by
The Natural Haven
This article is aimed at readers who require protective styling and minimal manipulation to be able to see and gain length. To be clear, this means keeping hair in twists, braids etc for a period of 3-4 weeks before undoing and reinstalling the style. People in this category will typically continuously have a braided or twisted style 95% or more of the time and the benefit of the protective style is only reaped as a result of spending a prolonged time (3-4 weeks) without undoing the hair.
This type of routine is best suited to people who are patient and who do not mind developing a fuzz halo (where the shorter hair starts to stick out and make braids or twists look frizzy). Sometimes, however, people need a break or indeed get bored of the routine, so what would happen if you decided to stop this protective styling routine?
1. You are very unlikely to lose length
If you stop protective styling, your hair is very unlikely to lose length unless you do something drastic to cause breakage. This could be heat styling frequently or at high heat, combing your hair daily when you never used to, start washing your hair free when you never used to, etc. If you are sensible and mindful of how you handle your hair, you will be perfectly able to keep your current length at the very least.
2. You are likely to gain little to no length.
If your hair is reliant on protective styling to gain length, you will be aware that more frequent handling is likely to impact your hair ends. For some hair, even low manipulation styles, for example, finger detangling to put hair in a bun, will actually cause some minor damage and breakage. However, what is likely to happen is that the hair growth rate will equal the breakage rate and therefore your hair length stays stagnant. For others, the breakage rate is slightly lower than the growth rate and therefore hair will gain length but not anywhere close to the retention rate seen while in the protective style routine.
3. You are highly likely to enjoy your hair.
The greatest advantage with not sticking firmly to a protective styling routine is the ability to switch styles more often. You are more flexible because your hair can be styled free or you can obviously opt to put in large twists or braids and style those. Enjoying your hair is not something that is often emphasised but it is a great way to know what hair length you enjoy managing, how your hair behaves in humidity and also how to manage your hair with weather changes. You may think that you want waist length hair but find out that actually at shoulder length, your hair is much easier to handle and style. You will never know unless you stop protective styling for a short time at various lengths.
4. A mini trim or dusting may be beneficial when you go back to protective styling
If your hair typically experiences some minor breakage when not in a protective style, it may be useful to do a mini dusting (cutting off a few millimetres at the ends) when you are ready to go back to protective styling. This mini dusting allows you to cut off damaged ends which may help split ends to form or propagate. Sometimes, you do not have visible split ends but this does not mean you are damage free. Taking the precautionary route and assuming there is damage will save you from doing a major trim later on.
Ladies, do you take breaks from protective styling? If so, why? How do you adjust your regimen when you’re on a protective styling break?
97 Responses
I have been a natural for three years now and I must say that protective styling has helped my natural 4b hair to grow. Apart from my careful handling of my hair, I place much emphasis on my hair regimen and the type of products for my 4b hair. I love the LOC Method this allows my hair to retain moisture and even when I am wearing my protective styles for three weeks, I still spritz my hair everyday with my favourite hair moisturizer.
After being in a protective style for three weeks, I would co-wash do a deep treatment mask and protein treatment. After which I will wear my hair in a bun for a week, then its back to protective styling again.
Typo in first version. Repost.
Back in college, braid extensions was a go to for retaining length. However, since it causes split ends, I just do bunning. It’s simple. I tried mini twists and braids. It’s not as elegant and professional as a high bun. I can wear a bun to class, an interview, or the gym.
My new regimen:
1.Rinse, add conditioner, seal with shea butter. BUN. post morning workout. This is after two days of working out.
2.Weekly Wash with natural shampoo and conditioner. AirDry or blowdrier(tension method).
3.Weekly scalp oil with Jamaican black castor oil or coconut oil
4.Night time.Spritz hair with water/glycerin based leave in such as cantu coconut leave in. Tie with a 100 percent silk scarf.
5.Bi-weekly aphogee keratin reconstructor/shampoo/conditioner. I go to the hairstylist for this.
