What are protective styles? What you need to know.
Protective styles are styles that are low manipulation and typically long-term (weeks to a couple of months). How do protective styles… ummm protect? Protective styles tuck your natural hair and ends away from manipulation and environmental factors. The methods typically use weave/hair extensions to add longevity to the style(s).
Why do women choose to do protective styles? For various different reasons really. However, I believe it’s a tie between protecting your natural hair and ease of styling. As mentioned before protective styles, if done correctly, can be a method to protect your hair as you come back from things like damage. It can also be a method used to “grow” your hair. For example using the style to protect your current length as you let your hair do its thing and grow. You are able to better retain your length because you are not manipulating your hair daily or doing things that could cause breakage as your new growth comes in. In regards to the ease of styling, having a style like knotless braids makes getting ready a breeze. With your hair already essentially done, all you have to worry about now is outfit and makeup. Take your bonnet off, part your braids in your desired direction and go. Saves at least 30 mins of prep time, for me at least.
Types of protective styles
Braids [Box braids, knotless braids, etc.]
Locs, Sister Locs and Faux Locs
Cornrows or Straightbacks
Twists [Senegalese twists, two-strand twists, etc.]
Wigs
Buns, Bantu Knots and Ponytails [Low maintenance styles]
When it comes to protective styles, there are some Do’s and Don’ts. You do have to make sure that you are managing your protective styles to make sure that they are not actually harming you. A big Don’t is do not leave your protective style in for too long. Too long is subjective but I would suggest no longer than 1.5 months. This is because, you do not want your hair to go without much needed moisture and nutrients (found in the right products) for too long. A big Do is to still moisturize your hair while it’s in protective styles. As you are limited to the types of products you can use on your hair while in protective styles, it is necessary to find the right products to provide the moisture. A product I would suggest that provides both moisture and protein is Creme of Nature Argan Oil Leave-In Conditioner . Another Don’t is getting your protective style styled too tightly, especially around your edges (finer/thinner hair at the border of your hairline). Protect your edges sis! Make sure you do some research on who will be doing your style and check photos/videos to make sure that they don’t style too tight and don’t snatch edges. A massive DO is to detangle your sections AS you take down your protective style. If you apply product while your hair is in a protective style, that along with dirt and lint tend to collect at the base of the style. If you jump in the shower to wash your hair without detangling first, your hair will matte making it close to impossible to gently detangle. You will also lose more hair than necessary to shedding and breakage. But do keep in mind that we lose about 100 strands of hair a day, so keep that in mind if you see more shedding than normal while detangling. For more Do’s and Don’ts on protective styles, you can check out my YouTube video here. If you have any tips you’d like to add, leave it in the comments below. Ciao for now!
XO,
Kat
