Life Post protective styling

[keelioness]

Question: Are there any ladies that spent months or Years protective styling and still have a full lush head of hair to show for it? I have grown my hair out 3 times in 7 yrs but it seems like I can't get more than 9 months of swinging pretty hair. Have any of you ladies experienced long healthy hair for a long period of time post protective styling? Please share your experience/ advice

 

[lamaria211]

I wore wigs for 2 years (I still do) I went from a BC to apl in that time with minimal splits, ssks and hardly no breakage. Hth

 

[pre_medicalrulz]

I've been wearing wigs for almost 1 1/2 years. I have yet to stop but I'm sure if and or when I do, I will have a little more breakage and a slower retention rate.

 

[BadMamaJama]

Great question.

 

[Leslie_C]

Great question.

ITA...Im along the lines of thinking that especially with my fine type 4 hair, Ill end up having to protective style about 75% of the time in order to retain length. It seems like length is challenging to obtain, then it can be gone in a few short weeks or months with a setback from dryness/breakage.

Im slightly encouraged by my cousin who has never been relaxed and gets her hair pressed every 2 weeks (has since she was a preteen) and wears it down all the time and does no maintenance between salon visits other than serum...her hair is BSB. I remember one time when she was about 12 or 13 it was about waist length though.

 

[leiah]

I always thought I was protective styling with the goal of eventually wearing my hair out, but now that i've reached my goals, I still always wear my hair in a bun.

I wore my hair out for a few weeks this year and my growth stalled a little bit, but no major damage.

 

[keelioness]

ITA...Im along the lines of thinking that especially with my fine type 4 hair, Ill end up having to protective style about 75% of the time in order to retain length. It seems like length is challenging to obtain, then it can be gone in a few short weeks or months with a setback from dryness/breakage.

Im slightly encouraged by my cousin who has never been relaxed and gets her hair pressed every 2 weeks (has since she was a preteen) and wears it down all the time and does no maintenance between salon visits other than serum...her hair is BSB. I remember one time when she was about 12 or 13 it was about waist length though.

That's my goal ..to press maybe once a month .I can protective style in the summer.. I'm tired of weaves ..they are $$$.. look busted after a month.

 

[keelioness]

lamaria211..yes wigs and weaves are excellent length retention..but I meant the aftermath..After a few months wearing my hair out.. it starts thinning, breaking etc..

 

[Krystle~Hime]

lamaria211..yes wigs and weaves are excellent length retention..but I meant the aftermath..After a few months wearing my hair out.. it starts thinning, breaking etc..

i wear wigs until i've manage to be below shoulder blade. last end of April, I stopped and started to "enjoy" my hair by wearing it out almost every day.
I had to redo twists at night, took them down at the morning and so on. I was very patient, not harsh manipulation. but I was kinda feeling guilty to not protect my hair anymore.
I did that for 2 months, May, June, then I realize that "enjoying my hair" was too many manipulation. Usually I used to keep my mini twists for 3 weeks, finger detangling wash/dc redo mini twists with no breakage.
Afterthat I had to manipulate my hair every day.
And the length retention was seriously not the same. Much more breakage even if I was moisturize and sealing every single day..
..
Lemme put that wig on. lol smh.
Fortunately I love my protective styles, afro crochet braids and afro wigs like la Jay. they allow me to have a great natural look without manipulating my hair.

 

[FoxxyLocs]

I don't think I'll ever stop PSing. I don't *have* to do it, it's just so convenient. I wear my hair up all the time except for date nights and special events. MBL+ for me is a lot of hair, no way I'd wear it out all the time.

Sent from my HTC Evo

 

[Aviah]

I PSd a lot to get to APL.... now I'm here I want to enjoy until.... I feel like putting it away again. It will always be intermittent for me, especially in the winter. However once I reach my final goal I may PS much less, I'd be cutting off more just to maintain that length anyway.

 

[baddison]

I don't think I'll ever stop PSing. I don't *have* to do it, it's just so convenient. I wear my hair up all the time except for date nights and special events. MBL+ for me is a lot of hair, no way I'd wear it out all the time.

Sent from my HTC Evo

I'm thinking the same thing. PS'ing is just part of my new "normal". Even after I reach my ultimate goal of Full BSL, I will still protective style, and only wear my hair out a few times.

 

[Seamonster]

Protective styling means I can get up and go. I love my twist. I am getting excited about one day being able to wear a cute bun again. My hair is so short, I do wear a wash and go on occasion, but I am looking forward to having long hair to protective style.

