Can box braids look professional?

[Riverwalk]

Yes girl I know.... My hair is beyond BSL.... So trust me... I am witcha.........


So try Pro 10 hair ( the straight yaki) or Outre Batik. This hair is dead on for human..... and it is 36 inches. So you will be fine my dear. No one but YOU will know it is not human hair.

I will be putting in these braids next week.

I was thinking about going this route...

 

[Riverwalk]

BTW - you can make Kanekalon look like human............

:scratchch How do you do this? Do you do this by dipping the hair in the hot water?

 

[SugarPie]

hey ladies i have a similar question.. so i have an interview with a big firm in nyc this coming month but i want to put braids in with kanekalon hair..i usually make the braider curl the ends of the hair.. do you think this style could look professional even if i leave it hanging down.. im really not a fan of buns on my head

 

[gorgeous86]

I think they can be professional, but I personally would not sport them until after I got the job, I think there is still some discrimination towards natural hairstyles in the workplace. JMHO

I agree.

 

[gorgeous86]

hey ladies i have a similar question.. so i have an interview with a big firm in nyc this coming month but i want to put braids in with kanekalon hair..i usually make the braider curl the ends of the hair.. do you think this style could look professional even if i leave it hanging down.. im really not a fan of buns on my head

To me, no. Synthetic box braids don't look professional to me unless they are in a bun. JMHO

 

[melodies815]

G'wan oke: splash out and spend two benjamins on two packs of 28-inch hair like I did. Don't leave me out here alone in the cold. Consider it your charitable duty: doing time with a fellow sistah. Ramen can be tasty when you're broke.

Girl, I eat Ramen now, and we're not broke, thank the good Lord. I look at it as a snack - like crisps or chips. Ramen = old faithful!!! lol Matter of fact, had some yesterday...

 

[melodies815]

hey ladies i have a similar question.. so i have an interview with a big firm in nyc this coming month but i want to put braids in with kanekalon hair..i usually make the braider curl the ends of the hair.. do you think this style could look professional even if i leave it hanging down.. im really not a fan of buns on my head

Every job I have had since 2006 (with this crazy job market, I've had 2 and a total of 4 interviews) has been in braids or twists. I got every job I applied for...(sorry for the preposition at the end of the sentence!

Anyway, grammar aside, I still think it holds true that we need to have a lot more confidence and not be as concerned about what we think the other side thinks of us. They often are not thinking what we think they are thinking. I don't change a thing about my external appearance outside of my clothing (which matters most.) Corporate business attire or business casual seems to work fine for me and (no offense), I am a dark-skinned, tall, somewhat imposing figure in heels.

I rock my braids and my business intelligence and leave the rest in God's hands after I have done my level best. It's a privilege for a company to have my talents and ability, and I am interviewing them as MUCH as they are me because I feel like I can go anywhere in my particular field.

Back in the late 90's in NYC, I interviewed at a top private school with LOCS and got the job. Personally, I think you will be fine and should go in with all your confidence (not arrogance..and not that you would be arrogant...just want to make sure I differentiate for the sake of writing and anyone who might misunderstand what I am trying to say...). All of this is IMHO

Blessings to you. I pray you get the job and that it is a fit on all the levels you need.

HTH

Christi

 

[tuffCOOKiE]

I believe they can look professional. The reason I use human hair extensions is they behave the way hair would behave, and I can wear them anyway I'd wear my hair if it were pressed or relaxed. For instance, the way my hair looked when I wore the box braids straight but curled at the ends, behaved the way relaxed hair looks when straight and curled at the ends. No one would say this lady didn't look professional:

And likewise, no one had a negative thing to say about me when I wore my braids in a style that kinda emulated that with :

So if you can make your braids emulate a hairstyle that looks neat on combed relaxed hair--if that is the presumed accepted look--then I don't see why there should be a problem.

