Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
One of my favorite protective styles will always be individual braids. My least favorite part is the itchy scalp and minor irritation bumps that can (sometimes) come along with it from the chemicals in the synthetic hair. Even though it dissipates after a few days, this time around I’m pregnant, and didn’t want to deal with it at all. So, I decided to soak the braiding hair in apple cider vinegar to remove the chemical coating to help with itching and bumps. This is how it went.
Note: Before putting the hair in water, make sure it’s braided and secured with an elastic at the top and bottom. Otherwise it will get tangled beyond belief. I made that mistake once before, never again!
Warm Water + Apple Cider (ACV)
I filled my bathtub with warm water and about half a bottle of ACV. After about 3 hours of soaking, there was a white foam that had surfaced. Yuck! The hair was already feeling so much softer than before! I gave it a really good rinse and proceeded to wash it with shampoo + conditioner.
Shampoo + Conditioner
I cleaned the bath tub and filled it up with clean warm water and added in shampoo. Let it soak for an hour and gave it a gentle scrubbing. Then rinsed it off well and did the same thing with conditioner.
Air Dry
I let the hair fully dry (it took about a day), gave it a quick detangle with a wide tooth comb, loosely braided it and secured the ends with an elastic.
Click below for my video tutorial!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGvTlm6A1kl/
It is quite the process I know, but the hair was so much shinier and felt way, way softer after I finished. Not to mention the yummy smell of freshly washed hair =). This made install such a breeze and the hair separated with no knots or pulling. I’m also happy to report, after my individuals were installed I had no itching and no irritation bumps! Definitely worth it especially when I wear my braids for 4-6 weeks at a time.
Now that you have beautiful braids, don’t forget to take care of that scalp! Here is the oil blend I like to make and use regularly. And here are some of my favorite ways to style my braids.
Have you done the apple cider vinegar rinse? If not, will you try it for your next protective style?
Let me know in the comments below =)
Michelle Daniels
I’ve worn box braids for years and I have never heard of your scalp being irritated because of the chemicals on the synthetic hair, but this makes so much sense now. 🤯 I will definitely be trying this out when I install them again in a few weeks. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing!!
chia
Michelle,
Thanks for reading! Some people never have irritation or itchiness, but this is definitely worth the try if you do! It worked wonders for me. I will warn you, it’s low key time consuming. But worth it!
Chia
Moriah
Thanks for this! I can’t stand the itchiness from my synthetic hair! It’s so uncomfortable!
chia
Moriah,
My results were great and I hope yours are, too! You’ll have to keep me posted =)
Chia