Kaunda Selisho

By Kaunda Selisho

Journalist


Daily hacks: Three time-saving tips to get your braids quicker

In our 'Daily hacks' series, we bring you the latest beauty tips, trends and tricks to transform your life and save you money. Today's tip: quick braids.


Admit it, nothing beats the feeling of freshly braided hair but no one, and I mean no one, loves the long, butt-numbing wait that you have to go through for new braids.

We decided to check out three main tips for people looking to braid their hair quicker.

1. Part your hair strategically

The biggest schlep when it comes to getting new braids lies in the prep work and if you get the prep work out of the way, you’ve knocked down most of the time you would have spent doing your hair. 

In addition to coming up with a strategic part pattern, you can section the hair into big chunks for box braids and use rubber bands to secure the hair before looping braiding hair through the base later for knotless braids. 

2. Buy pre-stretched hair or stretch the hair before-hand

“Stretched” hair refers to braiding hair that has uneven edges that have already been pulled in order to give that tapered look where the braids start off big and get smaller as they approach the ends.

This also helps lock in a braid that may start to unravel if you braid the hair as is, straight from the packet with the straight cut tips.

The following video advises blow-drying your hair to speed up the process if you have natural hair, however, this is unnecessary. 

ALSO READ: Daily hacks: Full, luscious lips with no need for botox

3. Section the hair beforehand and hang the strands on a sewing thread organiser

Separating the hairpiece is another thing that takes forever with this hairstyle. If you do your hair yourself, I would suggest investing in a thread organiser that you can hang the prepared sections of hairpiece on so that you can just grab-and-go while platiting without having to pick up a large chunk of the hairpiece to separate while in the middle of finishing your hair.

tips for quick braids
Thread organiser stand for braiding hair | Picture: Ubuy South Africa



If you’re brave enough, you can even advise the person who hoes your hair to get one and that way, you can both win. If you’re too scared to say anything, just send them the link to this article.

Feel free to let us know how much time this takes off your braiding by tweeting us @citi_life_ or finding us on Instagram @citi_life__ 

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