Has your hair grown without Protective styles? (POLL)

[missvi]

I only bun's to dress up.

 

[Plenty]

When I knew little to nothing about hair care I grew out a Halle Cut to below shoulder legnth with washing and wraping. That's it.

 

[Namilani]

I didn't vote b/c there wasn't an "iffy" option. I did use to accidentally do protective styling putting my hair up in a clip (pre-LHCF), and it grew to armpit... And I also wore my hair out alot growing from a little past twa to shoulder length. I think with my hair, as long as I'm good to it I can retain growth/length (moisture, protein, tie it up, etc)... But now I just do protective styling b/c: 1) It's quicker 2) I still feel it's healthier and 3) For the bigger "wow factor" when I wear it down! Nobody knew I had hair, lol!! And it ain't too shabby-looking, either !!

ETA: But the last one was fitting, so I voted!

 

[KhandiB]

I totally agree!!

I used to wear my hair down/out growing from chin to shoulder. Had the hardest time passing shoulder and armpit length; and now I am stuck at the length you see now. I only consciously wore protective styles the last two or three years, and it did help me.

My personal thought is that the less manual stress on the hair, the better. If the protective style is going to stress your hair, or you are combing and brushing too much to achieve it, it won't make a difference. Likewise if you wear your hair out but don't comb it and it's able to recieve lubrication from your scalp and oils you add, you will retain the length and see growth.

 

[Belle Du Jour]

My hair is only neck length and layered so I can't do any real protective styles yet. But, it's growing. I do plan on bunning it for a year when my hair can be put up in a bun.

 

[oduwu]

My hair grows without protective styles. When I was trying the bun everyday, my hair broke off badly at the nape. Since then, my nape has grown back with me wearing my hair down. I am going to try to wear my hair up, probably twisted up and then pinned, not brushed into a tight style such as a bun. I think my nape broke off from all the maniuplation (brushing) of trying to get my hair in the bun. Never again.

 

[lnhair]

This is something I am struggling with I have mid-back length hair and its never grown past this, but I am challenging myself to get an extra 4 inches to take me to waist length!!

My problem is I like to wear my hair down too much I know its getting cold out but I still wanna wear my hair down, I have stopped using heat and I have my hair in a natural style, my question is can I still expect to see results even tho I am wearing my hair down nearly everyday , I do moisturize wash and put my air up in a silk scarf at night.

I know this may be off topic but how are you able to wear your hair out and down everyday ? I am natural also, its baffling. What is your routine. I press my hair every now and then and it naps right back up. So i am always it in a protective style. i would love to wear my hair out more and it not have some many tangles in it by the end of the day. When you are wearing it out is it pressed or in its natural state? i know this is alot. Can i please get some help? Pretty Please.

 

[honey_jammz82]

My hair grows fine without protective styling, However, I do think that I have to trim/dust my ends a lot more than I would if I eliminated heat and utilized protective styles. I do not like protective styles on me, so I just deal with the negative aspects of it.

 

[JustKiya]

I HAVE to wear my hair in protective styles in order for me to retain length - I have seen the difference in makes in jsut a month of wearing my hair 'out' vs. a month of wearing protective styles.
One thing that most likely makes a HUGE difference in your ability to wear your hair out and retain length is the thickness/coarseness of your hair strands. If your strands are thick - they are going to be able to endure a HECK of a lot more manipulation/rubbing/etc than someone with very fine strands of hair.

I've heard that once you get past a certain 'stall' point, your hair will continue to grow - so I would suggest wearing protective styles til you get past midback, then starting to wear it down again, and see if it continues growing, or if it starts to break off again.

 

[ashiah]

The whole point of protective styling is to protect your ends. So, if you have hair that doesn't reach your shoulders, or hair that rests flatly against your arms or back, I don't think it's needed.

