Box Braids with (my first ever!) Cornrows

Yes,  you read that title correctly... Hope's latest style features her mother's very first cornrows!  I've tried to do them before and never quite gotten the hang of it.  Recently I french braided/cornrowed Hope's mini box braids, though, and that got me thinking of giving it another try on her loose hair.  So, I did, and at last we found success...although I'm sure with lots of room for future improvement.

Here are all the style details...

I want to start by saying that, as any of you who've done a large number of box braids knows, doing this many braids takes patience and T-I-M-E!  With a four year old, and with an unusually busy week last week, though, I didn't even think of attempting to complete the style in one (or even two) sessions.  We began by washing and conditioning in sections, and just doing a little bit of 'pre-detangling' in the tub.  I loosely twisted each section as I completed it, and left those twists in for the final rinse.  I then added coconut oil which I had warmed up so it was in liquid form.

After leaving the bath, I detangled each section of hair (working in four sections) and then banded each section for stretching.  That was all I intended to accomplish on the first day.

I wasn't able to begin working on braiding Hope's hair until two days after banding, and when we began that process Hope's hair had dried completely and was nicely stretched.

My plan was to remove bands in just one section at a time and then put in the box braids in that section.  That's exactly what I did over the following several days as time allowed.  Hope wore a number of 'transitional' looks during that time, and we're just okay with that!  I was aiming for very small braids as they last a nice long time for us (the bottom row contained six actually, and the pictures show just how long her hair is, too).

This is the length of hair I am working with for each braid!

I am aware of starting each braid tight, while not pulling excessively on Hope's scalp, 

and also keeping the braid tight throughout.

To finish off each braid, I simply twist the ends.

Here (above) is one of those 'transitional' looks I mentioned.  When we were about halfway finished, I removed all the colored pony o's I had used for banding and instead put in two large braids.  

When I (at last) reached the front section of Hope's hair, that is the moment I decided to try out putting in cornrows.

Hey!  It worked!

So, I added eight cornrows going away from Hope's face, and each cornrow ended in another long braid.  In addition to the eight cornrows in the front, Hope has about 75 box braids in the back.  I expect those to last a couple of months.  I also expect to either have to redo the cornrows, or put in box braids in the front instead at some point.  We'll figure that out when the time comes.

Hope is really enjoying these braids.  On a couple of days, she has worn them with these cute little pink & purple clips, but those are totally optional.  Other days, she has wanted to just wear them 'plain.'  

Products used:

In the bath...

~Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo

~Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl & Shine Conditioner

~Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil

For detangling...

~Taliah Waajid The Great Detangler

For braiding...

~Oyin Handmade Juices & Berries (I needed a little of this to soften each dried section before parting)

~Oyin Handmade Sugar Berries Pomade

~Shea Moisture Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie (just a little bit on those ends)

Blessings,

Nikki