How to do Box Braids on Natural Hair

It’s summertime and I am sure many of you naturals are wondering what style to rock over these months. Wonder no more, in this how-to article I will give you basic steps to achieving the perfect set of box braids on natural hair using extensions.

Related: 5 TWA Hair Styles

How to do box braids with extensions.

Step 1. Get Supplies

The first step is to get your materials together. For a quick braid, all you need is Braiding Hair and a Comb. You may use a little gel or oil for shine.

For braiding hair, I like to use pre-stretched braiding hair. If you do not want to use pre-stretch braids then you’ll need to stretch the braids by pulling on the ends. But, I highly recommend that you buy pre stretched hair as it will save you time.

Step 2: Start on freshly washed hair

Usually, after spending hours to braid you’ll most likely want to keep the style for a while. I recommend washing your hair beforehand.

Step 3: Section Hair in 4 sections.

Step 4. Select first braid

• Select section to start working on,
• part off a small amount of hair, the size you want your braids to be.
• Tye up rest of the section, leaving only the small parted section out.

Step 5: Prepare braiding hair

• Get sufficient braiding hair to match the size of the small parted section, a little thicker than section is best.
• Divide the braiding hair in two even pieces. Image A
• Loop the braiding hair pieces in the center. Image B

Step 6: Hold braiding hair at the base of your first small parted section that you are doing (Step 4)

Step 7: hold your natural hair as a center piece with the braiding hair forming left piece and right piece.

Step 8: Pull gently on the center piece (your natural hair) then move the right piece (Braiding hair) to the center and your natural hair to the right.

Step 9: Move the left piece (braiding hair) to the center (braiding hair) then the center piece to the left.

(So what you are doing is crossing what’s in the center and bringing it to the side that you are taking the hair from. Eg. Right crosses center. Center goes to the right.)

Step 10: Repeat steps 6 to 9, continue braiding to the end of the braiding hair. If you bought pre-stretched braid or stretched the braid yourself then you can just leave it and it won’t untangle. If you didn’t stretch then use a rubber band to hold the hair at the ends.

Repeat until your entire head is braided. As a final touch, you can get some assistance to dip the end of your braids in hot water. Be very careful.

I hope this article was straightforward and helpful in teaching you how to do box braids on natural hair.

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