What is a Protective Style for Natural Hair?

          A protective style is any hair style that protects the ends. Some protective styles last for a week and some can last up to 3 months. Any hair style that hides the ends of your hair is a protective style. These styles should be able to protect your hair against your coat during the winter, extreme heat during the summer, against your cotton pillow case at night when you are sleeping, and  against sweats if you exercise a lot.
       
        I wear a protective style 95% of the time. My favorite protective styles are wigs and micro braids. I love wigs because they make it easier for me to have access to my hair so I can moisturize my ends and wash my hair. But be careful with those that come with many combs as they can irritate your scalp and even cause alopecia. On the other hand, I love micro braids because I can moisturize my ends and wash my hair with the braids on. One downside with micro braids is that they too can cause hair loss if they are braided too tight.
          Protective styles are good because they’re a great way to take a break from the hair; less breakage and low manipulations mean longer hair. Make sure you take care of your hair if you are wearing hair extensions as protective styles. Wash your hair as often as you possibly can because remember, your hair can get very dry under the extensions if it does not get in contact with moisture even though too much moisture can also cause yeast infections. Use natural oils to grease your scalp when necessary. Also, tighten your weave every month, and do a good protein treatment before and after you take the extensions out, because your hair can get really weak after wearing extensions for two months or so.
  

THESE ARE SOME GREAT PROTECTIVE STYLES

BOX BRAIDS

 

MICRO BRAIDS

WIG

TWISTED BUN