By Christabel of Chys Curlz
Personality types differ and this is reflected in the different choices we make in our hair care practices. But, there is this widespread attitude and opinion in the natural hair world that there is a “best” way to take care of our hair regardless of who we are individuals. Well, this is simply not true. At least, for me, it has proven not to be true and I know if I feel this way, many more do too.I went natural around August of 2008 but I kept my hair shaved until October that year when I started growing it out.
Of course, like many new naturals, I knew nothing about how to take care of my hair and so I wore it in braids and weaves while I researched and devoured videos on YouTube.
When I finally got comfortable with wearing my hair out, I faced another obsession…that of achieving/retaining hair length no matter what!
This naturally meant that I gravitated toward those natural hair “gurus” who had longer hair because obviously they knew what they were talking about and if I followed their advice to the T, I will have long hair in no time. Well, that didn’t work very well for me because the biggest common advice denominator was protective styling (PS). I commenced doing a bunch of PS as shown below:
Now, when I say it didn’t work too well for me, I’m not saying that you won’t retain length with PS. It’s actually quite the opposite because MAJOR length retention happens with PS. In fact, my hair retained the most length during the period I did mostly PS
I went from this …
to this in less 8 months
It was a failure for me because I HATED the way my hair looked like in twists. It was scalpy, I looked like a kid, and I just didn’t like it PERIOD.* Disclaimer: if this is not true for you, then don’t sweat it. It’s okay if you love PS (because again, that meshes with your personality.* Another reason it was a failure was because as with everything else in my life, I like to be spontaneous more often than not. So, this translated to hair as well naturally lol. I loved playing in my hair, wearing different styles and when I stopped wearing stretched styles (twist outs etc.), I discovered that I LOVE my natural curl pattern as well.
Upon this discovery just a few months ago, I got a hair cut and proceeded to start wearing my hair in a wash and go (WNG) 99% of the time and I’ve never been happier with my hair.
And guess what, this fits with my personality style better. I used to think that I didn’t have the needed “discipline” to leave my hair protected for several days at a time. But now, I know it’s not a lack of discipline….it’s just who I am and that’s okay.
I might not retain length at the optimum rate or I might have more of those pesky Single Strand Knots (SSK) than is desirable but that’s okay because for me, right now, I’m in love with my hair and I have WAY MORE good hair days than bad ones so that means I’m #winning!
Of course, since there is still that part of me that is not all care-free and whatever goes, I had to perfect my WNG technique and I have and I will talk about this in another post. But for right now, the take away is that, whatever personality type you are, don’t expect it to be different in hair care just because we are dealing with #naturalhair which is often times a new and uncharted territory. Once you are done exploring, and watching all those videos and taking in all those wonderful advice from all those wonderful YouTube “gurus”, you will the happiest caring for your hair the way that feels the most natural to you! That.is.all.
So a couple of questions for y’all:
What have you learned about your self through your hair? I love spontaneity.
Are you a PS girl or a WNG girl? WNG all the way! lol
Till next time,
ChyChy here.
i knew very early on that i was a wash and go girl. and i knew that because of my reasons for going natural. i didn’t go natural because i had any sort of damage from chemical straightening. i went natural because i didn’t like the way my hair looked straight. it was purely aesthetic… i wanted to wear my hair the way it grew organically from my scalp. so when i did go natural, i sought out natural/curly YouTube/bloggers who had great hair, but more specifically did it without the usage of protective styles. i was never interested in that or saw it as a necessity.
I’m DEFINITELY dealing with this right now! As much as I love PS’s for the fact I don’t constantly have to fuss with my hair, there are times I just want my hair OUT. I use to wear my hair in PS’s till about Friday, giving it about 2 days before I washed & styled again, but now I find myself taking it them out mid-week, wearing it out a few days, and either putting back in a PS, or, if I’m feeling lazy, just stretch it & keep wearing it out, or just “rinse”-and-go! It all depends on what strikes me at the time.
Perfect article for my current mood! I told myself I would PS for the remaining 6 months of this year because I wanted to see if I saw more healthy growth and now I’m 2 weeks into braids it took me 10 hours to do and I kind of want to take them out. I like my braids, but I like using new products and having voluminous, bouncy hair. My only problem is perfecting a wash-n-go that I feel comfortable with, so I end up going back to PS so I’m a de facto protective styler.
