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