I had braids that were similar to yours (it sounds) minus the pretty colors (I was still in h.s. and had to play it a bit safer). My general hair care was to immediately go to Sally Beauty Supply and by braid spray. It smells pretty good but more importantly it contains vitamins and mosture which will keep your roots and scalp in GREAT shape (Check Walmart, I think I even saw it there by the African America hair products). Furthermore I believe that I only washed my hair/braids every three days. Now washing your hair/braids is an entirely different routine. I put shampoo on my scalp and tried to wash my roots and scalp as best I could. The synthetic length of my hair was never suds up. As the roots were rinsed it cleaned what it needed to on the length of the hair-again as soon as you're out of the shower (and probably at LEAST once a day) spray your spray stuff. It really helps with the itching.

I always slept with a bandana on because when you rub your head against the pillow at night your roots and braids start to get fuzzy, this leads to them looking unkept. I did swim and go to the beach with them but they were INCREDIBLY HEAVY when wet, and did give me a sore neck for a bit. Often instead of putting it all up in a ponytail, when I was sick of it, I would pull back part of the top (like a half up half down) and put a hair tie in it. I would then take another section below that and do it all the way down (I ended up with three maybe four hair ties). This looks similar to maybe a braid or something but positions the weight so it's not right on the back of your head (you may fall over!). Hope that helped...I'm dying to get them again but they're just not affordable for a college student right now.