I love her hair journey. I feel like this is a major part of being natural- the freedom to be you, to do you! I don’t fit neatly in either category. I wear buns a lot for ease, not really for ps. And I don’t do strict w-n-gs either because with my hair, I’d wind up with a tangled mess. So it’s best to do what works for you and makes you happy!
I’m exactly the same. My hair used to be so long, then I relaxed it for a year, and had to chop it out when I got fed up of relaxing. Now I want my old length back! and I’m trying to grow it back, but I don’t like many protective styles so often have my hair in an updo, which I love! Looks good, and its me, but my ends aren’t protected. Oh well! Like you said, thats me, and as long as my hair is healthy, I’ll have to do deal with it.
I feel like this article speaks to me. I’m also a natural who could care less about protective styling, because the length and health of my hair right now suits me perfectly. It doesn’t have to hang down my back to look awesome. :)
Ew, a double-post. Can you delete one of those pictures?
I heart your spirals!
Gorgeous hair. Great wng. Rock it!
Wow your hair journey sounds a little like mine. I love wash-n-go’s! I love it better when my hair is short or medium short. Now it’s ear length bob and slightly shorter at the nape; longer on top. I’ve had it short for many years and this my second grow-out. The length it is now takes more time with a wash and go daily. So I’m started in June with a semi-PS. I wash-n-go for the initial style and when it dries and spritz with: Aloe Pure Leaf-Rose Water/Glycerin, 3 drops of Aloe Gel and 3 drops of pure glycerine, and 2-strand twist that night. Every not there after I wear it out during the day and twist it at night. I may spritz with the concoction mentioned.
I like to wear my hair out, the most I do is a semi-afro puff: stretchy head band mid-way back and the rest out. I keep saying I’m find with the length but it’s growing so I’m like . . . hmmm. I get some SS-Knots at night when I re-twist.
If it grow it grows . . .
People No one is making you choose to wear your hair a in a certain way 24/7. It truly is in your minds. Protective styles are not the gospel, only a tool for retaining length.And for some people that tool is useless. If you don’t want to wear protective styles all or vice versa the time you need not make a declaration just do what you feel is best. A lot of nappies wear their hair in PS because they view it as their best chance for long hair. This is true for many but not for all. If you have perfected your wash n go to the point where you have very little breakage your hair will be just fine. I think that is the key to wearing wash n gos all the time. My theroy is that they can be just as good as a set of twists if you can cut down on the breakage factor.
I wear both depending on my mood and the kind of time I have. As long as it doen’t involve heat, defining a curl I don’t have or weave I’ll rock just about any natural hair style. I love wash n goes but they get tiresome for me after a while cause you have to get up the next day and do it all over again. Great when its blazn hot out, not so great on chilly fall morning. I like a happy medium. I do protective styles until I get sick of them and then I do some out styles till I get sick of them. I find many pleasant variations between the two. You wash n go is beautiful by the way. Please share the technique when you get a chance.
This is a good article as many naturals do go on like protective styling is a must. However it all has to do how one views it and that is where the problem begins. We all have free will so no one is forced to do anything.
My tip for length retention is to braid hair at night and cover with a satin scarf or bonnet and style as you please.
I personally prefer braid outs/puffs and when i need a break i do box braids or twists with my own hair. Whatever you do have fun with your hair. :)
+1 and I’mma need you to get out of my head, lol…
Once again, I’m glad I went natural when I did (mid-1990s, at the dawn of the Web) because I never fell prey (at least not totally) to any set of “rules”. I still don’t understand why “The only hair rules are those that work for YOU and YOUR HAIR” is such a complicated concept for some people…
My most recent BC was October 2010. After spending 2010 and 2011 having fun with my hair and really getting to know its different textures, I’ve spent 2012 alternating between WNGs, twistouts/stretched hair styles, and twists worn for 2-4 weeks at a time. I’m currently entering week 4 with mini-rope twists (my first ever) that I HATED for the first two weeks because they were SO scalpy-looking. However, I can actually wet/wash these without seeing any major tangling…unlike my regular twists, which I only wear for 2 weeks tops and never wash. That is a HUGE plus in the PS column for me (along with spending just 2-3 minutes on them in the mornings)…and I am a hardcore PS hater from WAY back…
Because the longest my hair has ever gotten is halfway to APL (with locs), I was reconciling myself to the idea of making twists my primary style for a while. In reality I will probably wear twists until I get sick of them, then I’ll go back to twistouts for a while until I get sick of them, etc. Sure, I’m curious to know what life is like with APL hair…but it’s not a requirement. For me the key thing has ALWAYS been ease and enjoyment at ANY length. As far as I’m concerned that’s the BEST natural hair rule to live by. :)
LBell – Every time I see you post on this website, I always mean to ask you if you are the same LaBellaTrix (or something to that effect) that used to post on Nappturality.com back in the day. If so, I remember being so inspired by your journey way back when I decided to stop perming my hair in college (2001)!
