How To: Protect Your Hair in a Protective Style

Hey Afro.Chicks!!

I know you ladies LOVE to have your hair in protective styles and so do I. However, we have to remember that we still have to protect our hair while it's 'protected'. I'm gonna share some tips with you to keep your hair safe while it's under wraps.


#1 Keep your hair moisturized: A huge mistake that most curly girls make while their hair is protected, is to moisturize. We all know how important moisture is to natural hair and we have to ensure that we give our hair all the moisture it needs. 



#2 Protect your sides: The best looking hairstyles are usually pulled tight. This is a no-no. When hair is being braided or cornrowed, you must ensure your sides aren't pulled too tight. Constant pulling and tugging to the sensitive strands that border our manes can cause major, long term damage. 



#3 Don't Push It: Don't wear your protective style for too long. The period of time you keep your hair in a protective style can make or break your hair. Many people swear by protective styles for growth, however, they can cause breakage if they're kept in too long. I recommend you keep your styles in for 6 - 8 weeks. (I personally don't go past a month because my hair always fags by the third week.)



#4 Nighttime Protection: Tie your hair down with a silk scarf or silk band overnight. Doubling with a silk pillowcase is great also. If you use a cotton scarf, don't tie it too tight around your edges. Push the head scarf about an inch back from your hairline and gel those sides down the next day. 



#5 Limited Product Use: Other than oil and water you want to limit the build-up you cause on your hair. We love to gel down those 'baby hairs' in the front of our heads. This can cause chunks of build-up and may cause breakage when it's time to loose your braids. 



#6 Wash/Cleanse Your Scalp: Some protective hairstyles allow you to wash your hair while it's protected; take advantage of this. If you can wash your hair, wash it! If washing is not ideal for your style, find some dry shampoo and cleanse your scalp. You should wash/cleanse every two weeks.



#7 Handle With Care: Don't pull/tug on the hair too much. Depending on your style, there can be a lot of strain placed on the hair and it's follicle. You want to be careful not to pull the hair too tight or weight it down too much. You don't want to cause damage to hair that hasn't left the scalp as yet. 



#8 Remove With Care: Remove whatever extensions you have in carefully. Clear hair from tip to root. This method has worked for me every time so I would recommend it. Try not to comb your hair when removing braids also. If you follow the protection tips during, there will be no need to use combs after. However, if you do have knots to detangle, use a little oil or conditioner on your fingers and work it into the knot. Once the knot is saturated you may use a pin or the tail end of a rat-tailed comb to detangle knots. 



Okay, I hope these tips help you out with how to protect your hair while it's in a protective style! 

Happy Styling!

-Afro.Chick.Nik

Protective Styling

Protective Styling!


Okay let's discuss my FAVORITE topic!!


I happen to love protective styling! I love my natural hair and I love to wear it out but I also want to keep it protected and avoid breakage and stuff! 


What is protective styling?
Any style you have in your hair where your natural hair is covered or styled in a way where you don't 'tamper' with it daily can be a protective style. Protective styling is just a fancy way to say, "I'm covering my hair for a month or so 'cause I wanna be lazy!" LOL! Protective styling can come in the form of extensions, weaves, braids (w/ or w/o extensions), etc. 


I am a huge fan of protective styling partially because of my job and partially because I love the thrill I get seeing all of the growth after about a month or so of not touching my hair. I usually have my hair in braids for a month or so and I wear it out for a weekend and then it's back in braids. 


**Sidebar** Even when my hair was permed I liked the idea of having it weaved for a month!!


I have tried three different styles since I've done my B/C...


Afro Kinky Braids

A 60-second cap

Kanakelon Rope Twists

Protective Styling can be a blessing and a curse! You have to be sure to keep your hair moisturized! We natural girls know that water and oil are our best friends. When you have your hair in a protective style be sure to keep your spray bottles close and handy! Give your thirsty hair a spritz or two every morning and evening! And the great thing about it is natural hair is so much ore fun than relaxed hair because you can do that do it. If you had relaxed hair and a weave, water would be your enemy!!! Your hair would be starving!!! Think about it!


