It's Not a Protective Style If...

Happy Monday Curlies !

I hope everyone had a great weekend ! I'd like to start the week off with 6 tips on why a protective IS NOT a protective style.

If you're not clear on what a protective style is, it's a style that protects your hair, or more importantly, your ends. It also gives you a rest from day to day or week to week styling because it is normally kept in for an extended amount of time.

Now, I'm sure that you've heard it all before, how protective styles are the way of the long haired, tangle-less natural hair chicas. Protective styles are the only way to retain growth, it's best to keep kinkier hair stretched to avoid knots, breakage, tangles, SSK's etc, etc.

Yes, for the most part this is true. But can protective styles be over protective ?

I have some news for you, It's not a protective style if,


1. You neglect your strands and scalp.
Protective styles are meant to give you a break but they are by no means a reason to ignore the needs of your hair and scalp. That is not protective. Blocked follicles on your scalp only lead to more problems, such as dandruff. It's necessary to obtain close to, if not the same care regimen that is used on your loose hair.

2. Your hair is drier than the Sahara Desert.
African-American hair thrives on moisture. It loves being thoroughly and properly nourished. Remember, you aren't doing a thing to moisturize your hair if your just douse water or a water based product on without  sealing. SEAL SEAL SEAL. That is key in a
proper hair care regimen.

Hair after Protective Style (PS) has been removed. Not the worst but definitely not how hair should look afterwards. It is visibly dry and hasn't moisturized properly while in a PS. Excuse my ratchet duck lips. LOL

3. When you take down the protective style, you hear strands popping left and right. 
This is a tell-tale sign that your hair was not properly taken care of while in a protective style. Your hair should not so dry to the point that you hear it snapping off when you are in the process of removing a style.

4. Your hair looks dull and sad.
Lack of sheen, shine ? Your hair is literally crying for attention, although our hair falls more into a sheen category than a shine category. When you notice your hair looking dull and lackluster, there may be some aspect of your regimen that you might need to tweak. Properly moisturized hair has a sheen, a bounce/spring to it, and is soft to the touch.  Dry hair has a tendency to be dry, rough, brittle, etc. 

Photo taken after a Protective Style has been removed. Hair doesn't look dull, or lacking moisture ! It's very full and thick. Cute enough for an "Out" Style !

5. It's been longer than "normal".
No protective style should really stay in longer than a few weeks to a couple months. This is really dependent on your hair type and style that is being used as a protective style. Take for instance mini twists on hair that is kinkier than most. Those mini twists should not be kept in longer than one month. Kinky hair is the perfect condition for locing, which unless this is your aim, you may want to avoid. Now, on the other hand if you have a protective style in, where synthetic hair has been added, those styles can last longer. I personally feel that no synthetic style should be worn for longer than 2 to 2 1/2 months.

6. Your strands/ends are rough and ragged to the touch.
When a protective style is removed you hair should still be moisturized, ends are not splitting or knotting. The whole point of a protective style is to protect the most fragile part of your hair, which are the If when you remove a protective style, and the ends are worn, (turning a lighter color than your normal hair is a key indicator), what really was the point ? Your ends have not been protected and potentially have suffered more damage. The whole process was counter-productive.

So, next time you are thinking about a protective style, remember it's not a protective style if !

Photo taken of hair after twists have been removed. Fluffy and lovely !

Until next time curlies !