Thanks for the compliment
. One of the reasons why I never tried them was I would be scared I wasn't getting to all of my hair without messing them up, so personally, I would take them out so I could get to my hair. Hopefully some of the braid using members will chime in and tell you how to make it work
Also be careful with the pantene mask. It is nice, but does have strenghtening B vitamins which act like protein on my hair (like what I said about "proteins" that seem to just moisturize), but everyone's hair is different. I would not use the pantene mask on my hair until after the protein overload is fixed, but this is coming from a protein sensitive haired gal. Your best bet is to do strictly moisture until things are back to normal. I recently tried and really like the Sally GVP conditioner. It really surprised me.