How long do jumbo cornrows last on type 3 or curly hair?

Before you take the plunge on a new protective hairstyle, it’s always good to get a sense of how much bang you’ll get for your buck and time. Am I going to sit for a couple hours getting long jumbo cornrows only to have to take them out a few days later? Or can I expect to get a good few weeks out of them?

We asked one of our Yeluchi (mobile hairstyling service) clients to answer this question definitively with us. We first did this with a client that has kinky type 4 hair and got these results. And now with the help of the lovely Victoria, we’ve got the answer for curly type 3 hair.

So, how long do jumbo cornrows last on curly type 3 hair?

The short answer is about two weeks.

Victoria kept her cornrows in for a total of 17 days. Throughout that time she wrapped her braids and slept with a satin scarf at night. She didn’t wash her hair with shampoo or conditioner during that time but did rinse it out with water on the 14th day after a workout. When she started seeing frizz on around the 15th day, she applied some setting mousse and edge control.

Keep in mind that how Victoria took care of her hair is generally what we recommend. Here’s a full rundown of taking care of and refreshing cornrows. In sum, you want to wash your hair as often as you would if it were out of a protective style; keep it moisturized according to your hair and scalp’s needs; and definitely sleep with a scarf at night.

We highly recommend avoiding the temptation to leave your cornrows or any protective style for too long. Any style that keeps you from being able to fully wash your hair on a regular basis leaves you open to product and bacteria building up on your scalp. So always err on the safe side and take out your style when you know you need a good wash. (In case, it might be helpful, here are the official protective style guidelines we put together with industry experts to help you really protect your hair, and below’s the short doc we put together on safe protective styling.)

Here’s what Victoria’s hair looked like over the days she had them in.

(Click to expand)

Day 1

Day 1

Day 5

Day 5

Day 8: “I haven’t washed them or applied any other product to them. I have done some light work outs which resulted in minimal sweating.”

Day 8

Day 14: I did not wash my hair with any shampoo or conditioner but I did rinse them with just water on the 14th day after a workout. The following day, I applied mousse because they were frizzy (probably because I got them wet the day before) and applied edge control to my edges often.

Day 17: “I kept my braids in for a total of 17 days. I decided to take them out for a few reasons- they were becoming frizzy and my own ends were coming out of the braid, my braids were slipping at the nape of my neck, and my scalp was looking dry, flaky and starting to itch. I needed a good ol’ wash and deep condition.”