1. First you check your bank balance and accept that you won't have delivery for awhile.
2. Then you get stuck in a Tumblr/Pinterest/Instagram hole looking for hair inspiration
...and tear up a little bit with pride from how fricking gorgeous black women look with braids.
3. "Marley braids, Senegalese twists, micros? WTF SHOULD I GET? I WANT IT ALL!"
4. You narrow down your choices to two looks and start getting butterflies over your future #badbitch style
5. You Google the best hair braiding salons...
...and get price quotes from high-end salons that blow your mind...
"£300 for micros?!!?"
6. You hang up and have the absurd thought that you could totally put your braids in yourself to save a couple hundred
...you then watch a few YouTube braiding tutorials that scare you straight.
7. You call a salon that's off the beaten path and find out they charge £100 less
Score!! Appointment made.
8. You buy tons of styling products
This time you're definitely gonna make these braids last!
9. A few days before the appointment, you bookmark 20+ hairstyles to try
It's the summer of the updo, baby!
10. The night before, TIME TO DEEP CONDITION
11. You go to sleep with a big ass smile on your face. THE TRANSFORMATION IS NIGH!
12. You arrive at the salon five minutes early. "Maybe that'll make a difference?"
Except every chair is occupied and none of the ladies have their hair halfway finished!
13. A half hour goes by. You control your rage by flipping through battered copies of Blackhair magazine from 2004.
14. Kiss FM blares in the background. You've gotta listen to the same tunes for TIME.
That Trumpets song by Jason Derulo? Doesn't sound so catchy on its fifth replay.
15. It's finally your turn!
16. You start to get insecure about the state of your hair with your hairdresser
"Is it healthy?" "Is it long for a black girl?" "How are my edges?"
17. Four hours go by and only the top is finished. UGH.
18. Your stylist constantly stops to talk to the rest of the salon about THAT drama with Solange and Jay Z.
"Yeah what about my scalp!!"
19. After six hours of eavesdropping, you offer unsolicited relationship advice to the lady sitting next to you
20. YOU'RE FINISHED! and your head is throbbing.
Time to pop a few Aspirin!
21. The next day your white coworkers are afraid to say you look different
but they still stare at you suspiciously...
22. You leave work wondering if kinky twists were the way to go...
...but then you upload a #blackgirlhair selfie to Instagram and relish in all the compliments!
23. You really feelin' yourself over the next few weeks...
and never shy away from documenting how good your braids look!
24. And then the one day...IT HAPPENS:
a braid falls out...
25. And then you start making an Inspiration folder for your next braid style!
Agree with this list? Tweet us @sofeminineUK
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Braids, Twists and Locs: Best Updo Tutorials For Ladies With Protective Styles
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