I think protective styling is crucial for women between SL and APL. It's at those lengths where the hair knocks against your shoulders, or fall and against your shoulders and do that annoying flip thing. Your hair will grow regardless, but keeping your ends thick and healthy will eliminate stylists hacking away precious inches of hair.

I'm currently under APL, so I think protective stylying is mandatory for me. In fact, the last time I went to my scissor happy stylist, she didn't give me a trim because I didn't need one. And that's the whole point.

 

[Qetesh]

I know this may be off topic but how are you able to wear your hair out and down everyday ? I am natural also, its baffling. What is your routine. I press my hair every now and then and it naps right back up. So i am always it in a protective style. i would love to wear my hair out more and it not have some many tangles in it by the end of the day. When you are wearing it out is it pressed or in its natural state? i know this is alot. Can i please get some help? Pretty Please.

I wish I could help you but my hair does not revert when I flat iron/press it, I don’t sweat out of my head and unless I saturate it with water it will stay straight wrapping it in oil at night will flatten any slight frizzing that may go on during the day, I actually find that for me oil will flatten out my hair nicely if wrapped overnight. I would only hot curl my edges to flatten them out every other day or so in week 2-4. So traditionally I would wash/straighten my hair (Dominican blow out) once a couple months (I know its bad/dirty) but since I didn’t sweat out of my scalp it would work I would jus oil it nightly around the 2nd week with hot six oil.

During the summer I would wash it and generally do braid outs or actually get it braided for a few weeks, and possibly straighten it but it always ended up poofy so it ended up in one braid or a bun.

Lately I have been wearing it out natural. Jus throwing in about 3-4 braids at night and taking them out in the morning and goin.. since my hair is in its natural state it cant revert anyway, but if I did get a blow out it would last for months now that its cooler here in Boston I jus want to stay away from direct heat for the possibility of more growth.

So basically my only suggestion to you is to wrap your hair up nicely with oil every night, some people who sweat out of their heads can not keep the flat ironed style for long.

 

[Qetesh]

I HAVE to wear my hair in protective styles in order for me to retain length - I have seen the difference in makes in jsut a month of wearing my hair 'out' vs. a month of wearing protective styles.
One thing that most likely makes a HUGE difference in your ability to wear your hair out and retain length is the thickness/coarseness of your hair strands. If your strands are thick - they are going to be able to endure a HECK of a lot more manipulation/rubbing/etc than someone with very fine strands of hair.

I've heard that once you get past a certain 'stall' point, your hair will continue to grow - so I would suggest wearing protective styles til you get past midback, then starting to wear it down again, and see if it continues growing, or if it starts to break off again.

you may have a point there, i think my hair has reached a stall point and unless i make some serious protection changes it will continue to break off. i should really try this suggestion. i have my hair up today and i am slowly trying to coax myself into doin this on a daily basis

thanks for the suggestion.

 

[pistachio]

I wore weaves for three and a half years(only the last one and a half years of it I knew about LHCF), and I went from one inch hair to BSL. I think it should be longer than THAT by now, but hey, it was before LHCF came along Anyway, I guess you can call that a protective style, but I still feel that stress was put on my hair even with the weave over it, and now that I'm wearing my hair out, and that it's very cold outside, I think that I'm gonna bun everyday until late spring when I can start wearing halter-tops so that my ends won't rub on ANY clothing. But this time of year and having to wear wool coats, wearing my hair down everyday is going to be a no-no for me.

 

[FlowerHair]

Although my hair probably grows/retains length better if I wear protective styles, but I have stopped for a while. Mainly because I'm vain and in a relationship I want to look good.

During the winter I'll wear my hair up more, but as I now have stopped combing and brushing since last year my hair grows/retains anyway. I don't have split ends anymore
Moisturizing daily helps, too.

 

[gimbap]

I seriously think my head is too big to put my hair in a bun (don't laugh!)....maybe when my hair gets longer!

