There was a great question posted on Facebook about being obsessed with protective styles, can they be overdone and just how much does the hair really need?

I thought this question was interesting as many women began creating their natural hair regimens and setting natural hair goals. I would like to point out that Kenneth wrote a great article on incorporating more protective styling into your natural hair regimen, where he clearly draws a line to define the difference between protective styling and protective styles.

Understanding these terms are really important because protective styling and styles have a place in your natural hair regimen depending on your goals. Does everyone have a goal of long natural hair sweeping the middle of their back? No, but if you ask a room of 100 naturals, the majority will definitely say that their goal is healthy hair and this is where protective styling can definitely lend a helping hand.

In my research and experience, if your goal is to have healthy hair, you need to incorporate protective styling techniques. Also, protective styles have been the corner stone for many naturals in achieving the long hair they had as children or to help them experience lengths they have never had before.

Protective styles cannot become obsessive; it becomes more of a choice and/or a preference. I wear protective styles the majority of the time due to extreme convenience, my natural hair goals and because my crown area grows slower than the rest of my hair.
Can you over do protective styles? Well, I am inclined to say “yes”; only because women can become burned out with protective styles and need a change.

I get burned out myself from time to time. When this happens, I change from a loose protective style to a twisted protective style or from twisted protective style to a loose protective style. If wash day is approaching, I may decide to wear loose for the day.

How much protection does natural hair really need?

Personally, I think lots! Only because I realize that it doesn’t require much to damage it. People sometimes forget that natural hair is not rough and tough. It’s fragile and can be damage (loss protein or cuticle layers) by simply shaking your hair in water. Even if some women choose not to wear their hair in a protective style the majority of the time, it’s likely that they’re incorporating protective styling techniques at bedtime.

So, what do you think? Do you think protective styles can be overdone? Just how much does the hair really need?

The hair growth cycle is an internal process that is influenced by genetics, your well-being and nutrition.  The three aforementioned influencers give the hair follicles what it needs to produce a healthy strand of hair. Once the hair peeks through the follicle in the scalp, it becomes a dead fiber of keratinized protein.

Some women have the desire is to have long hair. Keep in mind that long hair to one person can be short to another. Growing long hair is a process of mathematics. The word problem sounds like this: You want to grow long bra strap length hair in a year. Remember it is very important to keep your goal realistic and achievable, to prevent discouragement. It is not realistic to grow a 4 inch TWA to middle back length in a year.

Preservation

Since the part of the hair that peeked through the follicle first is the oldest, the goal is to protect it for the duration of your growth cycle which can last anywhere from two to six years. On average, a person grows six inches of hair in a year. If your growth cycle last for six years, that is 36 inches of hair!

Understanding these basics will definitely catapult your growth farther than you can imagine.

Once the tip of the new hair emerges, it is exposed to everything, those things we see and those things we don’t see.  The task before you is to preserve the tip of the hair.

Protective Styling

A key element of preserving the tips as well as the entire strand of the hair is protective styling. Protective styling is a must for many women with long hair and for those who desire long hair. Protective styling has three key components:

1. Lends itself to regular moisturizing
2. It is a style that require low maintenance or no maintenance
3. The tips or ends of the hair strands are tucked securely away

Due to the fact that the ends are the oldest part of the hair, it has less protective cuticles. The cuticles are damage and chipped creating the perfect environment for high porosity. The end result of a high porosity issue is dry, split, brittle hair. This is why adding moisture to your hair, even if you wear protective styles, is so important when you want to preserve the hair strand.

Water (moisture) is the key to keep the hair soft and pliable. Be sure to trap the moisture in with a heavy oil based product: like jojoba, castor or olive oil or butter like shea butter.

There is a difference between low maintenance and protective styles. I would to venture to say that low maintenance styles are important for every protective style.  Wearing low maintenance styles simply means that it does not require a lot of work or upkeep. Great examples of this are twists and braids.  Twists and braids are “do and forget” styles. You don’t have to do much to them, unless you choose to.  Most people wear their ends un-tucked and that is perfectly fine. Key components of low maintenance styles are to reduce the amount of mechanical damage that can occur to the entire hair strand and to keep the hair moisturized.

Keeping the hair tips pinned up is a critical element when trying to grow the hair beyond shoulder length. There are so many hair breaking activities that occur at this stage, it just best to tuck the ends away if your long term goal is longer hair.

For instance, the hair bushes the top of your shoulders, wearing away at the ends.

Your hair constantly comes in contact with the seat belt.

You hair brushes against or catches on your purse or backpack straps.

These are just a few examples, but you get the point.

The Conversion

Most low maintenance styles – that leave the hair ends exposed – can be converted into protective styles by simply tucking or pinning the ends of the hair up. For braids that hang, doing a cute crisscross with the braids and tucking them away provides protection and can simply refresh a style that is going stale.

Things to remember:

• It is very important to keep your hair goal realistic and achievable, to prevent discouragement.
• Protective styles have 3 key components – the ability moisturize regularly, low maintenance and protects the ends of the hair.
• There is a difference between low maintenance and protective styles.

Everyone who follows me on Twitter (@naturaljael) knows that I tweet several natural hair tips each day.

I recently tweeted the following statement – “The lack of protective styling is the reason that several women experience excessive tangles.”

Almost immediately, someone comes back with the following question – “What should I do if my hair is too short for protective styles?”

In a previous article named Protective Hair Styles Are Critical, I discussed the importance of protective styling. I talked about how the ends are the oldest part of the hair and explained why three elements of protective styling are so important.

For this article, I will discuss protective styling for short hair.

The protection is in the curl.

Meaning – if your hair naturally clumps and coils together – your strands are naturally providing protection against the elements and against friction (rubbing against something). The protection is in the clump of strands that are coiled together.

Three protective styles immediately come to mind for short natural hair:

• Sculpted style with a holding product (ex. flat waves or finger waves)
• Finger coils – tighter curl pattern
• Comb coils – looser curl pattern

You could also create several other short hairstyles by using various combinations of the three styles listed above.

I would advise against blowing or picking your fro out, because the hair strands will no longer have the protection they have when clumped together. Picked or blown out hair can leave each strand of hair unprotected against the elements.

You may be able to break a single stick at once, but it will be more challenging to break 10 sticks together.

Try not to leave your strands unprotected to fight the elements alone.

Protective styles should provide three things:

• Protection for the ends of your hair
• Require little to no manipulation
• Give you the ability to moisturized regularly

Protective hairstyles may not provide all three elements – 24 hours a day, every day.

For instance, if you have a TWA, you are able to wear your TWA in a curly shrunken fro. However, you should keep your hair moisturized with a water–based product, seal in the moisture with oil or shea butter, and wear satin (cap, scarf, etc.) at night. For a TWA, it is possible that you can only accomplish two out the three protective styling goals – and two out of three isn’t bad. If you decide not to wear protective styles and you have short natural hair, that is fine – you do not have to.

Your goal is to do two things: find a style you can live with and protect your hair as much as possible.

During the night, if it is applicable to the style you chose, keep your hair moisturized regularly to keep it pliable and soft. Most important of all, wear your satin cap to prevent dryness, snags, and to reduce tangles as you move your head on your pillow through the night.

As your hair grows, you may find that your natural hairstyles may need to grow as well. The key is to be flexible with your growth. Most of time, you may find that it only needs a very small modification to continue the protection.

What protective styles have you tried with short natural hair?