6. Trim once a year by a hairstylist.
Back in college, braid extensions was a go to for retaining length. However, since it causes split ends, I just do bunning. It’s simple. I tried mini twists and braids. It’s not as elegant and professional as a high bun. I can where a bun to class, an interview, or the gym.
My new regimen:
1.Rinse, add conditioner, seal with shea butter. BUN. post morning workout. This is after two days of working out.
2.Weekly Wash with natural shampoo and conditioner. AirDry or blowdrier(tension method).
3.Weekly scalp oil with Jamaican black castor oil or coconut oil
4.Night time.Spritz hair with water/glycerin based leave in such as cantu coconut leave in. Tie with a 100 percent silk scarf.
5.Bi-weekly aphogee keratin reconstructor/shampoo/conditioner. I go to the hairstylist for this.
6. Trim once a year by a hairstylist.
All of these discussions are great but no one talks about what to do if you are not good at styling your hair or you can’t hold your arms up long enough to do a lot of self braiding or twisting? Of course, you can pay every few days…… Any of u have that kind of money?
That’s the issue I am facing now. As a man, I always had a fade or some sort of hair cut. I’ve been growing my hair out for over a year now, and I have no clue what to do with it as far as styling goes.
Have you considered finger coils with gel? They look like curly locs.
I only twist or braid my hair after a wash. I always have it out. What good is having long healthy hair if you don’t ever get to rock it? I spritz the ends lightly with a combo of water and conditioner in the morning and my hair does just fine.
natural hair isn’t fun if you do not get to enjoy it! i don’t do much to my hair and *gasp* it still has grown all the way down past waist length. TIME will grow your hair…you can use pills, creams, styles etc…but time has not failed me yet.
have fun with it or you won’t wanna do it anymore.
i went natural to do what i pleased with my body even tho others around me did not want that…i did not go natural to abide 1001 rules 😀
What about the deep conditioning, the LOC method, the co washing weekly that has been recommend? This is what I’ve been doing. I wear braids under a wig and do that regimien weekly. I see growth. What regimen do u use when you take it down in 3-4 weeks? Are you saying I’ll see the same growth or more without doing the weekly sometimes twice a week regimen? What is the amount of breakage to expect when taking down once a month? Thanks
Hello, Kiah my hair changes texture everytime I wash it.For instance,its curly, then straight,then just one spot is just all tangled up!! But the thing is , I’ve always been natural!! What is this?
Natural is on top black girls please love your hair and take care of it to grow healthy hair once it’s healthy it will grow more people are becoming natural it’s the new fashion and trend xoxo!
according to my hair’s properties (normal to low porosity, medium to coarse strands) my hair should’ve thrived even with little protective styling. however, having had little to no length retention for several years, i’ve got to accept the fact that i cant wear my hair out all the time, retwists every night etc. i know some fine haired, normal to high porosity haired women who still have less fragile hair than I, so… #ThisSucks (maybe this is an age-thing (i’m 38), 5-25 years ago my hair could handle anything, nowadays -not so much..)
according to my hair’s properties (normal to low porosity, medium to coarse strands) my hair should’ve thrived even with little protective styling. however, having had little to no length retention for several years, i’ve got to accept the fact that i cant wear my hair out all the time, retwists every night etc. i know some fine haired, normal to high porosity haired women who still have less fragile hair than I, so… #ThisSucks
protective styling could be a hit or miss, depending on the style, stylist and hair texture. I’ve found that I still retain the same amount of hair protective styling vs. non protective styling. But i’m willing to try this experiment one more time. I just hope I don’t miss my hair too much 🙁
Thanks JC for those references, I’ll look them up for myself
in the meantime, check out an article I wrote about “when protective styling isn’t protective”
https://themanecaptain.blogspot.ca/2013/07/when-protective-styling-is-not.html
This is a really interesting article. I used to do protective styles like box braids, Senegalese twists, flat twisted pin-up styles, pin&roll styles, and buns (which I can do be use of the length I finally reached). Because my scalp is sensitive, it gets sore easily so I try to mix it up a bit, doing twist outs and twisting my hair again in the night, for bed. I found that the growth of my hair is okay.
