By Geniece (pictured above) of Beautifully Made
When I am asked to explain how I retain length I usually begin by discussing the role protective styling has played in my regimen. For some, that advice is a big downer. I’ve essentially told them that if they follow my regimen they will forever have to sacrifice style for length. I get this concern. In fact, I too believe that if I’m going to grow my hair long I do want to wear it out. To me, it isn’t a matter of if I will wear my hear in “out” styles on a consistent basis, it’s when I choose to do so. I wear my hair “out” occasionally but at some point, provided it doesn’t make my regimen more complicated (I’m all about ease and speed), I will probably wear my out just as often, if not more than I wear my hair in protective styles.
I began long term protective styling with the idea that this is merely delayed gratification. I knew that length retention was guaranteed with low manipulation, regular moisture and protective styling. For me that is a hair fact. I also know, from experience, that I can wear my hair out regularly and, while I won’t suffer breakage, I won’t retain much length either. Take last summer for example. During the heat wave that hit New York City I chose to wear my hair in a braid outs. Despite the alternating dryness and humidity in the weather my hair was fly (if I do say so myself) and I loved not being confined to a bun because of extreme weather. I did notice , however, that by the end of the summer my ends were knotted and that the dryness and heat had taken a toll on my hair. By the end of the year I realized I didn’t retain nearly as much length as I did the year before but neither did my hair break. In fact, I retained at least two inches. The necessary trimming that was needed from wearing my hair out offset some of my growth, but it didn’t cancel it out completely. In short, I was able to maintain my length and even add a little length while enjoying my length.
If my goal is to retain 5-6 inches a year then protective styling 90% is something I have to do. Once I reach my goal length of waist length I can wear my hair out, knowing that even if I have to trim a bit more often I will be able to maintain my length and may even add one or two inches in the process. So while some protective stylers may advocate protective styling as the ONLY way to keep hair on your head, I am not one of them. I believe that if length is your goal and you know that such styles assist you in reaching that goal then commit to protecting your ends for two, three of four years then you rock all the “out” styles you wish. The one thing that you may find in the process is that protective styles suit that you no longer view it as a compulsory chore. You can then enjoy the best of both worlds: elegant updos and superfly styles that display your length.
Ladies, have you phased out protective styling as part of your regimen? Are you considering it?
I mostly do updos and buns, alternating with twists peridically. To avoid the little gir look with twists,set them on rollers. You can style small to medium twists in styles similar to those for relaxed hair. If you don’t mind a little heat, use hot rollers on your twists for a different look.
I’ll never stop doing protective styles because I love them. I find that when I have my hair in an out style I’m constantly fretting about how it looks and if the wind blows I get very anxious. I live in the UK and our weather is very changeable so I prefer to keep my hair up as I know it will look the same as it did when I left the house. I don’t want to waste time worrying about how my hair looks.
If I lived in a country where my hair did not react to the weather I’d probably wear twist outs all the time but for the UK it isn’t worth the hassle.
I’d say my hair retention was average about 4 to 5 inches a year which is great for me considering I spent years with hair only reaching the top notch of my nose. Once I saw I was retaining length and could squeeze it into a bun I was happy.
The only out style I can do without hassle is an afro puff and that is my regulation style Saturday and Sunday, Monday for work it goes up, up and away.
I hear exactly what you’re saying , Natalie. I live in the UK too- yep, changeable weather, the bane of our lives!
I look at the natural hair journey as being the same as losing weight/getting healthy. There are no shortcuts, just consistency, patience, work, and commitment. To me, protective styling is like getting up to work out on a Saturday morning. I really want to just lay in bed and watch TV or read a book, but the extra effort and energy I put in now will pay off later. I have always had longer hair (close to BSL), but after coloring like a mad woman and some extreme heat damage, I am in the process of transitioning to a healthy, natural head of hair. Admittedly, I hated protective styling. I have always been one of those people who loved to touch and play in my hair, and wear it out/down all the time. But protective styling has been KEY in my transitional phase — allowing me to retain 80 – 90% of my length, while making nominal trims every few months. I am averaging about an inch of growth a month, and thanks to protective styling, I am able to keep most of it.
I phased out protective styling about a year or so ago, for the most part. I know there are those that hate protective styling and have the mentality that they didn’t go natural just to hide their hair. I’m not one of them. I actually like protective styles, but a lot of them simply don’t look good on me. I have very fine and thin hair, so braids and twists look very scalpy on me. Then I have thin edges due to past damage from relaxers, weaves and too tight extensions, so I can’t do buns as they’ll pull on them. The most I’m able to do are updos but I do those about several times a month on average. The other 90% of the time, my hair is out. I’ve accepted that my hair won’t be as long as those who are able to PS more regularly. Health is more important to me than length. We’ve all seen people with long hair that wasn’t healthy. Right now, it’s APL stretched and I wasn’t sure it would get this long (been natural for nearly 3 years). I’ll probably do a jig if I get to BSL.
Good points, Lady V69. It’s really about what works for you. There is room for everyone and their different methods of styling, PS or non-PS. I think you will get to BSL- keep the faith :) ! And do that jig!
Relaxers- I had the same problem, with losing hair at the hair line, when I relaxed my hair, for three years. It’s taken me almost 15 years for my hair line to grow back healthily and strong!
I think there’s got to be a balance. The only protective styling that I do on a semi-regular basis is a bun. I did semi-mini twists two months ago with the intention of keeping them in for 4-5 weeks. I lasted about 2 weeks because even though I maintained my normal wash schedule–once a week–and used Naptural85′s technique with the pantyhose, my roots started looking old. So, the only protective style I’m confortable with is a bun. I don’t like weaves in my hair and I don’t have patience to sit and have extensions add to my hair.
That said, I think where the balance comes in is that too much protective styling and for too long a period of time tend to put stress on the edges. You also have to be diligent about making sure your hair is moisturized while it’s protected. So, for me I just rather wear my hair out. I’m still retaining length and keeping my hair moisturized is also a lot easier when I choose to wear my hair out.
I love wearing certain hairstyles (buns/french rolls, twists etc..) I wear them more so for the look and ease not because they’re considered (protective styles) I also love wearing my hair out here and there (braidouts/twistouts etc..) I have no major issues with knots/tangles or retaining length, overall low manipulation and good ol’ fashion tlc helps the most not a particular ‘hairstyle’.
I used to hate protective styling until recently. I’m on a 6 month PS challenge until January ’13 and I want to see the difference in growth/retention rates. I have to say I like the ease of twists and buns, especially in this hot [blank] weather.
Now that I’ve been on my PS kick, I don’t think I could stop protective styling when my hair gets longer because its because so easy for me.
I usually protective style often just because I don’t like the feeling of hair on my neck/shoulders. I’ve been getting tension headaches with even the loosest of buns/headbands/puffs so I’ve been doing it less now. I don’t seem to be loosing any more hair though, so I doubt PS is the “end-all, be-all.”
I’ve actually been losing less hair lately. Most likely unrelated to PS and more because I started doing curly girl.