 

[keelioness]

Ok I think next time I start wearing ny hair out I will bun.. then jydt wear hair down on the weekends..my mistake seems to be leaving it up then just taking it done and wearing it "out" for months...

 

[keelioness]

Bumping for more replies..

 

[KurlyNinja]

I will probably wear my hair out more. My main goal is WL, but I understand that wearing it out can shorten it. I will probably spend my whole life wearing it out at WL. Then if it breaks off to MBL, I'll PS again for a while to get back to WL. Then I'll wear it out again. Everybody may not be ok with that, but I am.

 

[CurlsBazillion]

Protective styling means I can get up and go. I love my twist. I am getting excited about one day being able to wear a cute bun again. My hair is so short, I do wear a wash and go on occasion, but I am looking forward to having long hair to protective style.

I feel the same way. I can't wait to have a huge bun, two huge flat twists or cornrows, and whatever else I come up with. Protective styling is not fun with short hair...nothing is fun with short hair IMO

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

I PS most of the time but it's really because I get lazy and tired of my hair being in the way. My plan was to wear my hair out in a braidout once a month for a week....well the last time I did that by the middle of the day I was tired of the big hair blowing in my face everytime I moved and tired of rebraiding my hair nightly. I was aching to get back to my buns and wigs but I rocked the braidout for the rest of the week. I did get more knots so that's another factor. Knots=more time spent detangling and thats not something I have time for right now. I would also assume that knots=less retention but I've never worn it out long enough to know.

So when I get to my goal, I'll start wearing my hair STRAIGHT more often but it won't be for long. A week tops. PSing is just more convenient.

 

[Ogoma]

I enjoy doing different things with my hair and hate feeling like I have to do something so I do whatever style I feel like on any given day and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[Country gal]

I plan on doing braidouts as a protective style.

 

[naturalmanenyc]

I protective style once in a while, usually extensions, but any progress from protective styling is wiped out in a few months of wearing twist outs. I've been in twist outs for months and I can definitely see a difference in my retention. I should be full BSL by now, but I'm not yet there.

 

[sunnieb]

This is my first year of not protective styling all the time. I bunned a majority of the time for 2 years and it was worth it.

I'm loving seeing my hair down though. However, I did have to chop from BSL back to APL in July because I got lazy taking care of my ends. Lesson learned.

Sent from my SGPT12 using LHCF

 

[koolkittychick]

The short answer to your question OP, is no. I have come to accept that PS will always be a part of my regimen if I want to retain the hair I grow, and I'm fine with that now that I have found the products and methods that work for me. Plus I am finding that as my hair grows longer, PSing is becoming more fun, as I have more hair with which to try funky new styles (like fishtail and four-strand braids!) that help me switch up from the same old bun. While I might feel a tinge of jealousy for all the ladies who can let it all hang down without repercussions, I am still happy with what I'm able to achieve with my hair, and how I achieve it.

 

[WhataDoll]

Well, I am natural and I wear my hair in a twist-out 95% of the time. This is my go to style, it can be fun, funky, glam, all depending on how I style the twist out.
I have gotten great retention by wet twisting my hair every two weeks and I believe it is do to low manipulation, more than any other factor. I do not retwist my hair at night or anything, I just sleep in my satin cap and fluff in the morning with my fingers.
I enjoy my twist outs so much, I can see this being my "go to" routine/style for several years. Anything else will just be to try something different.

As long as I keep on with my low manipulation styling routine (and of course DCing, protein with washes as needed), I believe I can continue to get great retention and not have to sacrifice being able to have my hair "out" because I do love to show off my tresses!

 

[manter26]

I wonder about this too. I BC'd in 2009. I protective styled back to back in 2010. In 2011, I decided to enjoy my hair. My hair didn't enjoy that so much. The braidouts, twistouts, and whatnot did not play nice and my retention wasn't too great. This year I'm back to around the clock protective styling- mini braids mostly. My hair is doing very well so far.

I think I've had my hair out of braids for maybe 6-8 weeks total, for the year. During the most recent time out of braids, I wore wash and goes every day (for 3 weeks) and my hair was fine. I actually didn't detangle my hair at all, not even to put the mini braids in...no tangles, no problems. My goal would be at least a BSL wng (right now I'm around SL). I think I can wear wng's everyday without issues. Out styles that require more manipulation might be more of a hassle for my very fine hair.