So I have this insignificance of an Afro that I am trying to grow out, Angela Davis-style. Lately, though, I have been getting tired of looking at it. It’s not that I hate it—I love my hair—but I have dyed it every color you can think of and I’m looking for something different and fun for the rest of the winter.
Ever watch Poetic Justice? You know, the movie where Tupac and Janet Jackson make an intense love connection? Well, Ms. Jackson–cause I’m nasty–has these beautiful braid extensions in her head. They are long and too cool for school, and when I saw them, I realized that I want something similar, with a modern twist, on my head.
That’s when I discovered the I Love Box Braids Tumblr. Box braids were mad popular with young black women in the 1990s. They are basically single plaits, sometimes done with extensions– but the beauty lies in the simplicity. And the girls posting on Tumblr know how to do it right! Some do them thick, all Janet-like, and others add colors—my favorite looks are the ones with all types of bright colors. Or better yet, check out the ladies rockin’ the half-shaved and half-braided look; that is what we Brooklynites call OD* beautiful. Braids look good on EVERYBODY.
Braids are making a comeback and I wanna be in line and in style. Solange and Brandi have been beautiful in them:
(via Dark-BrownEyes)
My friend told me that there’s a place in Harlem where the African woman does this style on the cheap! I think I’m about to end this winter whipping my box braids back and forth real good.
(Janet Jackson in ‘Poetic Justice’ via Hairspiration)
*OD: Super! Over Done! Over Dose! Over the top!
