Earlier this summer, I made a decision to get a protective style to give my hair a break. I wanted something easy and something that wouldn’t cause me lots of angst. I decided to go with box braids. Box braids and every other type of braiding style have been around forever, long before it became trendy on the red carpet. I’m looking at you, Kim Kardashian.

With any change comes a bit of panic – at least with me it does. For me, panic is wondering if I’ll like it or thinking about the invasive questions others will ask. This time around, my panic was at a minimum because I was absolutely fed up with my hair. Besides shaving it all off, getting box braids was a more logical choice. Box braids made the biggest impact on me in the 90’s when the movie Poetic Justice was released.

Poetic Justice is a classic. The lead character, played by Janet Jackson, had these long, luscious box braids that just resonated with me. Who knew it would be almost 25 years later before I actually tried them. Thank you Janet Jackson, a.k.a. Justice, for the inspiration. My experience with braids went really well but I did go through a wide range of emotions after getting them and even while removing them.

What happened when I wore box braids

Taken from my Snapchat the day I got my braids.

I immediately felt like a new person. John called me his Nubian princess and I didn’t stop him. The process took about four hours and about halfway through it, I was regretting my decision. My butt was hurting from sitting in the chair. The outcome, though, was all worth it.

I prepared myself for the awkward questions and touching. Sometimes, when we notice change on people, we have a tendency to touch or ask rude questions. For this reason, I never ask someone if they’re pregnant or touch a pregnant woman’s stomach. It’s weird and rude. I didn’t have a ton of confused looks but there’s always that one person who feels the need to stroke your hair, like an animal, and proceed to ask if your hair is real (yes, this happened to me). I will never understand it.

How I felt after getting braids // Image from Fashion Bomb Daily

Neck pain. I’m always having issues with my back and neck but once you add heavy braids to it, the annoying pain intensifies. After a couple of days, it went away but it takes some getting used to.

Small tasks felt like they took forever. I don’t know how folks with really long, thick hair get anything done. My braids got in the way of everything. Once they loosened up a bit, I was able to put them up and get them out of the way.

Sleeping was annoying. Sleeping with a head full of braids is not comfortable at all.

The Aftermath

As I was removing my braids, I kept thinking of the India Arie song, I Am Not My Hair. I was trying to remind myself that throughout this entire process, it’s only hair. Whether I have braids or I don’t have braids, its hair. I am who I am, with or without them. The braids gave me a little extra boost because hello, they’re cute but they didn’t alter who I was. I still find it awkward if anyone feels the need to caress my hair because I may be wearing it differently.

If anything, wearing braids for a while gave me an extra boost of confidence I didn’t even know was there. It was like having an additional layer of black girl magic around me at all times. But don’t fret, even though the braids are gone, the magic is definitely still there.