I hardly drop comments, however i did a few searching and wound up here What Happens To Natural Hair When You Stop Protective Styling? | Black Girl with Long Hair. And I do have some questions for you if you usually do not mind. Is it simply me or does it look like some of these responses look like they are left by brain dead people? 😛 And, if you are writing at other sites, I would like to follow everything new you have to post. Could you list of all of all your shared sites like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
When I take a break from protective styling, I still try to keep my ends from brushing my clothing by wearing ponytails or puffs, mostly. I also moisturize or just plain wet my hair more often and oil my ends frequently.
In response to Mana23, I think this article on protective styling was geared towards those who can’t do wash-and-go’s. There are a lot of us out there that have very fine fragile super coiled strands that will break easily if left in a wash and go – hence the need for protective styling. Everyone’s hair is different.
This article had no cited evidence to back up any of these statements. Retention is about proper hair care not protective styling versus non protective styling, since evidence suggest both methods require the same badic principles for hair care retention. There are several books and youtube videos of women who never protective style, wash n go as a lifestyle and have healthy long(er) hair. As an educator these opinion articles or personal testimonies being passed as facts are frustrating to read.
And yet when it comes to natural hair, all we have are personal testimonies, really. Everyone’s hair is different. And we try to make clear on the site that everyone’s experience will be different. All we can do is pick up on common themes and threads and expound on them. If you’ve had a different experience, feel free to share it.
As for protective styling, for many naturals with an extremely tight curl pattern or very fragile hair (including myself) it is the only way to retain meaningful length. I have fragile 4C hair, and before protective styling consistently I retained less than an inch every year. After instituting a protective styling regimen, that went up to 5 inches a year. Obviously this is not true of all naturals, which is why we feature a variety of textures in our style icon series. By testifying to their own experiences, our style icons make clear that different things work for different women.
@BGWLH I completely agree with you. I had the exact same experience with my hair. When I protective style I gain 6 inches year. When I don’t its between 3 to 4 inches a year. We all have to know our hair and do what helps us reach our goals. It doesn’t make it right or wrong across the board.
Also I personally don’t require blogs to have cited sources. If as an author you are making scientific claims or quoting someone a cited source would be great but its not really necessary. Most readers know that blogs are written from the Author’s experiences and exposure. Unless people are share their different stories there’s no way that you can know everything for sure. Even science gets it wrong. I know people who break all the rules to the Science of Black Hair Care, The do’s and don’t and still have very long hair. And I know people who follow All the rules and still struggle with length retention? Or may not retain as much as the person he does not follow the “rules” So really all we have are people’s shared experiences and if you need help or direction try it out to see if it works for you. If I know I don’t need help in an area, or that something doesn’t apply to me I count it as information only and move on.
Also you say in your opening sentence who this article is for: “This article is aimed at readers who require protective styling and minimal manipulation to be able to see and gain length”
Exactly Chan, and I agree BGWLH, in that some of us with 4a/b/c hair have a difficult time retaining length without protective styling and I can definitely attest to that too. My hair is around a 4b/c and when I was wearing my hair out I could barely retain an inch or two a year, but since I did the big chop only a month and a half ago and have been wearing a wig ever since, I know that I have gained almost two inches and it hasn’t even been two months yet. As much as I hate wearing wigs, and I REALLY hate wearing them, especially when it’s hot, I keep in mind that it is allowing my hair to get a break from all the manipulating that I was doing to it and all of the heat damage that it sustained. My hair and scalp are both doing much better and I don’t even get a lot of the dandruff that I used to get back when I was using heat regularly. I hope and pray that I can get at least neck or shoulder length in the next year and then it will be at a good length where I can manage it and start wearing twist outs, rod sets, etc. But I totally agree, for some of us, protective styling is really the only way to go if you want to really retain some length, but like I always say, it’s different strokes for different folks 🙂
As i read this article i’m considering taking down this damn hair! i’m sick of it it’s going to be 3 months on the 17th.
hello how do you find out the type of hair you have. please help. i am unaware of these numbers, please help.
