DIY Box braids takedown + Henna treatment

Hey everyone!!! Hope y’all good.Happy Valentine's day!!! Love yourself and others, now and always!! Hope we are all having a wonderful Valentine’s day.
So in my last post, I mentioned how I installed box braids on my hair. Well, I liked it at first, but later on it started to look….not good. So after 12 days, I decided I was time to take them out.
- I unravelled the braids (took forever) and finger combed to remove shed hair. Then applied coconut oil to my hair, divided into four sections and combed each section with a wide tooth comb.
- It was late (about 11 pm) so I just applied castor oil to my scalp and massaged for a few minutes. Covered my hair with a satin scarf and went to bed.
- The next morning, I had to go to school so I just moisturised and sealed and packed my hair in a low bun. When I got home, I wanted to wash my hair and decided on a henna treatment as well.
I bought the henna from a local market on my last trip to Abuja during the Christmas holidays.
Henna is a greenish-yellow powder that is commonly used as body paint (if you’re a Nigerian, henna is what Northern women call ‘lalle’ and use to decorate their hands and feet during special occasions such as weddings). Henna has been found to be a great hair strengthener. It also thickens the hair over time (my main reason for using it). It adds a reddish tint to hair, which fades over time. It also acts as a protein treatment. Here’s how I did it:
- I brewed two bags of lemon and lime tea in a cup of hot water.

- While I waited for the tea to cool, I sieved the henna using a flour sieve (during my last henna treatment which was also my first, I didn’t sieve the henna and it was a DISASTER. It took forever to wash it off and even then, I kept picking stalks out of my hair for days).

- Once the tea was cool, I poured it into the bowl of henna, stirring continuously until it had the consistency of yogurt.

- I parted my hair into four sections and finger detangled. Then, I applied the henna, as one would apply a relaxer. I applied in all four sections generously from root to tip. (WARNING: Please use a pair of gloves when applying henna. Else you end up with red stained palms and fingernails. Unless you’re OK with that, use a pair of gloves)

- Covered with two nylon bags (didn’t want to ruin my shower cap) and left for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours, I rinsed off (took a while to get all the henna out of my hair, but it was much easier and better than the last time).
- T-shirt dried for 20 minutes.
- Followed with a moisturising DC of Motions Moisture plus conditioner, Organics by Africa’s Best Cholesterol and Tea tree oil conditioner, added a spoonful of olive oil and a few drops of Eucalyptus oil. Covered with a nylon bag, wrapped a towel around my head and left for one hour.
- Rinsed off DC and T-shirt dried for 15 minutes.
- Air dried with my standing fan and applied my leave ins( a 50:50 mix of Motions leave-in conditioner and VO5 Moisture milks Conditioner) then finger-detangled. Applied ORS Humidity control serum and detangled with a wide tooth comb. Detangling was amazing, I lost very little hair. So happy!!
- I threaded my hair in eight sections using black yarn(wool). Covered with a satin scarf and went to bed.
- The next morning, I loosened the threads, moisturised with Carrot oil moisturiser and sealed with coconut oil.
Results

I love my hair. So thick!!! So soft yet strong!!! Henna is definitely going to be my regular monthly protein treatment. The pros outweigh the cons by far. One of my hair goals is thick hair, so this will definitely help.
I’m currently 13 weeks post aiming for 16 weeks and this stretch has been amazing!!!! I have about 2 inches of new growth and it’s been no bother!!! Still racking my brain on what I’m doing right.  If all continues well (Fingers crossed!!), I might extend my stretch to 20 weeks.
If you decide to do a henna treatment, please note the following
- Always follow a henna treatment (and any kind of protein treatment) with a moisturising deep conditioning as henna can leave your hair quite stiff.
- Henna can inhibit the relaxer process, so wait at least two weeks after a henna treatment before getting a relaxer else you might end up with under processed hair.
- Like I already stated, please wear gloves when applying henna.
Don't you just love those wash days when everything goes your way?? I know I do!!
My next post will be on my product stash, so stay tuned. Happy Valentine's day!!!
Cheers, Fatee