Also, when getting your hair braided or plait, ensure the stylist doesn't pull your hair too tight! I know a lot of stylists just LOVE to catch all of the baby hair in the front and back but just ask them to leave that out. This type of tugging at that strand can cause MAJOR DAMAGE! Those hairs pull out from the follicle and can lead to ball spots and we don't want that! Last time my hair was braided in those rope twists in the third picture, I took those things out so fast!! I just couldn't bear to see my strands crying out for release any longer! I only kept them in for about a month...I didn't feel like I got my money's worth but I am glad I still have my 'sides'!


I've gotten a lot of criticism from different people, with relaxed hair, saying, "Oh you must not like your natural hair because you always have it braided." And crazy stuff like that. However, that couldn't be further from the truth! I LOVE MY NATURAL HAIR!! Therefore, I love protecting it in a hairstyle!! Catch my drift?? Maybe they're just jealous, who knows? Who cares? Def not NIK SHAZETTE!!


Live.Laugh.Love
Nik -- Muahhh <3

The B/C

MY BIG CHOP!!!


It has been a LONG time coming....but I knew my change had to come! I had been perming my hair since the age of 11 or 12. I have never had coarse hair but I was always afraid of hair-combing so I BEGGED my mother to relax my hair. 

Here is a photo of me at the age of 3, you can almost see the natural curl pattern of my hair which was fairly loose...

Here is a photo of my hair straightened with a hot-comb before it was relaxed...

So, as you can tell my hair was pretty thick and healthy. Which it continued to be over the years, even though it was relaxed. However, shortly after my graduation from the twelfth grade. My hair went downhill. I could no longer afford the hair dresser and I decided to perm and treat it myself at home...Things continued downhill until I got the hang of my hair and caring for it. 

After an unfortunate weaving accident in 2008, I decided I would go natural...It lasted about a year and half. I was forced into it and I wasn't ready to commit to it. Further, there was no such support for it then as there is now!! 

My hair has been through so much! It has been cut, colored, bleached, rinsed, red, orange, spice, cut, colored, bleached, weaved, braided...all in that order! 

NOW it's NATURAL and back to its original state!! 

On March 9, 2012, after transitioning for about two months, I decided to do my big chop! This was a spur the moment decision. I woke up one morning and said, "If I don't do this BC now, I'm gonna perm this sucker!" So I stood in front of the mirror like so...

And started chopping those permed ends off!!

Almost 12 inches of growth was now gone and I embarked on a new journey...My Natural Hair Journey. I feel so liberated and free and empowered. Trust me, I had many reservations about doing this. It all boils down to you wanting to do it and being confident enough to take the first step. I did it, and so can you! 

Remember...True beauty starts within! 

xoxo Nik.Shaz

Muahhh! <3

My purpose!

Nik Shazette

(I'll tell you a little about myself in a future post!!)

I’ve never done this before but here goes!!

I’m starting this blog because I am embarking on a new journey. A journey to ahealthier and happier me! Not that I’m not pleased with the “me” I am now but things can always be a little better aye?

For starters…I’m cutting meat out of my diet!! ((-_-))  I know, I know…AM I CRAZY?! lol not really…well…that’s debatable…but that’s not the question at hand. The important question is do I want to live a healthy and long life…the answer is YES!!!

Lately, I have been having some MAJOR breakouts of acne on my face and back, I really believe healthy skin comes from the inside out…Therefore I’m gonna start within and work my way out. In addition to being a vegetarian/vegan (I haven’t decided how extreme I’m going to be!), I will be cutting out all drinks/sodas from my diet. Water is one of the most natural ways to help purify skin from the inside out.

This is gonna be hard but worth it!!!

Stay tuned for my daily updates on my progress, also tips and tricks to beating the meat cravings. I will also be updating you on my other journey. I have just joined the Natural Sisterhood and I’m off the creaming crack (PERM/HAIR RELAXERS). It’s gonna be an interesting and exciting journey!! ALL ABOARD!!