Mana, I am the author of this article and I am a scientist. I actually would consider myself one of the pioneers of citing references and promoting evidence based writing.
This, however, is indeed an opinion piece and it is based on case studies I have made not just my personal view point. If you want to be specific – on fotki – sera2544, mwedzi, gisele69, loolahloo, princessdani, maestradiva. Do look them up, all beautiful hair, all gained with protective styling as a mainstay.
I do think that you are extremely misleading to suggest that ALL/MANY women can wash and go or never wear protective styles and still gain length. The truth is that there are many women who simply cannot do these things. I think if you had read the opening statement of this article, you would have seen that it is geared for the women who KNOW their hair requires protective styling and such women exist!
I have previously again given another opinion piece on hair that can thrive without protective styling, once again based on case studies of women with hair like that e.g youtubers – cynthiarf, mahoganycurls, denim pixie, chicoro, srdesigns 1
You can read it here
– https://bglh-marketplace.com/2011/12/is-protective-styling-always-necessary-for-longer-hair/
If your desire is for scientific references on how and why some natural hair does not retain length without protective styling then do read the work of Nonhlanha Khumalo which I have extensively referenced in many articles both here and on my own blog – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Khumalo%20NP%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=17760690
Thanks for these sources! JC aren’t you the blog author of The Natural Haven? If so, I was about to suggest your blog for scientific citings and such! I love it.
Thanks Chan, yep, The Natural Haven is my blog:)
I totally agree JC, you don’t have to justify your findings, those of us who experience what you are talking about on a daily basis know where you’re coming from. It irks me how people can shoot down someone’s opinion on something they know absolutely nothing about!
‘If your hair is reliant on protective styling to gain length…’
If this isn’t you, then I doubt the article is about you.
I am an educator also and I too am appalled at the way you are criticizing a blog article about hair. Really Mana23? Your response also contains multiple errors in spelling. However, that also isn’t important in a blog or blog response. Share experiences with hair and don’t expect scholarly dissertations. Great job BGLH!
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Aww look at the baby. Too adorable. I miss those days. Be blessed.
This article had no cited evidence to back up any of these statements. Retention is about care not protective styling versus non protective styling. There are several books and youtube videos of wimen who never protective style, wash n go as a lifestyle and have healthy long hair. As an educator theses opiniom articles or petsonal testimonies being passed as facts are frustrating to read.
My hair doesn’t like being confined at all. when I confine it, it works itself loose and within one day it looks like a heaving mess on my head on top of that it gets really dry and feels like it wants to just break off in my hands. I’m trying to find alternative styles since I cut it down to a few inches, but it’s now growing back. So I do agree with you that hair is different, and for some of us protective styling isn’t going to work.
Yes but everyone is different. I have NEVER, EVER been able to wash and go and found those articles and you tube videos very frustrating when I first went natural. It was almost a year before I found out every natural can’t wash and go or thrive with that method, it depends on hair type. So I love forums like this that give perspective from all angles of the natural spectrum.
I’ve been transitioning for 17 months and have worn wigs almost the entire time. As a result, I’ve been able to retain most, if not all, of my length. Yay!
I’m currently rocking box braids (very cute) but they’re expensive and I can’t afford to get them done regularly.
I want to continue protective styling until next summer, but I’m sick of wigs and I can’t afford braids.
What are my options??? Help please!!!
Hello Maria, when I was transitioning I did the same thing wigs and braids mostly.
But when I did come out I would twist my hair and put in flexi rods. It gives a nice textured style that helps your natural hair to blend better with the relaxed ends. For protecting, you can either leave the twists in and pin the style. Or you can undo the curly twists and do a roll and tuck style.
I would also do braids for braid outs and put rollers on the ends. Once you take those down you can do some kind of pinned up style. Checkout you tube for tutorials they have tons! I’m not sure how long your hair is, but if its long enough you can also do buns. Or if its not long enough you can do a faux bun.
Those are lot cheaper than wigs and braids? I hope this was helpful!
Chan! Thank u so much for your helpful tips. This is a great starting point, I’ll definitely try these.
