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By Chinwe of Hair and Health
You have heard it over and over again, especially if you have type 4 natural hair: Protective style. Protective style. Protective style. And what do protective styles usually consist of when it comes to our hair type? Braids and twists.
Does this have to be the case? Do we have to protective style non-stop in order to retain length? Well, if you read last month’s post on the topic (for all hair types), the answer is no. In this post, you will find some real-life examples of type 4 naturals who have managed to retain length without protective styling non-stop:
1. JoStylin – type 4 natural with waist-length hair
In the video above, JoStylin discusses her routine, which is a simple mix of braids and braid-outs. The source of her length retention is not so much about protective styling for “protection” but for ease, especially when it comes to washing or general control of her hair. Outside of that, she fearlessly wears beautiful braid-outs on blow dried hair.
2. Kasheera – type 4 natural with 14 inches in 3 years
If you peruse Kasheera’s channel, you will notice a variety of hair styles ranging from twist-outs to wash-n-gos as well as plenty of updos on stretched hair. Though she has only been natural for three years, she has retained a good amount of length in that time. In one of her videos, she shares that she primarily wears twist-outs.
3. Lala – type 4 natural with waist-length hair
To achieve her length, Lala has worn twists or a pinned-up style during the week and loose, but stretched hair on some weekends. If you look through her channel, you will also notice a variety of other styles on stretched hair.
For my type 4 ladies, how do you style your hair when not protective styling?
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Lovely hair on all three!! One more is Naptural85, she is 4a and has very very long hair and wears it out all the time and tries all types of styles!
Everyone who is natural or transitioning know about her….Im glad BGLH gave some unknown naturals… with fabulous hair… some shine!
So many naturals “sweat” Nap85 and she cant even answer one question on a video!!!
That doesn’t negate the fact that she is invaluable resource to those in the natural hair world- let alone us 4’s.
Either way, all of these ladies have some beautiful hair.
@Bobby, You must be mistaken because of all the “big time” natural hair YouTubers (Naptural85 being #1) she is one of the very few to actually make an attempt to stay connected to her subbies and followers via Youtube, Twitter, & Instagram. I know this personally because she has responded to me and she doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall. There are loads of other natural hair ladies who act as though they can’t be bothered but Whitney is not one of them. Thanks for playing though.
well Nap85 has thousands of followers so she may not be able to answer every single question she gets. she also has a newborn baby and a husband that puts demand on her time.
@Bobby, I agree with you. Although I am also 4a, Naptural85 doesn’t have the same texture as my hair. My hair has a lot less density and my hair doesn’t show any texture when I do braidouts and twistouts. Naptural85 is great, but she isn’t an end-all-be-all in the natural hair world, and her hairstyles don’t do much for my texture. I’m happy BGLH showcased natural youtubers I’ve never heard of, I’m going to check out their channel!
so what if she doesn’t have your texture or density though? That’s why there are many gurus on youtube you can find, like a grocery store offers many food. You make it sound like a shortcoming that her hair isn’t exactly like yours. She’s still helping plenty of other women, and I’m sure there are one or two things that those whose hair are different from hers can do too. Either way, we can learn from anyone.
It’s rather unfair to judge someone just because she doesn’t answer everyone’s questions. She has a tremendous following and to expect someone to answer everyone’s questions is unrealistic. Especially, when most of the questions are often already addressed in the video or the description box underneath the video. Most are too lazy or dim to figure that out. In any rate count me as one of those who “sweats” nap85. She is one of the girls that inspired me to go natural. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
she’s my reason for going natural too.
Must you tear down one just to uplift another? Nap85 AND these featured ladies are a great natural hair resource. Nonetheless, great article; I just found a few more YT channels to check out.
Of course a lot of people sweat her. She is good at what she does. She sticks to doing heatless hairstyles with low manipulation. Not A LOT of natural hair vloggers do that. Plus she interacts with her subscribers. SHE DOES ANSWER QUESTIONS! If you followered her on fb or twitter not just youtube you will see that. She has done more than one video answering her viewers questions and if she doesn’t answer them all on youtube she is more than willing to answer any quesions you throw at her on twitter. I watch more than one natural hair… Read more »
Nap answers all the time! She usually responds if you’re there within the first hour or two of her posting the video. After that, her life takes priority. But she’s easy to reach on twitter, facebook and instagram and ALWAYS responds to 99% of us if not all. I don’t want anyone thinking the wrong thing about her, cause its NOT TRUE that she doesn’t reply fans. In fact, she’s the best at it, imo. Talks to me all the time.
thank you!
