Easy Protective Cornrows For Fall

Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean all of those amazing summer hairstyles have to go. In fact, fall is a great time to start those protective hairstyles, especially considering the much cooler and drier temperatures.

Firstly, please know that I did not do these cornrows on my own. I went to a wonderful salon in Nassau called Hairspray and my amazing stylist, Sam created this look for me.

A week ago, I removed some knotless box braids from my hair. They were incredible and were probably the best braids I have ever gotten. But, I did not moisturise them the way I needed to. I hate weighing down my natural hair with oils and heavy creams, so I moisturised sparingly. The problem is, my hair is colour treated, so that was a recipe for disaster. Colour-treated tresses require a lot of attention and my thirsty 4c strands need moisture.

So, because of my own neglect, I was forced to cut my hair. All of the new growth was wasted because my ends needed to be cut. They were badly split.

Now, after beating myself up, I decided to start really paying attention to my hair, moisturising it daily and investing in real protective styles.

Confession Time – I Used To Hate Cornrows

Cornrows have never been my go-to style. I absolutely hated them because I felt them made people, especially me, look like an alien. Now, I love them.

I also hated when stylists would braid my hair too tightly, putting pressure on my edges. If nothing else, I will defend my edges at all costs.

So, when opting for this style, I kept reminding my stylist not to braid tightly. I also did not want any synthetic hair in my head because I didn’t want to create a barrier that would prevent me from properly moisturising my hair.

This style was very easy to do. The trick is getting the parts straight. That enhances the style. I got a deep, moisturising conditioner and sat under the dryer for about 30 minutes. Then, I let Sam cut every split end off of my hair. My hair immediately looked and felt better after that. Then, it was time to moisturise and start rowing my hair down. I keep stressing the moisture aspect because that’s what my hair needs a lot of right now.

My hair was so short that we had to put tiny rubber bands at the end to keep my hair from unravelling.

Easy Styling Options

The great thing about cornrows is that they are so low maintenance. I basically mist my hair with water (don’t drench it) and then I add a very high-quality overnight moisturiser to my hair, oil my scalp and tie it down with a satin scarf after it has dried.

In the morning, I dab on a little edge control, add some light moisture and a few gold cuffs.