Believe it or not, I’m on Youtube all the time…but I can never seem to find anything that I’m interested in trying. Obviously I need to stop being so picky!
I’m going to do a little more research. Thanks again for all the helpful tips everybody! Can’t wait to rock my braidout 🙂
Girl…do like me…learn to install your own braids…it’s not as hard as it looks just takes some practice and patience, but your wallet and hair will thank you!
Yaaaaasssss! It’s not as hard as it seems!
I have been trying to do my own braids for a year and i can never get them install on my own. Any tips on how to get it done? I can braid and cornrow hair but my own.
I was just about to say that. When I stopped relaxing my hair, I decided I wanted to stop spending a fortune maintaining my hair. I watched a few YouTube videos and took the plunge and I’m so glad I did. No more having to worry how tight my braids are being installed.
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Try some Marley/Havana twists they are easy to do yourself and the hair doesn’t cost that much.They are the easiest twists to install yourself. Look at you tube tutorials to learn how to do it.
You can do your braids yourself which is what I do now. You can get a great tutorial on YouTube from blackwomenhair. She’s explains very well how you can braid and twist your own hair. Good luck.
I agree with Paige, try doing your own hair. It’s not easy, but YouTube is here to rescue you. I’ve been doing my own braids for almost two years (takes me three days cuz I have no patience) not only do I ensure my braids are not too tight but I get to coat my hair with several layers of moisturizer (LOC method) I can also refresh my edges whenever I feel like it.
Thanks Jenny. I think everybody is right…it’s time to do it myself.
That’s me too. I have doing my own braids for about 4.5 months now. I wear them for 3 months (because I refresh the edges and wherever is needed every 3 weeks give or take). I also do what you do as far as adding moisture. When I put the kinky twists in and when I refresh them, I use kinky curly knot today and castor oil. I use CS on the roots and on the actual strands. It has made a world of a difference. I pray that i can reach BSL (at least within 2 years) but at this protective style CS rate…I think that I may just get there sooner. Oh yeah and the hair costs me about $25 every 3 months. Really less because I don’t use all the hair. I get it from Sally’s although I can get it cheaper online but I don’t want to pay shipping so it works out and I always have hair on hand if I ever need more. Lastly, I don’t put them in tight and assuring that I retain length by doing the edges over as soon as I see new growth. This way it doesn’t pull my edges out. I can talk about braiding my own hair being the best way for me to retain length ALL day-LOL! But I’ll stop. God bless everyone in this journey and may He give us all the patience we need while taking care of what He gave us:)
How much did you pay for yours and what would be an affordable price to you for box braids ?
Curl rods they help a lot with transitioning hair , how about corn row styles .
I was in this stage too except I was transitioning with sew-ins and couldn’t afford the constant installation/removal process. So I came up with Kurly Klips to keep my natural hair protected (in cornrows I braid myself), and to keep rocking the big hair styles I love so much. I also adore havana twists. You can’t go wrong with those. It’s all about options![img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/IMG_0149.JPG[/img]
Ive have taught myself how to do twist in my hair…May you should try it , very easy an inexspensive!!
I wear my hair out for 4 weeks every 12 weeks ( so 3 months of protective styling then one month of loose hair). On my out month I wear my big ole, hulking, 4C,Betty Wright meet Angela Davis afro, LOL. After being natural for 2 years and 4 months that bad boy is HUGE and yes people will look and or stare.. who cares, its mine, God gave it to me and I LOVE it. I would wear it out year round if I could but it takes too much night maintenance (have to braid or flexi rod it at night if I don’t want it to shrink too tight). But I love how it blows in the wind.. when my hair was relaxed it never blew in the wind even though it was shoulder length… strange.. .and I love how I don’t have to worry about rain or sweating in it. I still do the old school way and where it nice and neat patting it lightly with a satin scarf after I pick it out. I usually get a trim during that month if needed. Then back to either goddess, crochet or individual braids protective style. If I get goddess or crochet braids I have them redone every 4 weeks, if I get individual box braids they last the entire 12 week protective style cycle. I don’t get the halo the author mentions because I spray my braids ever night and sleep in a satin cap. In the mornings I spray again a pat with a scarf. I also put lets jam on the extensions if they start to poke out.