I’m glad you showed more type 4B/C youtubers because I’m searching for them all the time for ideas and tips from those close to make hair type. I honestly thought Kasheera was 3c/4a but I see her thickness in this video. Besides that it just practically blew me to see their length. I’m truly inspired. Thanks BGLH for this. You really came through on this.
Again beautiful ladies!! Next time let’s do fine haired ladies. Hair texture doesn’t really matter that much because you can be 4C with thick strands and retaining length is a bit easier but with fine hair retaining is a bit more tricky.
yes, 4C fine hair does exist
+100
I wish I could give you two thumbs up! With fine hair, you can’t seem to let itgo loose and wild without suffering splits, so you spend half your life protective styling. But when you’re protective styling, you’re concerned about the initial manipulation…..
Hey there! I’m new to being natural! How do you know the difference between type 4 hair that has fine strands vs. thick strands? I know for sure that I have type 4 hair but how do I know what’s fine or what’s thick?
Thanks and much love!
I read somewhere that the way to find out is to–get this–compare a hair strand from your scalp to a…pubic hair strand, and if your pubic hair is thicker than your scalp hair, you have fine hair. That’s how I figured out I had fine hair lol, I didn’t think this would actually work, but apparently, it did. Also, can you feel an individual strand very well? I can barely feel an individual strand of my hair because each strand is so…tiny, it’s almost as if it isn’t there. Whereas I have heard that naturals with coarse hair can definitely… Read more »
Lol! I’ve stopped seeking out help for my fine hair and resorted to good old experimenting with my own. I don’t know for sure, but I think many fine haired naturals are not enthusiastic about sharing information and pics of their hair, maybe because the poster child image for natural hair usually includes thick, massive curls? There are definitely some youtubers out there that I’ve watched who have fine hair and manage it beautifully. But it certainly is hard to come by. Big reason why I’ve stopped even looking at what they call “hair porn”…anyways, I digress. I love Kasheera!… Read more »
I agree with Marci. I have fine hair as well and wear my hair in protective style (bantu knot) mostly. But lenght retention for fine hair seems a little trickier.
I’m a type 3 but I have to agree. Protective styling isn’t the be all and end all. I find that I get more breakage fom simple manipulating than from just wearing it out. I believe protective styling is most beneficial in the winter when it’s cold and you just want to protect your ends from dryness. In the warmer months, I think you can be much more free with wearing your hair out. In this pic I stretched my arm pit length hair with Curlformers and find I can wear it out for days and get little to no… Read more »
I wonder if curl formers work on type 4 hair….btw your hair looks very pretty.
Yes, they do. I’m a type 4, and I have the wide and long and extra-wide and long. I use the latter mainly for stretching. The other ones I will use to wear my hair out. The curls don’t last long for me, but I love the heat-free stretch.
agree. i wuv wuv WUV curlformers. i’ve just been lazy lately about putting them in because they take so long to dry. i prefer air drying. but they’re great for stretching and so low maintenance.
*throws laptop around the room* IT’S NOT FAIR, lol. Thin haired 4-C over here. Man I tried for years for proper length. This is not a pity party and congrats to those who have attained hair like the above posters. Every time I see these posts I just get so like why could it not happen for me.
Micro-locking it up until the end of time 🙂
lol @ throws laptop around the room. I thought that was funny.
Andrea, you are too funny.
I’ve known about the last 2 ladies, but I’m excited to see what the First Lady has to offer. It’s good to get ideas from all kinds of folks. For me, protective styling is the only way for me to retain length. I don’t care for gels, so a wash and go only leads to a lot of SSKs and tangles. I use these ladies as inspiration to continue to strive for my length goals. Ultimately, I have to know what works for my particular head of hair, and out styles aren’t it.
It’s to give some one else shine. I enjoy protective styling and retaining all my length can you say that
JOstylin is so pretty and I love her accent!
I’m actually subbied to the top two youtubers mentioned, but have never heard of the 3rd one. I’m glad to find more of true type 4 hair broadcasted!!
