing our natural textures; be in through transitioning to natural or in fact embracing new growth as part and parcel of having healthy relaxed hair, it’s obvious that we also still want long hair of our own. A lot of us now realize that the fastest way to get to long healthy hair of our own is through protective styling.

Crotchet braids can be worn by natural, transitioning or relaxed ladies, they are pretty easy to install and take down and of course it helps that they look great too.

Of course they are not “braids” in the truest sense of the word but rather one could look at them as an alternative to a sew in weave. The main benefit of crotchet braids is that they are lighter and you can use regular synthetic braiding hair to achieve really gorgeous looks without spending a fortune on extensions*.

This tutorial below by HowToBlackHair is as detailed a tutorial as you will ever get on crotchet braids! It goes all the way from how best to part your hair gently if you are natural, through to which braiding pattern to choose and also a look at two different methods for installing the crotchet braids themselves.

The tutorial is quite long at just under an hour but you can skip to the good bits (as I often do) to learn what you really need to know. Enjoy!

Maintaining crotchet braids is pretty simple. Since you have very good access to your scalp you are able to wash them as often as you like and you can also moisturize and seal effectively with products of your choice.

I came to crotchet braids late myself but I’m a huge fan now and soon I will be doing a comparison of sew in weaves* vs crotchet braids. Have you tried them before and what was your experience?