The idea of shaving off all your hair into a cool buzz cut (a la Willow Smith or Saweetie) might pique your interest… but the execution is daunting. The braided baldie trend, on the other hand, lets you achieve a similar ultra-cropped look — without a drastic chop.
With this look, your scalp is the canvas and your hair becomes a work of art. The trending protective style takes average cornrows up a notch (or three): Your braids swirl into intricate designs like stars, zig-zags, and flowers.
Los Angeles-based braider Monteria Chisholm (known for her intricate freestyle braids) is the artist who came up with the name “braided baldie” after a client asked her to spice up her cornrows.
Monteria thought, “What if we do designs but keep all [the hair] off the neck?" So, to achieve that, Monteria tucked the ends of each braid in using a crochet-like method for a seamless finish that mimics the look of a super-short haircut.
A video of the style quickly went viral — right now, it’s up to over 182K likes and over 3 million views — and the new ‘trend’ was born.
The styles that are gentle on your hair but still keep you looking cute.
In this era of TikTok and Instagram, we’ve noticed a seasonal pattern: One standout protective style captivates the Black community on popular braiding pages.
The look slowly makes its way onto a few people walking down the street, and before you know it, the style is seemingly crowning heads everywhere. (Remember boho braids and freestyle braids last year?) Monteria says the braided baldie is the “style of this summer.”
And, with no hair grazing below your shoulders, the look is ideal for the next few steamy months. “The weather will be hot, so getting your hair up off your neck is key,” says Monteria. She acknowledges the style isn’t entirely new, reminiscing about how these designs were popular back when she was in middle school in the ‘90s. “It just didn’t have a name,” says Monteria.
Though #braidedbaldie is going strong online, not all braiders are familiar yet. That said, if you want to ask your stylist for a similar look, request cornrows with a design and the ends tucked in—and bring photo references.
Monteria always starts her appointments with a consultation to make each look personalised. “Every design you see me do is unique to that client,” says Monteria. “Nobody else is going to have that design.”
Though it will, of course, vary from stylist to stylist, you can expect to spend four to five hours in the chair and around $200 (around £157). Braiding in shapes (instead of straight down as you would for traditional cornrows) takes extra time.
Shorter lengths work best with this style. “It can be done on thick, [dense] hair, but it makes it harder,” says Monteria. Long hair poses a similar issue since the entire length of the hair gets cornrowed, which can lead to bulky braids.
Besides that, the key to making this style last is keeping it wrapped. “When you're not doing anything, throw on a durag,” says Monteria. Typically, a silk scarf is enough to protect braids, but for this look, a durag is better because of the added compression.
With designs these gorgeous, it’s worth every effort to make them last.
A version of this article originally appeared on Allure.