My protective style of choice. What is protective styling one may ask? Well, there are a lot of definitions out there of what constitutes protective styling but to me, it is when I minimise the exposure of my hair to the weather elements and hair rubbing on my clothes especially my ends. Hair ends are the oldest part of the hair shaft and are dryer because they are further away from the scalp which produces the sebum that lubricates (oils) the hair. One natural sister once said, “Everyone ought to know to treat elders with respect and so goes with the older hair, the ends. We have to respect our ends and handle them very gently.”
Because our ends are dryer, they are more brittle and more prone to splitting and breakage. It is of utmost importance therefore to protect the ends from excessive dryness that is often brought about by excessive direct sun exposure, dry cold weather and cotton clothes rubbing on the ends. I am not an advocate for not wearing ones hair out at all. I think you need to enjoy your hair and wear it whatever way you want to but I also think you need to listen to the needs of your hair and try to do what it needs for that time.
I love twists on my hair. Firstly, they are very easy and fast to do and undo which is a very important factor in very tight schedule. Twisting also helps me to keep my hands out of my hair so I can achieve some sort of low manipulation for the duration of my twists which is normally about a week or two and low manipulation of the hair does lessen breakage to some extent. When I wear my hair out and I am at home, supposedly busy, I still make time to play with my hair, trying out different hairstyles for as long as three hours sometimes. Can you imagine how my hair will be feeling when I decide that I need to move on and do other stuff? It’s so bad but hey, sometimes I just feel like playing with my hair a lot.
Here are the mini twists that I did lately. These are two days old.
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nyadani.
Was thinking of getting afro kinky braids in after about 4 weeks after my retouch, never had twist done with just my hair, but I might just give it a try. Have you heard of MSM? What do you think about it?
I also love kinky braids/twists because the look is so close to natural African hair. However I love the twists with my own hair better. Do try them without extensions. I think they will look good especially when styled. You can get a pro to do it for you as well. Good luck
Hey! I did not know anything about MSM until I saw it in your comment. I quickly checked it out and found out it’s a supplement one can take to lengthen their hair growth phase. I am not big on supplements for hair mainly because of fear of the side effects in the event I have stopped using them. I will do more research on it though but from what I read so far, it seems quite a good supplement that has numerous other benefits besides hair growth.
Hope to write a proper post in the very near future because I feel they are so many issues that need to be addressed concerning supplements for hair growth.
Hi Nyasha. Did a little more research on MSM and it looks like a great supplement and though not specifically for hair only, it makes the hair healthier and thus length retention is not difficult. It also seems not to have any side effects because it occurs naturally. Will dedicate a post on it soon.
I tried the twists some time ago and hey i can say the day i did them i was impressed but the next day, there were really horrible. I am no longer sure of any other length retention style now. I don’t like braiding or corn rows coz my hairline is bad. What style can i do to avoid combing the hair everyday.
Hey Sarah. Is it the twist the twist out that was horrible? Was your hair mushy and shrunken? Or were they the twists which had hair flying out of the twist? I am not sure how to help. You can try using some products like shea butter, or your favourite hair food if you use any to do the twists and seal the ends so they look good for longer. When wearing the twist out, I normally keep my twists until the morning and only take them down then before leaving the house. If I want to wear a twist out the next day, I re-twist my hair before going to bed for the night. You can also try avoid products with glycerine on your hair. Another great length retention hair style is the pony tail. However you have to make sure the pony tail is not too tight the your ends are tucked in to reduce dryness and split ends.You can wear the pony tail for a whole week without having to comb your hair at all.You just wrap your hair in a scarf on it before going to bed every night. I hope this helps.
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