I loved this post! Before getting a BC in July, I had long hair that was never chemically treated, but was very damaged due to heat. Well, after I got it cut, all I’ve been wearing so far is Wash-N-Go’s and I love my curl pattern. It looks really similar to yours. When it gets a little bit longer though, I think I’m going to start wearing protective styles because I want it to retain more length.
Awesome article you took the words right out of my mouth!
Oops: “every night, there after ;-#
I co-sign this article because it mirrors my personal experience. I have very thin hair and doing the two strand twist left my scalp very exposed. I hated the way it looked and the amount of time it took just to make my thin hair look fuller. I didn’t know much about wash and go hairstyles and discovered it by accident. After a hairstyling routine went wrong, I gave it up and was going to wear a wig for an event. Thankfully, I forgot my wig and had to wear my own hair. I simply combed, moisturized it and used my hand to tussle it a bit.
Suddenly, I discovered how much I loved the freedom of not worrying about ruining a hairstyle and Oh yeah, how easy it was to create.
So yes, wash n go is very much for me. Now I only take time to create a special style if I am going to an event like a wedding. But my school and work look is definitely WASH N GO. Hurray!
My hair grows super fast in the summer so I’ve worn braids most of the summer. Now that fall is approaching I can’t wait for the humidity to go away so I can feel my hair again. The end of Sept can’t come soon enough.
I don’t do many protective styles since I put in a softner/texturizer. I love roller sets and once in awhile a cute wig for change. The two strand twist is not put on the bench until further notice. 4b/4c . My hair is still pretty big and full (afro).
I’m both. It kind of depends on my mood. Charlamagne (my hair) has days that she’ll only respond in WnGs and days that PS are the only option. Right now she’s a little unhappy because I’m long-term protective styling in yarn braids. I already know it’s going to be only WnG for at least 2 weeks.
Your hair’s name! Too fabulous lol!!
I HATE protective styling but after hitting a plateau at shoulder/collar bone length, I learned it’s a necessity for me ;-( Not only that, after having spent an embarrassingly # of hours watching long haired yutube naturals pre-long hair (IOW–the regimen that got them flowing locks not the “I have long hair now & wash 1/yr reggie” Lol), I’ve realized 4bcdefs need protective styling to retain as much as possible.
Christabel, I love your curls! I know exactly what you are saying because I feel the same way.I am a wash & go girl all the way! I love my hair as big as I can get it and the w&g works for me to attain that volume I adore. It’s fun to play with my hair, I love touching it and fluffing it out with my pick:) I could have a lot more length by now after nearly four years ( I transitioned for 3 & 1/2 yrs because I didn’t want to BC) but I am happy with my mid back length curls, plus I know it will still grow longer, only not as fast as it would if I did PS. I’m ok with that and I love that liberty I feel about my hair journey. Thank you for sharing your story.
I love your name-that’s my friend’s name too! How do you do your wash and gos? I think I have similar hair, but am maybe using the wrong products or technique.
I love PS for the practicality but hate that I can’t do my own hair and have to ask friends to do it for me but in the summer I like leaving my hair “wild” its fun and my shrinkage is CRAZY. I have noticed though that when I don’t do PS my edges grow back quicker.
Christabel, your hair looks great!
I’m such a low maintenance girl, I wear my hair in PS just because I don’t want to deal with my hair too often, not really for length. I usually wear my hair in twists and twist outs.
I was the same way when I had a perm, I only wore my hair in a high bun. I hated wearing my hair out when I had a perm.
Thanks so much for the wonderful compliment :)
I’m 50 yrs old and have no desire to gain length that’s not why I went natural but of course my hair grows. I love keeping my hair shaped up and use minimal products in it so I never liked twists and the such, mine unravel due to my hair texture. To each her own but I like to wash, spritz and dampen my hair on a regular basis to style. I love this for me and so carefree.