The Purpose of Protective Styles

My go-to style during dry winter months. 

For me, the purpose of protective styling had nothing to do with reaching some sort of hair goal. From day one the only goal I had in mind was having healthy hair no matter what. Unfortunately idle hands are the devil’s playthings. I have dyed my hair and attempted to add highlights, all of which ended disastrously. It made my hair dry and brittle. I’d also succumbed to the flat iron demon, which I believed made my hair more manageable and attractive. Instead, it caused breakage and fragile hair strands. I have since gained more confidence and now accept my hair for what it is and for what it isn’t. Above all else it’s beautiful. Even on those days when I feel the most insecure I just try to fake it till I make it.

I think this is something we should all acknowledge. We all have those days when we feel ugly and poke and prod at ourselves in desperate attempts to find a flaw. When this happens we should all have a style in our back pocket that we pull out on those insecure days. For me, it’s a high bun. It works every time and takes less than five minutes to achieve. 

There’s been some discord amongst the natural community about whether or not protective styling is a good idea or a bad idea. I find that it’s a very personal choice and there’s no right or wrong answer to this. However, I would advise you to proceed with caution.  Protective styling has good intentions.  What you want to do, ideally, is to protect your ends and avoid too much manipulation to the hair. It’s all about hair retention or a much needed break from constant styling. 

What you need to keep in mind is that your hair still needs to be moisturized and cleansed. The main issues I’ve had with wearing braids for far too long is that I get so lazy that I don’t keep up with washing or moisturizing my hair. I take a two month vacation from doing anything. This is a recipe for disaster. You acquire lint and matting, product buildup, and dry hair. It’s like going to Las Vegas and throwing caution to the wind. Just think of any one of The Hangover movies. Do you really want to wake up with a tattoo on your face? Actually, instead of a tattoo what you’ll have to deal with is breakage. Either way you look at it it’s still horrifying.