Nonie, do you have larger pictures? I want to go into a protective style for the next year and I feel in my firm, my box braids have to look extremely professional

 

[Nonie]

Nonie, do you have larger pictures? I want to go into a protective style for the next year and I feel in my firm, my box braids have to look extremely professional

Not very much bigger plus the quality of the photo is poor. This pic was taken in 2005:

I had worn those same extensions since 2003. And below is a picture of how they looked when I first put them in (the ends in both cases were curled with a curling iron since my hair was about 4 inches shorter than the extensions and so I wasn't afraid to use heat on the area that didn't contain my hair):

Same braids (2005) after a braid-out. (I cornrowed the extensions wet and then when dry undid for a wavy look):

A clearer picture of a braid-out on box braids but with shorter extensions (after my BC):

Or you can curl the length of the box braids if your hair is short enough to allow that much heat (or if you aren't afraid of heat):

And if you're not comfortable wearing your hair down, an updo can work:

BTW, you will be surprised that what YOU feel isn't how the corporate world feels. Just because you haven't seen anyone sporting that look, doesn't mean it's not acceptable. I was sporting my twists just hanging down yesterday "unstyled" and personally I wasn't really feeling them and I got more compliments on them than I get when I put them up in what *I* consider more professional.

 

[bluwatersoul]

I have been wearing kanekalon box braids for over a year and I wear a variety of buns and updo's to work. I dont like how they look out on me, except for on the weekend maybe with a headband. I can do almost any updo style with the braids and it looks great and is easy to travel and work out with ....

I use kanekalon but I condition the heck out of this hair before putting in my head, and co wash at least 2x a week....

 

[MsBttrfly23]

Great question. I have been doing micro braids for about 7 years but I have been on the same job in a corporate environment for about 12 years. I have always presented myself as professional and carry myself as such as well. I usually wore updo's with my braids and twists so it was always nice. But since I started going on interviews lately, I took the braids out (I was also tired of them too) but I am growing out natural hair and not sure what to do with it either so in order to appear "professional" and get past those with a jaded mind set about natural hair, I have been wearing wigs. I too am nervous about how corporate america views natural hair...that and the fact that maybe I have not completely transitioned my own mind about natural hair either...okay, I'm rambling...but yes, good question.

P.S.
Before I get attacked on my comfort level with my own natural hair, please take note that this is an issue that I am currently working on within myself as well and that YES I have acknowledged and decided that natural is what I want to be...

Be Blessed all and Happy New Year!

 

[Bigghair]

Yes

 

[bluwatersoul]

I too am nervous about how corporate america views natural hair...that and the fact that maybe I have not completely transitioned my own mind about natural hair either...okay, I'm rambling...but yes, good question.

P.S.
Before I get attacked on my comfort level with my own natural hair, please take note that this is an issue that I am currently working on within myself as well and that YES I have acknowledged and decided that natural is what I want to be...

Be Blessed all and Happy New Year!

I am exactly the same point right now, same internal issue so I completely understand!

 

[SugarPie]

MELODIE, thanks so much.

i always knew what you were saying but i think i needed to hear it again. Lets hope the firm that I am applying to is progressive enough that my hairstyle will not play a role in my interview and if not... it's their loss. lol we gotta stop playing by others' rules and living by other people's standards. granted the reality is that there is a mainstream culture (which is usually not accommodating to us) but if we keep living by their standards we will never emerge as an integral part of the "mainstream culture" ...

sorry.. i go off on rants like these because its a shame we have to worry about our hair when trying to find a job... SHAME... lol.. and whats so unprofessional about natural hair? white people rock their natural hair all the time...

 

[Nonie]

Maybe I just ignore the obvious but I swear I have never ever had issues getting a job or being accepted because I wore my hair a certain way. I never even focus on my hair when preparing for an interview the way it seems a lot of people do. I just groom myself properly and then show up to work or for an interview. And actually, it seems the people that have an issues with our hair are our own people--or our own deluded selves. I get the most compliments on my natural hair when I wear it in its glory from my white coworkers.

 

[Denise11]

NO NO NO! No matter how comfortable we are with braids, and how we think we should be able to wear them (and we should), and how we think the world has progressed, etc... There are still many employers that think braids and the sort is unacceptable. And whether you get angry and think they are wrong and should be sued, they have to insinuate in some way that you didn't get the job because of the braids. When people don't get hired because of ethnic hair styles, they rarely win in court because employers will say it's because of something else when you know it was your hair. Be careful, maybe as another poster said, wait until you get the job to wear the braids. Then if it's a problem, you may have a lawsuit. But this is just my opinion.

 

[imsovain]

T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh has quite a few sophisticated and professional box braid styles in her book.

I would get them done by a professional for an interview. HTH