Recap on my box braids

Hi ladies

I recently took out my box braids, a 4-week long protective style. During this time, I still took care of my hair, almost as often as I would when my hair is not in a long-term protective style. This is the first time that I actually took care of my hair while it was in braids - before I would just leave my hair, spray a braid spray once in a while, and take them out after 6-8 weeks. 

I have seen the benefits from taking care of my hair while it was in braids. The shedding and breakage was much less than it used to be before I started my healthy hair journey.

Here is a recap of what I did during the 4 weeks:

Week 1: 
1.) Moisturized my braids daily with my DIY spray. I mixed 1 cup Tressemme moisturizing conditioner + 2 tbsp glycerin + few drops peppermint oil & rosemary oil + 1 cup aloe vera juice + 1 cup water (you can see that the water content is quite high because the conditioner that I used was very thick, so I needed to dilute it so that it would spray well on my hair). Sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.
3.) Dry shampoo'd with ORS Dry Shampoo Herbal Cleanse. Sprayed CON 2-in-1 leave in conditioner afterwards.

Week 2:
1.) Moisturized my braids daily with my DIY spray & sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.
3.) Washed my braids using journey to waist length's method. I used MegaGrowth Stimulating shampoo.
4.) Deep conditioned with Skin Dr Argan Oil moisturizing conditioner under my hooded dryer for 20 minutes. Sprayed CON 2-in-1 leave in conditioner afterwards.

Week 3:
1.) Moisturized my braids every other day with my DIY spray, & sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.
3.) Washed my braids using journey to waist length's method. I used CON Sulphate-free Moisturizing shampoo. Sprayed CON 2-in-1 leave in conditioner afterwards.


Week 4:
1.) Moisturized my braids every other day with my DIY spray, & sealed with my coconut oil mix.
2.) Scalp oil massaged every 3 days with my JBCO mix.

I am yet to do a relaxer to see whether I have been able to retain length over this period. However, I have definitely seen an improvement in thickness, but somehow my hair is a bit fragile and breaking a bit. I will keep on doubling up with a protein+moisturizing treatment until I feel that it is balanced enough to handle a relaxer.

I also enjoyed trying different styles on my braids, just to break the routine of tying them in a bun or leaving them out:

How do you take care of your hair when it is in long-term protective styles?