Make Me Look Like Janet

This summer, I wanted to try out a new type of protective style. I felt like I always do Marley twist, so I decided to try out box braids. Box braids are more commonly known as poetic justice braids. You know, the hair style Janet Jackson rocked in the movie Poetic Justice with Tupac Shakur. I loved the movie and her braids.

Before my first attempt at box braids, I watched two YouTube tutorials to learn the braiding technique. The two videos were basically the same except in one video the instructor had natural hair and she suggested twisting my hair before braiding it into the 100% Kanekalon Hair. This allowed the two different hair textures to blend better. Of course I took my fellow Naturalista’s advice. The whole process was really trial and error. The method I used to actually connect my hair and the Kanekalon Hair is the same as the Marley twist method, except you're braiding instead of twisting. I also had to figure out what size braids I wanted. Now let me tell you, this hair was nothing like the Marley hair; it wasn't as easy to take apart and it got everywhere! I also had to use the same amount of hair for each braid to ensure all my braids were the same size. 

​I started at eleven a.m. and did not finish until eight p.m. I took one break when I was half way done. I got a little frustrated at some points and I almost ran out of hair. I wish I had done a better job blending my hair with the Kanekalon hair, but I’m often my own worst critic. 

I received numerous compliments on how great my braids looked and people were always surprised that I did them myself. I was able to do many styles with the braids; like up dos, down dos and somewhere in between. I posted pictures of the different styles I wore in our natural hair Facebook Group at Accented Glory Naturals. I loved my box braids and think they're a great protective style. I enjoyed looking like Janet this summer!

Click to set custom HTML

Sign up for our newsletter!