By Serati Maseko, Afro Hair in Fashion
So I have just recently learned the actual distinction between 'protective styling’ and ‘low manipulation styles’, even though I have been employing both for some time. Protective styling is a style that covers, and protects your ends, and your hair, for weeks or months at a time, examples of these are: box braids, crochet braids, wigs and weaves etc. Low manipulation styles are styles that do not completely cover your hair, but afford you the least amount of daily manipulation, examples of these are wash and go’s, twists, buns and updos.
There are pros and cons for both. I started to see a real difference in my hair when I started doing low manipulation styles, styles that I would do, and be able to not have my hands in my hair for a few days at a time. I get to be creative, trying out different types of retro upstyles, and buns where I don’t have to think about my hair for a good few days; yet still be able to moisturise and wash it regularly. When I started doing that I noticed that I could feel more length on my ends, and I didn’t have to sit installing a protective style for hours on end to achieve that.
Protective styles are more permanent styles, they usually take a longer time to install, thus making it the kind of style that you keep for a longer period of time. Protective styles like crochet braids, and box braids, are great because they give you a completely new look, and with extensions you can experiment with colour and length; which is always fun! Also, having your hands out of your hair for such long periods- up to a month or more- means that you do retain length in a shorter period of time than you may have if your hair was out and being manipulated everyday. However, having easy access to your hair can still insight ‘hand-in-hair syndrome’ where you change the styles often, thus making it not much of a ‘low manipulation style’ at all
The mistake that a lot of naturals make, however, is to keep their hair in a protective style for a couple of months, take out the protective style, and then because of wrong techniques on how to manage their hair, very quickly lose a lot of the length that they gained through breakage; thus in the long run making the protective styling completely pointless. Another thing is that it is easy to forget that you have hair to take care of when your air is in a protective style, and neglect to moisturize it (by spraying your hair and scalp everyday). The very installation and removal of protective styles can be damaging in of themselves, braids put in too tight, and left in too long can cause breakage of your ends, and damage to your edges.
At the ends of the day it is about being mindful of your hair practices, and being aware that healthy hair is growing hair. In my personal experience employing protective styles, as well as low manipulation styles, is a very important step in growing natural afro textured hair, especially for those of us with the very tight textures.
Do you enjoy protective styling? What method have you found best for retaining length?
So I have just recently learned the actual distinction between 'protective styling’ and ‘low manipulation styles’, even though I have been employing both for some time. Protective styling is a style that covers, and protects your ends, and your hair, for weeks or months at a time, examples of these are: box braids, crochet braids, wigs and weaves etc. Low manipulation styles are styles that do not completely cover your hair, but afford you the least amount of daily manipulation, examples of these are wash and go’s, twists, buns and updos.
There are pros and cons for both. I started to see a real difference in my hair when I started doing low manipulation styles, styles that I would do, and be able to not have my hands in my hair for a few days at a time. I get to be creative, trying out different types of retro upstyles, and buns where I don’t have to think about my hair for a good few days; yet still be able to moisturise and wash it regularly. When I started doing that I noticed that I could feel more length on my ends, and I didn’t have to sit installing a protective style for hours on end to achieve that.
Protective styles are more permanent styles, they usually take a longer time to install, thus making it the kind of style that you keep for a longer period of time. Protective styles like crochet braids, and box braids, are great because they give you a completely new look, and with extensions you can experiment with colour and length; which is always fun! Also, having your hands out of your hair for such long periods- up to a month or more- means that you do retain length in a shorter period of time than you may have if your hair was out and being manipulated everyday. However, having easy access to your hair can still insight ‘hand-in-hair syndrome’ where you change the styles often, thus making it not much of a ‘low manipulation style’ at all
The mistake that a lot of naturals make, however, is to keep their hair in a protective style for a couple of months, take out the protective style, and then because of wrong techniques on how to manage their hair, very quickly lose a lot of the length that they gained through breakage; thus in the long run making the protective styling completely pointless. Another thing is that it is easy to forget that you have hair to take care of when your air is in a protective style, and neglect to moisturize it (by spraying your hair and scalp everyday). The very installation and removal of protective styles can be damaging in of themselves, braids put in too tight, and left in too long can cause breakage of your ends, and damage to your edges.
At the ends of the day it is about being mindful of your hair practices, and being aware that healthy hair is growing hair. In my personal experience employing protective styles, as well as low manipulation styles, is a very important step in growing natural afro textured hair, especially for those of us with the very tight textures.
Do you enjoy protective styling? What method have you found best for retaining length?
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