Love JoStylin’s video. Thank you for your relaxed attitude. I am so happy to hear someone give a minimalistic routine – she even leaves some braids in when doing a braid out!!! I love it. Doing less instead of a complicated routine is so refreshing.
all these women are beautifull with lovely heads of hair but, my go to youtuber is chery818.she has the exact hair texture as me. extremely thick 4c texture takes a lot of patients and, gentleness she has thought me that.
post some 4D naturals.
LMBO!!!4D naturals in tha house
You should check out Chery Leroux aka Chery818 (http://www.youtube.com/user/chery818/videos?view=0) on youtube. She’s got 4C hair and it’s really long & thick!
I haven’t touched my hair for three weeks, and it has grown so much.. I gotta keep this up. Cuz its working
What do you mean when you say that you have not touched it? Does that mean no washing, just moisturizing? What is your hair type?
The thirst for knowledge is serious, lol
I am subscribed to the first 2 vloggers for over a year now, I will check out the 3rd. For me, I know low manipulation is key, whether you wear you hear tucked away or out.
Lol 4s in the house lol would mahoganyknots be considered a 4 tho, her hair is gorgeous!! Also low manipulation is the best as well
I am already subbed to Lala and Jostylin. Can’t wait to check out Kasheera.
after checking out Kasheera’s channel, I see that I’m already subbed to her too. So I’m subbed to all 3. Thank you BGLH for showcasing these ladies and helping them get more subbies!
Thanks for sharing these ladies. I just subscribed to one of them and will check out the others.
Thanks so much!!
geri’s eyebrows are amazing. can i steal them off her face now? mine are all wispy and shapeless. it’s soo not fair. i think i envy thick eyebrows more so than thick hair!
Kasheera is absolutely gorgeous (SO jealous of her skin)! I seriously can’t wait for my hair to reach her length. 🙂
These lady have beautiful hair and I’m glad they have found what works! As a natural with fine hair, I would love to see more posts like this featuring naturals with long, fine hair.
Yes! There are more of us out there than people think and many of us simply can’t wear the big hairstyles or utilize the same techniques sisters who don’t have fine hair can.
I do flat twist ,with my short hair. Its very easy and simple 🙂
I wonder if any of them are low porosity.it would be great if we can see some long, type 4, low porosity hair
Hi Imani, Alicia James Natural Hair Channel has long type 4 hair (waist length) with low porosity. She has suggested doing Deep Conditions and Hot Oil Treatments with heat (heat cap and or hooded dryer)for our low porosity hair. Check out her youtube channel.
I do a flat twist out on blue dried hair. I can actually see and retain my growth this way.
This is when knowing your hair becomes important. Some can retain length without protective styling, but for others, like me, there are no short cuts. Protective styling is a tried and true method for retaining length.
Lala and JoStylin are soooooooo pretty! I just love their hair. OMG!
I love having type 4 hair! My regimen is simple and easy after more than 6 yrs natural. Like Lala, wash and go is not an option for me as my hair is about midback. Twists are my go-to hair style for manageability and stretching. I don’t spend a lot of money on expensive products, pretty much Suave, VO5 and Cantu products for me. Other than that I like making my own shea butter mixes. I don’t have big boobs but it’s almost the same because people see my hair before they see me; I can feel and see them… Read more »
Thanks for sharing this! The older I get, the more I want to simplify things: my makeup, my wardrobe and espcially my hair. Yay for simple, healthy regimens!
I am SO glad I came across this site! Thank you for sharing these ladies! I’m a 4c and most of the tips these ladies gave (especially Lala) are SO applicable to my hair. I’ve been wondering for the past 4 years why my hair was staying at a certain length. Now I know: BREAKAGE! Thank you thank you thank you for this post and for the website!
Why have I never seen these ladies before? I can’t wait to subscribe!
Real talk. If they are Type 4 then I must have like Type 5Z hair.
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Regime for natural short hair!
I really out of ideas on how I should style and care for my hair I have been natural for over a year now and I mainly braid it, I have 4b type hair and it’s soft and kinky I never can hold a curl style and I give up on trying, so I wear it in a bun or puff and now I’m getting bored it doesn’t seem like it’s growing to long, please help!!!!!