 

[Blu217]

I've never paid attention to protective styles, tho I don't often do it and end up wearing it tucked or ponied just because it's quick and easy. I don't bother with buns, don't fuss over ends or all that. I try to keep it clean and neat and I wear it down when I want to. My hair grows quickly and easily, as does my mom's--and my mom couldn't care less about hair practices, but she's got a gorgeous head of hair. We both have very fine hair.

Now that my hair is quite long however, I find it getting smashed when I lean back in chairs or caught on purse straps. I've been enjoying showing off my length--the point of long hair is to enjoy it, not to hide it I say--but to avoid any issues I am going to start wearing it up more often. The thing is that now that it's long, it behaves and looks better than at any other length or time in my life--so I WANT to wear it down all the time!

 

[prettypuff1]

Well i am sort of torn after reading all five pages of this post. on one hand, i think that protective styling will help with keeping my ends together, but i also DESPISE all things ponytails and buns, I have always worn my hair down. I never wear a ponytail, but then again my hair has always been shoulder length. I think my hair can't take a lot of pulling on it because, it would always break off on the sides.. now i am confused!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Isis]

I've never paid attention to protective styles, tho I don't often do it and end up wearing it tucked or ponied just because it's quick and easy. I don't bother with buns, don't fuss over ends or all that. I try to keep it clean and neat and I wear it down when I want to. My hair grows quickly and easily, as does my mom's--and my mom couldn't care less about hair practices, but she's got a gorgeous head of hair. We both have very fine hair.

Now that my hair is quite long however, I find it getting smashed when I lean back in chairs or caught on purse straps. I've been enjoying showing off my length--the point of long hair is to enjoy it, not to hide it I say--but to avoid any issues I am going to start wearing it up more often. The thing is that now that it's long, it behaves and looks better than at any other length or time in my life--so I WANT to wear it down all the time!

I agree, the point of long hair is really is to enjoy it! It just feels good wearing it down. I don't know if I'm there yet but I feel there's a certain point where healthy hair will just continue to grow and retain it's length, as long as we continue to care for it.

 

[SandySea]

I can't speak from personal experience, but I have a friend who went from BSL to butt length (passed waist) in less than one year. She wore her hair down the whole time.

 

[Ebony Majesty]

In April 2005 when I cut my hair just above my shoulders, it was down to armpit length by january 2006 without using protective styles, the only alternative to wearing my hair down was putting it in a ponytail. However, I'm going to be using protective styles now to see how it goes

 

[pistachio]

I've never paid attention to protective styles, tho I don't often do it and end up wearing it tucked or ponied just because it's quick and easy. I don't bother with buns, don't fuss over ends or all that. I try to keep it clean and neat and I wear it down when I want to. My hair grows quickly and easily, as does my mom's--and my mom couldn't care less about hair practices, but she's got a gorgeous head of hair. We both have very fine hair.

Now that my hair is quite long however, I find it getting smashed when I lean back in chairs or caught on purse straps. I've been enjoying showing off my length--the point of long hair is to enjoy it, not to hide it I say--but to avoid any issues I am going to start wearing it up more often. The thing is that now that it's long, it behaves and looks better than at any other length or time in my life--so I WANT to wear it down all the time!

I agree, I want to wear my length too, but really I just wear it down for special events/holiday get-togethers with out-of-town family. Think of it like this: if you bun everyday, and retain a lot of length, then when specials outings come up, then you'll have even MORE hair, and you'll enjoy wearing it down all the more, even if it's just fore a day or two.

 

[KiniKakes]

I agree, I want to wear my length too, but really I just wear it down for special events/holiday get-togethers with out-of-town family. Think of it like this: if you bun everyday, and retain a lot of length, then when specials outings come up, then you'll have even MORE hair, and you'll enjoy wearing it down all the more, even if it's just fore a day or two.

I agree w/this!!!!

