How to prep your hair before a braiding appointment
Braids grip prepared hair and slip on unprepared hair. Almost everything that determines how long a set lasts happens in the 48 hours before the appointment, not during it.
None of this takes long. All of it matters.
Wash 24 hours before, not on the day
Clean hair grips better than dirty hair, but freshly washed hair is slippery and swollen with water. A day-old wash is the sweet spot: clean, fully dry, and settled.
Shampoo properly — clarify if you have been using heavy products, because build-up at the root is what makes a braid slide out in week two.
Deep condition after shampooing. Braiding puts hair under weeks of tension with no access to your usual routine; going in dry means coming out brittle.
Detangle completely, in sections
This is the step that saves the most time in the chair and the most hair on the floor. Work in four to six sections, from the ends upward, with a wide-tooth comb and slip from a conditioner or detangler.
A single knot missed at home becomes a knot your stylist has to work through with your head already sore from two hours of parting. It is also where most take-down breakage originates.
Stretch the hair if it shrinks a lot — banded, braided or blown out on low heat. Stretched hair parts cleanly and gives an accurate sense of your real length.
Skip the oils on the day
No heavy butters, greases or thick leave-ins on the scalp the day of your appointment. They coat the strands, the braid slips, and the set loosens early.
A light leave-in on the lengths is fine. The scalp is what needs to stay clean.
If your scalp is flaky or irritated, tell us before you book rather than on the day. Braiding over an inflamed scalp locks the problem in for six weeks.
On the day itself
Eat first. A five-hour appointment on an empty stomach is miserable, and light-headedness in the chair is more common than you would think.
Wear something with a wide neckline that does not need to come off over your head. Bring a charger, headphones and something to watch.
Come with reference photos if you have a specific finish in mind. Describing a braid size in words is much harder than pointing at one.