We all know that back to school can be an exciting but stressful time for both parents and children. Its full of preparation in the upcoming weeks before the first day with lots of back to school shopping for school supplies and new clothes. But there is something else that is important on that list. How will your child wear their hair on the first day of school? No matter the gender, there are quite a few hairstyles to choose from. But how will you choose the best style for back to school?
Three Factors to Consider
The best thing about natural hair is the variety of hairstyles you can choose from. But there are three things you must consider before choosing the best option: the amount of money you are willing to spend to create the style, the amount of time it will take the create the style and the amount of time it will last for school.
Hairstyle Pricing
The first thing to think about is the amount of money you are willing to spend for your child’s hair. Will you go to a hair salon or do it yourself? Styles like braids, cornrows, wig installations, or loc styles can all range from $100 to $500 at a salon. These prices are specific to the actual salon, the stylist and maybe even the age of your child. Box braids on a seven year old should be cheaper than braids on a seventeen year old, if they have “child” priced hairstyles. Braid pricing can also depend on the size and style of braids like Fulani braids compared to box braids. The other option would be to create the hairstyle yourself. This price is usually drastically cheaper since your only paying for braiding hair, hair products or hair accessories. Deciding on your budget and comparing prices at different salons is a great way to help make the decision on whether a salon or at home is best.
Time Spent Doing Hair
Once you decide on what your budget is for the hairstyle, then you can decide on which styles are best for the amount of time you have. For example, if you are going to a salon to get knotless braids down your back , it’s important to know if it’s only one stylist or if multiple stylists will be working on your head to get the style done quicker. That can make a time difference of 4-5 hours with multiple stylists or maybe 8 hours will one stylist. But other styles at a salon like a silk press or wash n go may only be a 2 hour or less appointment.
But if the decision is to create the style at home, most times it will take a lot longer than in the salon. But the benefit to doing it at home is that you can take breaks and even split the hair care up in different days; for example, one day wash and blow dry and the next day part and style. You can create the hair style based on your time schedule. Either way, time to create the style can vary at home or the salon. So the decision is more based on flexibility versus and concrete appointment.
How Long Will the Style Last
The last thing to consider is how long will this style last for school. This is sometimes the most important factor in the decision making overall. Some parents will decide this first and sacrifice the budget factor because they don’t want to be doing their child’s hair for a month or two. If you want styles that last at least a month, then you should consider most braided, crochet hairstyles or loc styles. If you’re okay with a style that may last up to two weeks then you have more variety of styles to choose from like cornrows, a low sleek ponytail, chunky twists or braids, half up and half down style, etc. Or you can decide to do your hair weekly in simple natural styles like a twist out, a braid out, a puff, a wash n go or space buns. If you plan on doing your hair weekly, then you usually spend less money overall and use more time daily. But if you want a style that lasts longer, then you spend more money overall but use less time daily.
Styles for Boys
Hairstyles for boys are fortunately a lot more simple. Most boys tend to just have a low haircut, which they can go to the barbershop or get a haircut at home. But if they get their hair braided or get their locs retwisted, then these factors can be used to help decide which styles to choose from as well. Its best to keep them on a haircut schedule and figure out which hairstyles to create for them based on that schedule.
All in all, there are so many styles to choose from depending on budget, time and the amount of time the style will last. Its best to choose which factors are most important to you to make the best decision. But making your decision on your back to school style a few weeks prior can give you time to prepare for the costs and time to complete it. Plus, it can ease some of the stress of running around before your children’s big first day. Plus everyone loves to make great first impressions on the first day of school, and back to school hairstyles is a great way to add to that!