 

[JazzyDez]

Wow I was under the impression that most of the ladies here practiced protective styling. I am surprised that the poll shows that most ladies don't and so many of the long haired women who replied in this thread don't really do protective styles and they continue to retain length. It makes me wonder if it is really that necessary.

I do agree that probably if protective styles were beneficial, the time-period between neck and apl would reap the most benefits, due to rubbing etc. I am protective styling in the sense that I wear 3/4 wigs, and probably will continue to do so until I reach APL, just to be on the safe side.

 

[pistachio]

Wow I was under the impression that most of the ladies here practiced protective styling. I am surprised that the poll shows that most ladies don't and so many of the long haired women who replied in this thread don't really do protective styles and they continue to retain length. It makes me wonder if it is really that necessary.

I do agree that probably if protective styles were beneficial, the time-period between neck and apl would reap the most benefits, due to rubbing etc. I am protective styling in the sense that I wear 3/4 wigs, and probably will continue to do so until I reach APL, just to be on the safe side.

Yeah, I've noticed that too. And no disrespect to the other long-haired ladies who grew their hair without protective styles, but I feel that maybe their hair would be a few inches longer had they did the protective styles especially for those who've had to trim their hair several inches along the way on the journey to long hair.

 

[macherieamour]

I don't consciously protective style. I wear my hair down a few days and when it gets annoying I put it up in a loose bun or french roll and secure with a butterfly clip. I dont believe in strictly wearing it down or strictly wear it up. I think its all about balance-wear it down a few days to enjoy, wear it up a few days to preserve.

 

[HoneyDew]

I don't consciously protective style. I wear my hair down a few days and when it gets annoying I put it up in a loose bun or french roll and secure with a butterfly clip. I dont believe in strictly wearing it down or strictly wear it up. I think its all about balance-wear it down a few days to enjoy, wear it up a few days to preserve.

I like that.

 

[Poohbear]

I think you can grow (retain) hair with and without protective styles.

I think the amount of growth that you retain depends on how you treat your hair... how often you comb it, how often you use heat, how often you manipulate it, etc... if you are excessive in combing, using heat, and manipulating it (when I say excessive, I mean almost daily) then you are not going to retain as much length. I read an article once that said combing your hair daily is like giving yourself a haircut daily.

HTH!

 

[Miss*Tress]

Past your shoulders, your hair is less susceptible to damage from clothing so why not wear it out. Just watch out for seat belts, handbag straps, necklaces, etc. and STAY AWAY FROM THE HEAT. Perhaps you could baggy your ends at night to counteract any drying that occurs during the day. Use a very light oil like meadowfoam or jojoba so that your ends don't go stringy.

Personally, I continue to wear protective styles about 70% of the time mainly because I like the surprise of seeing extra length after 4-6 weeks of wearing a bun. I'll enjoy my new length for a couple of weeks, then back up it goes.

 

[GlamourGirl]

I agree, the point of long hair is really is to enjoy it! It just feels good wearing it down. I don't know if I'm there yet but I feel there's a certain point where healthy hair will just continue to grow and retain it's length, as long as we continue to care for it.

I agree Isis. Healthy hair will grow and retain length. I don't wear protective styles either because I find that the less I manipulate my hair, the more length I retain. When it just hangs everyday I don't have to do much to it.

 

[Southernbella.]

I agree Isis. Healthy hair will grow and retain length. I don't wear protective styles either because I find that the less I manipulate my hair, the more length I retain. When it just hangs everyday I don't have to do much to it.

I agree with this. If I were to do protective styles, I'd have to comb or brush, pull back or up, secure, etc. That's a lot of manipulation, for me anyway.

I feel that maybe their hair would be a few inches longer had they did the protective styles especially for those who've had to trim their hair several inches along the way on the journey to long hair.

Maybe. It just depends. I haven't had a major trim in over a year. I've done some light dusting recently, but that's it. I guess to me, a couple of inches isn't worth not enjoying the hair I already have.