There has been a long standing myth among the natural hair community that the only way to grow long healthy hair is to use protective hairstyles. For those new to the natural hair community, protective styling involves putting your hair into a style that involves tucking your ends away from the atmosphere to protect them from damage whilst your hair grows. The premise is that if the ends of your hair don’t break and your hair continues to grow, then you will achieve longer hair.
This myth is so deeply entrenched in the natural hair community that women will often do back to back protective style for upwards of a year to reach their hair goals. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of women who have achieved amazing lengths from protective styling, but there are a few women who never yield results from all their efforts. Some of the problems that many women experience are:
Contrary to popular belief, protective styling is not necessary for speedy hair growth. Instead low manipulation styles are key.
Low manipulation styles, unlike protective hairstyles, do not require that your hair and ends be tucked away for protection. Instead it works on the premise that if you do simple styles and manipulate your hair as little as possible, then you will not do unnecessary damage to your hair and will retain length. These styles are better because:
Instead of focusing on the usual protective hairstyles like twists, weaves and wigs, why not try these following styles to reduce manipulation, make accessing and caring for your hair easy and retain length?
DO YOU
I know this information may seem confusing and contradictory, especially since this article seems to suggest that all hairstyles are created equally, but if it’s been said once it’s been said many times: you have to do what’s best for your hair.
This article merely covers suggestions for an alternative way to maintain your hair’s health if traditional protective styling does not work. Also, please note that a hairstyle itself will not guarantee your hair’s health. It must also be in conjunction with good hair care practices, plenty of moisturizing, a standing appointment for good deep conditioning, reduced usage of combs and brushes and minimizing the number of times you style your hair.
As always, I wish you love, peace and curly haired bliss.
Leave a Reply