I think paragraph #2 is really misleading. It implies that natural hair can’t retain length without protective styling. If a person has proper hair handling techniques, they’ll experience minimal breakage and lots of retention without protective styling. It all depends on the individual and their products and techniques.
I for one, benefit more from wearing my 4c hair in stretched “out” styles. I have fine hair strands but with high density and volume. I also have naturally dry hair with an oily scalp. This means that protective styles prevent me from washing my hair twice a week. It also prevents me from properly detangling my hair and removing shed hairs. If I wear a protective style, my hair gets tangled from too much washing or it is itchy and dry from avoiding washes and not being able to apply product to my hair.
Either way, my curls are so tight that they have a tendency to hold onto shed hairs if I don’t detangle properly and thoroughly. I just don’t get that from protective styles. Rather, PSing encourages my hair to hold onto shed hair and tangle more.
I hear ya Jesse, my hair is similar to yours. I find that with my hair I can’t wear a PS for more than a week, so I don’t mess with braids and such. I have to be able to take it down, finger comb it, moisturize it and get it untangled, otherwise it will be matted up and break off anyway because it’s been matted up for so long. Good point!
I’ve recently been wearing my hair in box braids. I’m on my second install at the moment, and I had a just over a weeks break. My hair grew during that month of PSing. Its great for protecting my strands from the hot weather, and it is easy to moisturise. I have fine but dense 4a hair, which is almost BSL. I am enjoying my box braids, and I planning on doing this until the end of the year.
I tried braids for two weeks and after two weeks my hair had accumulated a LOT of shed hair making my detangling session longer. I returned to my 3 on 3 off regime (three days with braids, three days with a braid out…wash on day seven…repeat. That has been working for me because im 2yrs,6 months natural and my hair is almost boob length after my bc). Do what works for YOU
I took a break from protective styling in June. I had my cousin’s wedding coming up and wanted to make sure my hair was free and needed minimal detangling. I recently washed it yesterday after the wedding and my hair thanked me. It felt dry and rough to touch, even with two pre-poo sessions. My hair is currently in Marley twists and I will enjoy this for the next month, approximately.
Ok I need help. I protective styled for 8 months got a trim in March and it grew back fine, now I feel like I’m right back where I started. I just straightened my hair so I can get a trim and at least an inch has to go. At this point I feel like ill never be able to wear my hair out for longer than two weeks or it will just break off. I feel like my hair texture will make me a slave to protective styling!
Protective styling has my heart as I can feel the weight and length with certain styles and with others I barely have to do anything.But once it comes out, its a week off so my hair can relax and then back on to hopefully a fun new protective style. For me that is the name of the game.
For a while now I have wondered if my 4 year stint of continuous protective styling has done more harm than good
1) I miss my hair
2) how well do i really know my hair
3) am i enjoying my hair?
4) maybe my hair will grow more than i think if i lighten up a bit
5) i wnt natural to enjoy my hair int he first place!!
Maybe I will take a 3 week break from protective styling and see what happens. Pray for me people!
hahahaa
<3
I find it funny that people think they can only enjoy their hair when its down. I think there’s a difference between “showing it off” and enjoying it. I enjoy the heck out of knowing its healthy and growing, even if it is up most of the time. You still see the results whenever you do take it down anyway, that’s enjoyable, isn’t it? When I was a kid, I felt more of a need to show off my length and swing it around, but as an adult I don’t feel the necessity of it.
That said, you did spend a long time protective styling it, so your length should be long enough to wear your hair out and not have your ends brushing your shoulders and damaging your hair. Have fun! Just moisturize your ends much more than your currently doing, cause it will need that to stay healthy. 🙂
I like this.. I would love for your to report back and let us know what you discovered about you and your hair! : )
Oh and my last comment was in reference to monisola’s post!
