Protective styling is just that! These are styles that protect the ends of the hair from rubbing, splitting, and being damaged by the elements. Protective styling for relaxed heads is the optimal styling choice for maximum retention. When you leave your hair out in the open air every day, the ends will soon dry out. Without the use of protective styles throughout the week, the ends of the hair will continue to rub back and forth across cotton shirts and blouses causing severe splitting damage and breakage. If this is allowed to continue over the course of weeks or months length potential may never be seen.
Think of your hair as a sponge. What happens to a damp sponge that is left outside for an extended period of time? It dries out and becomes over rigid. The internal water/moisture has been depleted and it is no longer pliable. The same set of principles apply to your hair. Your hair given these considerations will most likely dry out and break off.
A matter of personal choice
Before I started protective styling, my hair never grew beyond shoulder length. I was one of millions of sisters stuck at the shoulder length hump. Just look around you. There are still many of us with shoulder length hair that won’t seem to grow past this length. Protective styles are a great way to push the hair past this growth plateau.
There are many women who can grow their hair to great lengths without ever resorting to protective styles-but for many of us, protective styling is a very effective hair growing and hair preservation tool. You will find that even with these women who do not protective style, their hair regimens are typically low manipulation and low heat regimens. The exceptions are rare. Trade offs of one kind or another are common. So while, protective styling is not a requirement for hair growth, it is definitely useful for encouraging length retention. If you have been having problems growing out your hair, protective styling may be a viable option for you.
If you feel that protective styles do not suit you well, try wearing them 3-5 days a week and giving yourself the weekend off to enjoy your hair out. This simple styling strategy is the key to preserving hair length for many of us.
Types of Protective Styles
Protective styles fall into two categories: Complete and Low-manipulation protective styles. A good regimen will contain a healthy mixture of both types-for variety and for your sanity!
Complete Protective Styles are styles that have the ends out of sight and are 100% protective. These styles include: all varieties of buns, chignons (French rolls), tucked styles, phonytails (phony-ponies), wigs, and sew-in type weaves.
Low-Manipulation Styles are styles that do expose the ends to some degree, but are protective in that they drastically cut down on the manipulation (combing/handling) the hair experiences. These styles include: Rollersets, Braids, cornrows, some updo’s or pinned up styles, braidouts and twistouts.
The ideal protective style is one that has been achieved without heat. Reducing the amount of heat in your regimen is critical to the success of your growing out journey. Hair that is heat styled less tends to thicker, fuller, and healthier. Your hair will improve significantly just from reducing the amount of heat you were using. Daily heat is a definite no, no.
I'm starting to think that some dudes on here are getting their
on
