How To Achieve Hair Length With Protective Styling

When I was younger, I was always trying to learn different foods to cook and decided I would master biscuits from scratch. When I finished the recipe and placed the batch into the oven, I was already Imagining all the praises I would get once I shared them with my friends and family.

Except it was nothing like I imagined. It was worse. Somehow, I used the wrong butter which caused the biscuits to be so salty it would choke a horse! Where did I go wrong?!

I feel like it's the same thing with protective styling. When it comes to length retention it's important to pay attention to the details of how you are treating your hair before, during, and after styling to get the best results.

What is protective styling?

Protective styling includes keeping the ends of the hair tucked away from harsh weather exposure or excessive manipulation. Without protective styling, your delicate curls could be at risk of knotting and snagging caused by clothing or accessories.

What are some examples of protective hairstyles?

When choosing a protective style, you want to ask yourself two things: Are my ends tucked away and moisturized and does it require little to no manipulation? There’s so much versatility to natural hair that there are hundreds of hairstyles that would qualify as protective but, a few examples include corn rolls, flat twist, two strand twists, buns, braids, wigs.

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Do protective styles help the hair grow?

In short, yes! In a sense, because it encourages length. Protective styling is designed to protect the more fragile parts of the hair and encourages length. The retention of moisture and lack of manipulation will help strengthen the hair strands and resulting in overall less breakage/ damage. Protective styling must be done correctly. By following these eight protective styling tips below, you will be on your way to getting noticeable length in no time!

#1: Tension

Make sure your protective styles have little or no tension at all. Tension overtime can cause damage to the hair follicle and create chronic scalp conditions such as traction alopecia. The wearing of any hairstyle should never be painful and if it is, it's wise to loosen it, or take it down. Signs of excessive tension include scalp soreness, raised bumps, or hair thinning.

#2: Clean And Deep Condition

It is important to make sure prior to styling that your hair is clean and deep conditioned/ moisturized. It will extend the wear of your hairstyle and minimize any scalp irritation due to product buildup. It also ensures that your hair has enough moisture before being tucked without being handled for a longer period of time.

#3 Re-moisturize When Needed

Re-moisturize while in a protective style if your hair appears or feels dry. This can be done with a leave in conditioner or curl refreshing spray or even a light moisturizing cream depending on your style. The key is to use a water-based product to deliver moisture.

#4 Scalp Condition

Assess the condition of your scalp before choosing a protective style. The protective style should never compromise the health of your scalp. When my scalp was at his unhealthiest state, I couldn't wear protective styles because I needed to make sure I was washing it properly. If this is you, then short-term styling is the answer until your scalp health is restored. Wash and condition your scalp prior to installing a protective style and use a clarifying treatment or shampoo after taking it down. If frequent washing is what your scalp needs, short term protective styling is the next best thing.

#5 End Care

Like your scalp, it's important to have healthy ends before installing a protective style. Tucking away damaged ends in a protective style Could result in major breakage down the line. Always deep condition and moisturize your strands before tucking them away into your favorite protective style.

#6 Avoid Tangles

Protective styling done on stretched hair is a great way to avoid unnecessary knots and tangles that could lead to breakage. If you decide to stretch hair before protective styling, make sure to use a gentle low or no heat method. Stretching the hair with high levels of heat will compromise the hair’s structure and leave it prone to breakage.

#7 Hands Off

A great protective style requires little to no manipulation. This decreases the chances of breakage, tangles, and moisture loss.

#8 Protected Not Neglected

Even though a protective style should have little to no manipulation, it doesn't mean ignoring the needs of your hair over a long period of time. Protective styles are a great way to take a break from styling your hair, but it is important to play close attention to moisture, your scalp and excessive dirt/ product buildup. These are just some of the signs that your protective hairstyle needs to be taken down and given some added TLC.

Just like a recipe, there are certain steps and ingredients you simply shouldn't leave out for the best results. By following these detailed protective style tips, you will easily retain more length and enjoy protective styling while doing it.

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