Protective Styles.

That's right, I said it. Protective Styles. Anyone who knows me knows that I've always disliked the thought of having my hair in one style for more than two days at a time. However, now that winter is coming soon and classes have already started, what's a girl to do?

First of all, what IS a protective style?
A protective style is any hair style that protects the hair from harmful factors such as extreme weather or mechanical stress. Most of the time, it is a style that can go from 2-3 days to 2-3 months without being taken out.

What kinds of styles are considered protective?
Any style that protects and hides your hair, especially your ends. This could be braids and twists (with or without extensions), mini twists, or even a simple bun. Doing a protective style DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE FOREVER. That was one of the reasons why I never wanted one. I just never had the patience to sit in a chair for 6 hours to get my hair done. However, a simple bun and even a few twists may only take up to 10 minutes.

Why are protective styles important?
1. If you're in college or working or even in high school, you know that there are not enough hours in the day for you to do everything on your to-do list. When wearing a protective style, you don't need to spend so much time styling it every morning or every night. That's not to say that you shouldn't pay any attention to your hair or try to maintain it, but there's much less work involved.

2. Too much manipulation of the hair strands can cause mechanical damage. You might find that you're getting more and more split ends or that your curls aren't popping as much as they used to. Sometimes, you just need to let it be and give it time to rest.

-While wearing a protective style, don't forget that you still need to care for your hair. Spraying your hair with that water & aloe vera mix, oiling your scalp with JBCO and applying moisturizer to your hair is STILL NECESSARY. (The water mix and JBCO are just examples, but you get the point.)