This is a great post that came right on time. I PS’ed in pinned-up twists from Jan till May and saw massive amounts of growth, all of which I retained. I finally broke down and spent late May and June playing with twistouts and Curlformers.
While I’m not OBSESSED with growth >.>, I am eager to get my hair at a length that I have never seen on myself before. So I might switch to mini twists for a few weeks to help it along. PS + Seeing length = Best of both worlds. 🙂
Hair grows regardless. I like number 2. In my exp nothing happens, I have been putting my hair in daily buns and washing it 2 x a week and I have seen more growth than when I was washing it once every 2 weeks. I’m sorry but different strokes for different folks.
I have been taking a 3 month hiatus from protective styling since May and its been interesting. I have fine 4b/c hair that breaks easlily but I notice that even though I’m not twisting and keeping them in for three weeks my hair is doing ok. Better than I thought actually. The key has been no combs, co washing inbetween shampoos and pineappling instead of retwisting every night. I have noticed growth. Appears to be about the same. I am staring to believe that low manipulation, a good dusting every 4 months and keeping the hair super moisturized and pliable is just as effective as twists n such. Im gonna keep my hair out for the rest of the summer and see how this goes.
I feel the same way about my hair. I do track my growth and have not done any productive styles like twist left in for 2-4 weeks. I do low manipulation styles like updos and buns and I stay away from heat and finger detangle only. DC every week and keep hair moisturized. I have fine 3c/4a hair that is dense. My hair grows about .5 inches to an 1 inch in certain areas of my head. I’m ok with that. I’m reluctant to put twist in my hair for longer than 2 days as my hair will mat and I’m afraid I’ll lose more hair once I untwist my hair. I stick to wng or twist once or twice during the week for a different look. My hair is still gaining length. Each head is different.
updos and buns are protective, twists are low manipulation, you’ve got it mixed up. Protection is about keeping your ends hidden, which buns and certain other updos achieve for you. Low manipulation is about keeping your hands out of your hair for as long as possible, which twists and braids help you achieve. Protective styles can be both low manipulation and protective at the same time though. But the way you categorized twists and buns, you got them mixed up.
I do take occasional breaks no more than 2 weeks out, just to see my hair out and have a little fun with it. While out I continue to moisturize and put in large twists or plaits at night keeping my ends sealed. I love how it looks when I wear it out but, I’ve found that my hair hold moisture longer when its in twists, and its more practical for my lifestyle, I like to get up and go. So my protective styles serve multiple purposes not just for retaining length.
I am sure if I were to stop protective styling I would enjoy the look of my hair more, but not sure if I would enjoy the daily maintenance.
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I find that I do protective styles that I keep in anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Yes, I do want to achieve longer length but honestly this isn’t the primary reason I keep my hair tucked away. It’s because I have mid back length hair, workout, and I detest hair wash/detangling days because it takes so much longer now that my hair is so long. Whether I keep my hair tucked away for a few weeks or detangle on a weekly basis, my detangling time sessions don’t vary much so I just rather deal with it a few weeks at a time. Of course I moisturize it on a daily, it isn’t neglected. So basically I do protective styling so I am not spending so much of my precious summer time doing hair. If longer lengths is a result of this, that’s just an added bonus. I do feel that I achieved the same length retention when I didn’t protective style as much. But my styling was still very low manipulation. That seems to be the key moreso than protective styling IMO.
from what I have seen, the finer ones hair is the more they need protective styling to grow. Those with thick(not to be confused with dense) strands can have their hair out more, or just rely more on low manipulation styles like twists or braids. Hey, do what works for you!
Very true. My hair is fine, but dense, and I do Pro styling, for 2 weeks, wash it in the style, then leave it in for another 1-2 weeks then take them down, put in flat twists for a week, then install another pro style. I’m waiting for my natural hair to hit 5-6 inches, then I can do styles w/o the fake hair. Almost there, at 4 inches now.
as a kid and even now, my mother would style my hair every sunday…but now i took my hair into my own hands and put in mini twists which i PLANNED to keep in for 3-4weeks buts its killing me.im 10 days in and im itching to get my hands in my hair. i just cant keep a style in for more than over a week. i cant@ D:
Wow! It’s the same for me! My mom does my hair usually , but I just recently did mini twists for myself 10 days ago and I can’t wait to take them out in 3 more weeks or so.
