Can you believe I actually plait princess’ hair by myself for once? It feels like such a long time since I’ve been able to manage my time well enough to do princess’ head justice. Over the summer holidays I’ve been getting a lovely lady to do princesses hair in extensions but for her back to school hairstyle I decided to give it a go myself.
By all means, it’s not the best extensions ever but she loves them and I think it reminds her of Uma from that new Disney show The Descendants. At least that’s what I like to tell myself. Having her hair down in extensions makes her look a bit more grown-up and mature which is what she was going for now that she joins year 5 at primary school. It’s hard for me to get used to and she’s definitely not going to have it like this all of the time!
This is a nice and easy protective style for her afro hair that should last the month giving her hair a break from my comb and a chance to breathe. So far, she’s received so many positive comments from her friends and family. Not that she didn’t get complimented before, hairstyles like her braided crown went down a treat, but I think this length and style really does suit her and brings out how to personality – particularly with the purple streaks with she chose herself.
This hairstyle took about 4 hours to complete. They’re not as uniform as I’d like so I’m going to watch a few tutorials on YouTube to up my game before I try again. I don’t know why the ends are so straggly but I’m guessing I needed to introduce more hair into the plaits about halfway down. As I’ve mentioned before, I struggle with the notion of putting extensions in children’s hair and I only agreed to it because I knew I wasn’t giving princess the time and attention her hair required to be healthy and strong since her baby sister arrived.
I’m a strong believer in black girl magic. In teaching my daughter that her skin color, culture and heritage are all things to be proud of even if she doesn’t see it reflected in the world around her. I hope that I positively enforce this enough that she doesn’t grow to resent her natural hair and length in favour of the long tresses I’ve allowed her to sport. Her purple braids are also a refection of her culture though and I’m happy to let her explore her identity be it Janet Jackson Poetic Justice box braids, funky bantu knots, a Nicki minaj style pink wig (when she’s way older) or locs. I wore braided extensions through most of my school life and its time I get with the times and feel more comfortable about Princess doing the same!
What do you think of the braids? Did you wear them as a kid?
I like this hairstyle and that purple looks great on her. I will also try this with my daughter.
If you do, share a pic, would love to see how it comes out x
Well done you! I love the purple! I’ve actually just bought some purple coloured braids for myself – now to find the time to do it! I use extensions for Aj’s hair when I do her plaits/cornrows as I’ve found it helps it last a little longer than a week or 2, but I’ve always gone for the same colour as her hair and just a little longer in length. Personally, growing up, I didn’t use extensions till I was in Uni!! My mum/dad were completely against it! I’m clearly more flexible with my daughter! I would love to use coloured braids for her hair but I, like you want her to have a positive image of hair black hair so I wonder whether it’s too early for coloured hair/braids? Plus not sure how school would feel about that? I honestly don’t know… luckily, she hasn’t asked about it so I’d probably just wait for it to come up before I do anything about it! Parenting hey!
Parenting is a minefield! I think a bit of colour would look cool in your daughter’s hair, but you’re right, best to check what the school hinks or make it pretty subtle to start off with!!
I love that you waited so long to put them in your own hair too!!
I love purple. When I was transitioning from red hair to black before I big chopped, my hairdresser decided I should go purple, as going black would be too drastic for bold me.
With your princess’ braids, from the photos on here, my opinion is that you don’t need to add more hair half way down. It looks like you are not using enough hair to match the thickness of your daughter’s hair. Next time add more of the braiding hair. Also, did you feather the hair before installing the braids? This really makes the end result look more defined, then seal in water.
Ooh I bet you looked great with purple hair!!
I went purple when I was about 18 and loved it.
Thanks for the advise, I need to re-do some of the plaits for school picture day so I’ll try using more hair and feathering better. I admit to having been impatient with the feathering!!!