ELEMENTS OF A HIPPIE

I had the idea to do colorful braids for a while now. I hadn’t done a protective style in a long time and besides I missed my braids. ♥  I also knew that this was the last wild and exciting thing that I could do with my hair before I attend the Hunter College Psychology Convention (on April 26th) and before I graduate with my bachelors (in May). With that being said I decided to go out with a bang! Lol.

I know I wanted an array of colors but finding colors in the right hair type (100% Kanakleon Braiding Hair)  to do braids isn’t the easiest thing -on top of that I procrastinated. So I went to a beauty supply store on Church Ave a few days ago and looked through the colors to see what I was working with. I saw green and immediately picked that up. I also picked up yellow, orange, 613 (which is like a platinum blonde) and a royal blue color (I got the last of it, lol). Last, I picked up black. In total, I had 10 packs of hair and the total came out to $20 (plus tax).

SIDE NOTE: I had so many great pictures of the process … but I accidentally formatted by SD card (deleted all of my pictures) while it was still in my camera .. so the awesome pictures are gone, but I’m just going to try my best to explain how my hair was done.

So this is what my hair looked like before (except a little lighter because the color was starting to wash out):

I decided to keep my hair this color (and not dye it black or blonde) because I knew that I would have so many different colors mixed together that a black or blonde base would look awkward.

Basically, my mother put in the braids and I finished them (to make the process go faster) and my aunt mixed the colors together. I wasn’t too picky about the way the colors were mixed. I just knew I wanted the blue in the front because it was so rich and pretty and black in the back to tone all the colors down.

*** If you don’t know how to braid, check out Youtube. Here is a video that I think is good for beginners ***

Some of the color mixtures were: 613 & Orange, Yellow & Blue, 613 & Blue, 613 & Black, Black & Yellow (and so many others). Of course we also put solid colors as well. You’ll be able to see these in my pictures.

After my hair was done, we cut off all the excess pieces of hair and we dipped this finished product in boiling hot water. This is done to loosen the braids (because it’s extremely heavy) and to make it easy to maneuver (for example, to put it in a bun or ponytail). This is also how you seal the ends of the braids so that they do not unravel and so that you can have the nice pointed ends.

In all, this process took about 6 hours … and I am obsessed.

I also put these on some of my braids (I have no idea what they’re called but they’re cool .. and I had some in gold, lol)

Btw: If you’re wondering about the length … the braids reach about halfway down my booty, lol.

& Heres a pic that I put on instagram.

I am in love with this style and I am extremely sad that I have to give it up sooner than I’d like … but I’m going to make the most of this and hopefully you guys decide to try it out (if you’re bold enough lol).

xoxo Cielo.