How to Braid Cornrows
Cornrows are a traditional African hairstyle that many in the United States embrace as a way to reconnect to their African heritage or as a personal statement through their hair. For many, adding hair extensions to their cornrows allows them to create more advanced styles that their natural hair's thickness or length would otherwise limit. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Hair conditioner
- Hair extensions
- Styling gel
- Cigarette lighter
- Scissors
Instructions
-
-
1
Prepare your hair to be braided by using a deep conditioner several weeks before braiding the hair. Use a natural hair conditioner such as Carol's Daughter Tui Hair Smoothie, which contains shea and coco butters to add moisture to your hair.
-
2
Purchase extension hair close to your natural hair color or purchase more than one color to create highlights. Extension hair stock numbers indicate the hair color. For instance, #1B is off-black and #4 is medium brown. You can buy synthetic or human hair; synthetic hair is more common for cornrows. Buy three to five bags of hair depending on the width and length of your desired cornrows.
-
-
3
Part your hair into the basic desired cornrow design. If you are a beginner, then stick with the straight back cornrows across the entire scalp. But if you want to be more creative, part the hair with sharp parts to create wavy cornrows. Start with one section that stretches the entire length of the head from the crown to the nape of the neck and separate the rest of your hair away from that section to keep the braid neat.
-
4
Separate about an inch to two inches of synthetic hair from the bulk of the synthetic hair and bend it in half creating two equal-length strands. Part a small section at the top of your section and create three equal strands of hair to begin the cornrow. Begin the cornrow by putting the loop of the extension hair around the middle strand of hair. Use a styling gel like Let's Jam to begin the cornrow and while you are braiding to keep shorter hair smooth and in the braid.
-
5
Start to braid your hair and the extension hair as you would braid normally, but incorporate the extension hair into two of your strands of the initial braid. After you have completed two stitches of the braid, then add hair from the section of your hair to the strand that you are about to add to the braid. Also, incorporate extension hair with each braid stitch so that as your braid down you are joining more of your natural hair and more of the extension hair with every stitch.
-
6
Braid the hair to the desired length, but be sure the braid continues past your natural hair length. If you want long cornrows, then use longer hair extensions, like 22 inches. Once you have the length you want, then use a cigarette lighter to burn the synthetic hair to close the braid and cut the excess hair off the braid. Do not burn human hair or your natural hair.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Do not pull the hair too tight at the scalp, because that is painful and can cause damage to the hair.
