My Summer Protective Style-BAE Locs

Well, it’s that time of year again. The time of year where I switch it up and get a protective style. Summer is about living your best, stress-free life at all the events. Having the luxury of just getting up and going (and not having to maintain a twist-out), only adds to that lifestyle. So this time I stepped a little bit out of my normal box braid and twist comfort zone and into the world of dreads! Now if you know my family, you know dreads are nothing new to me. My Dad has dreads down to the floor, which he has been growing since a little before I was born. I will be 35 this year just to give you some context.

Dreads are also something I have debated about growing myself but always go back and forth on it and chicken out. I am so happy that we now have so many options with crochet hair to try different styles!

I first came across this style on Youtube Beauty Ambrosia Malbrough. It was love at first sight, this was going to be my Summer 2018 vibe. I reached out to the stylist that did my Marley twists back in February and the rest is history. I had a great experience with her and my hair did not suffer any damage. It is important to find stylists that know and nurture natural hair well.

Okay, let’s get into the deets on this hair. Like I mentioned this is crochet braiding hair, specifically the Bobbi Boss Bae Locs. There are two lengths, 12″ and 20″, I obviously opted for the shorter length because it just gave me more of a natural looking vibe. The 20″ I think would be a great choice for the colder months.

I purchased 6 packs of hair from Elevate Styles and it came the next day for an additional fee. Amazing customer service! This is the color 4, so it’s not jet black but more of a deep brownish, red tone! The colorful accent dreads come in each package, how bohemian chic!! The installation time for this style was about two hours, which is pretty damn good compared to the usual 5 for box braids, etc.  This hair is suuuuper lightweight, I mean you don’t even feel like there were extensions added in. Now here’s why so many of you commented on Instagram that it looks so natural: I had them crocheted in individually as opposed to the cornrow method. My stylist box braided my real hair and then pulled each braid through the faux loc. This method came from watching Ambrosia’s Youtube video and gives me more access to my scalp, which I like having to maintain a protective style.

I am not sure whether I will be able to wash this hair, but I will definitely be able to apply scalp rinses and products of that nature. Another reason it looks very natural is that we didn’t use all six packs of hair. We used 4.5 because I didn’t want that bulky look that people tend to end up with when installing crochet styles.

So I have a whole pack of hair left to retouch around the perimeter in a few weeks when the hair starts to loosen up. Personally, I think the real beauty of this style will come as time goes on, the frizziness will add to the effect that these are growing out of my head. I plan to keep this style in for about a month. Wish me luck!

So are you guys installing any protective styles this season? Drop a line below to let me know. If you decide to install these Bae Locs, please send me a picture on Instagram, I would love to see it! Thanks so much for reading, as always, stay chic!