These 2 Products Made My Protective Style Braids Last Longer

I am currently having a moment with feed-in braids.

Well, aside from my typical go-to, a headwrap in

between wash days, I have decided to revisit Ghana braids as a form to leave my natural curls alone for a while. And while I sometimes find myself missing my hair too much to allow a protective style to do what it is truly meant to do, I am proud to say that this time around has been different. Repeat after me: 3 whole weeks.Believe it or not, that is probably a record even for me, someone who has been rocking twists and braids since her childhood.

I'm not going to sit here and act like I got through the 21 days without having that occasional itch -- literal and figurative -- to take my protective style braids out and just massage my scalp to oblivion.

There have been literally only two products I have used throughout the entire duration of my Ghana braids tenure, and they both come from Taliah Waajid's new line, Protective Styles.

The first is Refresh And So Clean Bamboo, Avocado And Peppermint Dry Gel Shampooand the second is Intense Moisture Bamboo And Coconut Milk Strengthening Leave-in Conditioner.

Every few days I refresh the length of my actual hair with the leave-in, which allowed my curls to stay frizz-free and blend in with the braiding hair.

I also applied some directly to my exposed roots, massaging it into my scalp all the way down. The shampoo is an interesting gel-like substance that sticks and allows curly girls to not focus too much on hair health maintenance.

Both products from this line gave me a tingly, minty, cool feeling that helped me keep my hands out of my hair for longer than I had expected.

This, in turn, allowed me to keep my feed-in braided style as smooth and fresh as possible. Although I am taking these braids out tonight, I already have another appointment scheduled for another protective style, and I am excited to try the rest of the Taliah Waajid line that is a part of these two amazing products.

The Taliah Waajid Protective Styles Leave-in Conditioner is lightweight and milky, but the ingredients pack a major punch.

It is water-based and contains healthy hair-promoting aloe leaf juice, coconut milk, sesame seed oil, sunflower oil and bamboo extract.

The Dry Gel Shampoo has effective ingredients like witch hazel, peppermint oil, and castor oil to name a few.

Have you rocked a protective style this summer?

If so, what has been your favorite? Do you have any holy grail products that have helped the journey become a little easier? Let me know in the comments.

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Photos by@cassandra_jk