O.O Freaky!
I just gave up protective styling.
I reached my goal length after PS-ing for over 3 years. Then, I realized that my hair had been in twists for forever and I really hadn’t enjoyed my hair.
So, I’ve been rocking twist outs more often. And, you’re right, I’m noticing less growth! But, I’m very happy where my hair is now. I am noticing a bit more breakage than usual, so I gotta get a handle on that one!
MORE BREAKAGE BECAUSE IT’S OUT MORE. TWISTS AREN’T THE ONLY WAY TO PROTECTIVE STYLE
Oh, Tina. I always look forward to your comments.
lol
Not even a day off for your ‘tude. Lol Happy 4th :- )
Love you Tina!
haha
Same here…after 3 years.
Nog i cant stand twists on my head.
Now when i walk the wind swifts through my hair…giving it more sex appeal;)
Enjoying & Loving Natural hair
Um I keep it twisted no added hair and re do every 2 weeks.
What’s the point of this article
ummm the ponit was stated at the very beginning of the article, the first paragraph
lol i never protective style, but my hair grows like mad. my hair’s a warrior i guess 🙂
Your hair just doesn’t need protective styling contrary to mine. Both our type of hair are warriors though.
So it’s not considered protective styling if you don’t leave it in for three to four weeks? Bummer
Protective styling is when you do styles that tuck in your ends. But alone it is not enough to retain length. You have to couple the “protective style” idea with “low manipulation” styles. Because your hair is going to break if you keep redoing your protective style every two days!
I think that it is a protective style if you leave it in a week. As long as you dont manipulate the hair and hide those ends
I have 4C hair and I did my first protective style of havana twists basically for the month of June and saw amazing growth. I was shocked! I trimmed a lot of my hair before I put them in because I felt like my hair was getting into too many knots. I got so excited I put the havana twists right back in the next day. I think now I’m going to do protective styles for the rest of the year, we’ll see what happens! But great tips I’ll definitely keep them in mind.
Please let us know how you got on at the end of the year 🙂
I am really thinking about installing some extensions – havana twists, seneagelese twists or box braids . . . . . not sure, but they look so nice on everyone I have seen wearing them!
I love Havana twists! They’re less time-intensive than Senegalese twists, and because one can use larger sections of hair, they don’t pull/stress the hairline as much. The only downsides I have noticed are that daily (twice daily for me) moisturizing is necessary due to the dryness of Marley hair. I leave mine in for 4weeks at a time with week to two week long “loose” breaks, and my length retention has seriously improved 🙂
To be honest I don’t know the the difference between Havana, Senegalese, and Marley twist can you show me an example what the differences are. I like twist more than braids based on skill level, efficiency and aesthetics. If I know new how to do them and what the difference were I might have a protective style I could default to that I didn’t hate so much like I do most (based on style time/look/cost/damage/cost/duration the protective will last)
Omg same! i usually keep my hair out and i thought it was growing quite slow so i challenged myself to keep braided extensions in all of June too and likewise I was shocked at the few inches of growth just after 4 weeks. Went straight back for rebraiding the day after and I plan on protective styling till the end of the year too! 4C as well 🙂 Good luck with the growth
I will definitely keep you all updated! Tee you should definitely try havana twists they’re so functional and Dananana you’re so right!! Havana twists don’t take long to do or even take down. It’s so great. O.r good luck to you too! 🙂
HOW did it go ??
Usually I leave my twists in for a week to two weeks for two or three wash cycles, but for creative purposes I’ve got to take breaks and play with “out” styles. It’s more fun that way! I might use a bunch of foam curlers the first day or two and then bobby pin the curls, or sometimes I’ll blow dry until almost-dry and foam curl. My regimen doesn’t change much. Just add shea butter or oil mixture and make sure to contain the ends at night.
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