Buildup around base of braid......

sexycaramel03

New Member
I am currently in individual braids right now and the lady that braided my hair told me to use Sea Breeze Astringent (the kind you get from Sally's) to get rid of the buildup. From the way she was talking, it was like the astringent was supposed to dissolve the buildup, but it's not working. When I put the astringent on the base of the braid, the buildup just stays there. I have to "pull" at the buildup to remove some of it. I plan to keep my braids in until sometime in April but I am scared that the buildup is going to make some of my hair come out when it's time to take the braids down. What should I do to remove the buildup. Tuesday night I put the astringent on before I shampooed my braids and that helped a great deal but I don't want any buildup at all.Washing the braids helped but I only plan to do that once a week. My last resort is to take the front braids out (where there is the most buildup)and get them redone to combat the buildup from getting worse until I take the braids down. Any suggestions??

Here's a list of the products I am using right now on my braids.

African Royal Braid Spray diluted w/ distilled water and some left over S-curl...sprayed on the length of the braids 2 xs a day

Infusium 23 Leave in diluted w/ distilled water...sprayed on scalp and lenght once a day

Fantasia IC Hair polisher styling gel...used on baby hairs once a day

Sta-Sof-Fro....barely used, I don't use it everyday

Canola Oil...used to seal in moisture on the lenght of the braids
 

Ayeshia

New Member
dont use the oil everyday, because i noticed on my hair that is what attracted the dirt the most. I really dont have a problem with buildup anymore because i only use two products on my braids. also can you take them out and rebraid the individuals that have the most buildup?
 

dontspeakdefeat

Hair Coach
[ QUOTE ]
ayeshia said:
dont use the oil everyday, because i noticed on my hair that is what attracted the dirt the most. I really dont have a problem with buildup anymore because i only use two products on my braids. also can you take them out and rebraid the individuals that have the most buildup?

[/ QUOTE ]Great advice. I usually redo the hairline and nape area about a month into having the braids. These areas are the one's that are more prone to extra buildup.

Also make sure you are careful not to spray the base of the braids on a daily basis. The excessive product attracts more unwanted buildup. When I am in braids I only wash once weekly and that is the only time I spray the base of the braids.
 

Netta1

Well-Known Member
Does it have alcohol in it, if it does I would avoid it. Yep like the others have said avoid over oiling your scalp. I hardly ever have buildup at the base of my braids because I only use spray on moisturisers to moisturise my braids. Be careful with gel.

*moisturisers
Sta sof fro
braid spray

*conditioners
911 leave-in
Infusium 23

*Shampoo
Sea Kelp

*I do a hot oil prewash sometimes
*I also spray my hair with moisturizer once or twice a day.
*Spray the base at once over then continue spraying the rest of the braid.
*I shampoo once or twice per week.
 

sexycaramel03

New Member
Thanks for all of your suggestions!

Ipanema...I did an acv rinse when I washed my braids, but I am not sure if that's what helped or just the shampooing and the pressure from the shower head that helped to reduce some of the buildup.

DSD...I think I'll just have to wound up getting the hairline done over in about the next week or 2. Wouldn't only spraying the braids once a week contribute to the dryness that you have when you take out the braids. I was following the Braid Challenge Regimen and trying to spray the lenght of the braids twice a day and the scalp just once.

Netta1...none of the products I am using contains alcohol. I thought about uping my shampoos to twice a week but I thought that would be a bit much. Even though the gel doesn't contain alcohol and doesn't flake, I still think that it is contributing to some of the buildup around the base of the braids. I'll try to limit my use of it.

Thanks again guys for the advice. More suggestions are welcomed!
 

BronzeBrown

New Member
DSD gave a really good tip about re-doing the front hairline after a month - this is definitely the area most prone to build-up.

From my experience, I think there are two types of buildup: there's product build-up that comes from using thick hair creams on the braids, and there's lint build-up. The Sea Breeze suggestion works for the former type of build-up; but lint build-up is unavoidable. It comes from clothes, towels and most other fabric-made items. The only thing you can do is be extra gentle when taking the braids out. Once you've removed the extension, there's likely to be a ball of lint on your hair where the braid's base was. Just take 3-4 strands of your hair out of the ball at a time. This seems to do the trick for me. Slathering on oil and/or water - which is what I used to do, actually accerbated tangles for me.
 
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