Protective Style: What Doo you Do?
Having a protective style is a must. As my hair began to get longer I realized that I can't always do twist out and putting my hair in a head band. My
twist outs would only last about 2 days (Yea I know which is a bummer) so I began to look into what protective styles I can do without having to put a w
eave or braids in my hair. After much searching I found that putting my hair in two French twist worked for me. It was easy for me to get up in the morning and do (If needed) and also cute. There are many kinds of protective styles. Today we will
go in depth about why protective styles are need and the most common protective styles. We all know the Pros of protective styles so we will also review the Cons (If any)
Purpose of Protective styles:
The reason a protective style is needed is to keep your ends from sight and help retain your lengthy lock.........That is IT!! Nothing more, nothing less. Protective styles won't make your hair grow BUT it helps to minimizes breakage especially if your hair is breaking off at the same pace it is growing.
I found this to be true. I noticed more breakage when I was combing my hair each day pulling it up in an Afro puff. My ends were always exposed. Although my hair grew I still was experiencing breakage at the same rate that my hair was growing.
Once I found a protect style that I can do easily I noticed that my hair wasn't breaking as much AND I was able to retain more of my length.
Most Common Protective Styles:
Two Strand twist (more so for natural hair than relaxed)
Bun or Chigon
Braids
Weave
Flat Twist
Two Strand Twist
This style is most effective on natural hair. Relaxed hair is too straight to the hold the twist at the ends. Natural hair is kinky enough to hold the twist in place at the ends. You can wear a TST for a few days until it gets old and then do a twist out. This style is called a Two Strand Twist, Twist Out.
Pros:
Easy and versatile
Cons:
not time efficient depending on the size and length of hair.
Picture: Two Strand Twist, Twist out style
Buns or Chigon
Buns are an ideal protective style if your hair is long enough to be wrapped around the shaft of the pony tail. Buns can be worn in different ways, on the crown, to the back, on the side and more than one bun at a time. You can wrap your hair around the shaft of the ponytail. You can also do a damp bun which helps help your strands and ends hydrated/moisturized at all times.
Pros:
Easy, Fast and Versatile
Cons:
Breakage can occur if the bun is pulled too tight
So if you are going to do this style remember TIGHT is not always RIGHT! Loosen that ponytail up guh!!!!
Braids
We ALL have had these......well majority of black women has had braids in one point or another. Braids are a great protective style to have. It is easy (once you have spent nearly countless hours getting them in) and you can style your braids any kind of way. Braids are a great alternative for those who can’t put up with the everyday hum drum of maintaining their hair.
I have always had weak edges. I love getting my hair braided because it eliminated the time I had to spend doing my hair BUT after I took them out……….can you say I looked like I had a receding hair line. I never knew why it was happening. I took care of my braids or so I thought, made sure my scalp was moisturized and I made sure I put it in a bonnet at night, SO WHATS THE PROBLEM!!!!!
Reminders:
Tie your edges down to help minimize movement at night so that there is not added stress on your edges.
Don’t put have a tight pony tail. Again I say TIGHT aint always RIGHT
Pros:
Versatile, easy and fast
Cons:
Damaged edges if not taken care of properly
Remember: Not because you have braids mean that you don’t have to take care of them.
Weaves
As we moved into the 2000’s you noticed a new hair trend had hit the market. WEAVE!!!!! (well it was new to me) This hair product was a God send to most African American women if not all. You can get short, long, black, pink, and blonde without having to cut our hair or put harsh chemicals to get it the color we wanted it to be. I am victim of the weave-a-palosa!!! I had a weave ponytail ALL the time. Once I was old enough my mom allowed me to get glue ins and sew ins. If you watched the Good Hair movie you know how much a woman take pride in her weave. A woman will get her hair weaved before paying her bills ( now that’s just crazy) Weave is the Holy Grail of all Grails for the average or not so average African American woman.
Although weaves are a great protective style you still have to be careful in maintaining it just as if it was your own. Hell you paid money for it so you better take care of it!!!!! With glue ins the weave is incorporated with your hair giving a more natural look. With sew ins you can get a full (all of your hair is braided) or a partial weave (some of your hair is left out to blend with the weave)
Glue ins or “quick weave”
Pros:
Inexpensive, Easy to do (like anyone) and you can get a good glue-in style done in less than an hour (not including styling)
Con:
Can cause broken roots, stressed scalp, and loss of hair if not taken out properly
Picture: Quick Weave style
Sew ins
Pros:
Last longer than glue ins
Your hair can rest from heat and chemicals
Retain length easier because ALL of your hair is braided.
Cons:
Hair damage can occur If you hair is braided too tight, Damage can occur if hair is left out around the perimeter of head and the crown
Flat Twist
Flat twist are like two strand twist but they twist are twisted to the scalp like corn rows. This is an easy style to do and once the twist gets old you can twist them out and do a cute style.
Pro:
Easy, Fast, works well with both natural and relaxed hair
Cons:
None that I can think of, can you lol
So as you can see there are many styles that you can do the help protect your hair. The styles that were spoken about are what I saw as the most common protective style. Of course you can always refer to Youtube, Hairlista and many other hair care forum to find other ways to protect your hair and look good doing it.
I hope this post helped you gain some insight on these protective styles. Till Next time
Natural Luv
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