Notes on Protective Styling

Loose Twists inna Bun

Protective styling is great for certain types of natural hair but some of you may have found that you seem to be losing more hair than you retain with protective styling. Here are a few reasons why:

Over Manipulation
Changing complicated protective styles too often can negate the benefits of styling as the hair isn't covered long enough. Breakage that comes from manipulation can also retard growth.

Neglect
Some people forget that while their hair is in protective styles, especially styles with extensions, it still has to be taken care of. Regular moisturising, sealing and cleansing still need to take place. I don't recommend leaving any protective style in for longer than 6 weeks to 2 months as kinky hair as a tendency to loc up and the tangles resulting from these impromptu locs are not fun to deal with.

Style
Some protective styles can be really bad for kinky hair. Micro braids, sister twists, mini twists etc are styles I don't recommend because they cause ridiculous amounts of tangling and breakage during takedown. They can also put stress on the hairline and cause the hair to fall out from the roots if heavy extensions are used. I recommend styles like loose twists, updos, buns etc as they are low manipulation styles. When these are done on stretched hair, there is minimal tangling present during take down.

Takedown
Breakage and tangling during takedown can retard growth. I recommend finger detangling as much as possible and using a detangling spray during the process. Taking hair down properly is time consuming but greatly reduces breakage caused by rushing through the process.

Loose Ends
I double protect my hair when my hair is in twists or braids by wearing them in updos or high ponies as much as possible (but not to bed as this can cause breakage around the hairline) and making sure to seal the ends often. This is because even though your hair is in a protective style, your ends are still pretty much exposed to everything from the weather, to brushing against the fabric of your clothes, car seat, sofa etc. So wearing your twists in an updo gives the double whammy of having a low manipulation hairstyle that you can change everyday, and well protected ends.

My hair is currently braided up without extensions. Although I love loose twists, I chose this style because the takedown process is long and onerous so I'm motivated to keep them in my hair longer.

So what are your go to protective styles? How do you deal with take down?