Which Protective Style gave you the Most Retention?

PS'g and Retention

  • Braids

    Votes: 38 22.1%

  • Buns

    Votes: 53 30.8%

  • Weaves

    Votes: 29 16.9%

  • Wigs

    Votes: 52 30.2%
  • Total voters
    172
  • Poll closed .
M

My Friend

New Member
I'm currently in singles and I'm wondering to reach my goals if I should bun for the rest of the year :spinning:

Please share what PS gave you the most retention.

What was your regi with that PS?

How long/often did you wear it?

What length did you start with and how many inches did you retain?
 
Twist outs!! I love them. I co wash with Suave coconut and detangle. I part into four sections and twist applying leave in and Shea butter. When I untwist in the morning I apply EVVO and when I retwist at night on dry hair, I use shea butter.
 
braids and/or weaves have gotten me from 2 inch cut to mbl and after a setback a cut from shoulder cut to my current whip lenth(between waist and hip length...though it's pretty much hip Im not claiming it until my next protective style is down and I do a check).

LOVE braids (only recently weaved for a change of pace in the last past year off and on). Not a fan of twists but then I love love low manipulation and not having to retwist daily.
 
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I've worn my hair in a bun almost everyday since middle school. At that time I didn't realize I was protective styling, I threw my hair in bun because it was the easiest thing to do.
 
I found LHCF I think in 08 and I started getting sew-ins earlier in that year. When I realized this could help me grow my hair, I just kept getting them, so from 08' :

Sew-ins:
I started off at shoulder length. My hair gets braided in a beehive underneath. I keep it anywhere from 2-3 months. I retain about 1/4 -1 inch. I love sew-ins, and I like that when I take it out, I'm shoes to see what I've retained. I wash my braids as much as needed (sometimes every 2 weeks ) depending on how much I work out. I moisturize every few days with CFG, I don't seal when I'm in a sew-in, but I will when my hair is out.

Wigs:
I have the hair braided the same way under my wigs. I only keep the braids in for about 4 weeks. I wash the braids every week or as needed. I moisturize every few days. I'm about at WL.
 
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Twists. I wore them probably 85% of the time for about 3 years. I would do mini twists and wear them for 3-4 weeks and then wear a twistout for a few days before re-twisting. My hair grew from NL to MBL during that time.
 
Braids have made me retain a lot of length. I never moisturized or used conditioner and my hair grew and grew and grew.

Right now I am going to be bunning my hair until June. I will be getting a relaxer touch up by then. Hopefully my hair would have gotten longer and retained length by then.
 
Ive never used any of those methods. But for me any PS that tucks my ends away and keeps them moisturized should allow me to retain length. My hair grows, I just need to retain it.

Sooo
Im going back to what worked during my first year of being natural

wash and condition hair at home
have hair corn rowed/twisted at salon (preferably in a style that I can pin my twists up and keep my ends moisturized)
keep in style for 2 weeks (maybe doing a twistout for 2 or so days towards the end)

repeat.

I retained just about every mm of growth in my first year (about 6 - 7 inches), In my second year I started doing my hair myself every weekend, usually twisting on wet hair. and Ive retained less than half in most areas

I honestly think that blowing out my hair before twisting helped with my SSK, but currently Im in a no heat challenge so thats not an option to try right now.

If I can find a suitable method to stretch the ends of my hair particularly, without heat, i know i would be able to get my retention back up to scratch
 
I voted wigs, because I wore them consistently for about 6 months, and really liked the progress. Now, however, I've come to like weaves more BUT it's only been 4 weeks so I don't know if I'll retain more/less than I did with wigs.


What was your regi with that PS? With wigs: Shampoo, Steam with Joico K-Pak Restructurer, Steam with AOGPB and/or AOHSR, Blowdry and get a beehive. I would leave the beehive in for 4 weeks and repeat the entire process. i would cowash when I felt like it and steam 2x/week when I had the beehive.

How long/often did you wear it? 4 weeks at a time for 6 months.

What length did you start with and how many inches did you retain? I didn't measure, and I haven't measured in a long time becuase I haven't had the desire to flat iron. I know it grew though. On the other hand, I stopped doing wigs because I was experiencing some breakage in the crown and instead of investigating I just stopped altogether. I did twists for a while, and now I'm on my 5th week of a sew-in and I'm def going to be sure to monitor my crown and see if it improves or experiences similar problems.
 
The best thing that works.for me is wigs.i have been doing this for à month and Im so happy.
I wear braids underneath for 4 weeks.
Co wash when needed.i can stay 10days without co washing it ,even 15days.
 
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I voted wigs. I constantly played in my hair and barely protected it the first year of being natural and still got to shoulder length. Its getting past that point that made me realize I gotta protect my ends. Since then I've been under wigs but something was still stopping me from retaining. I wasn't gentle with the comb at all. With all that said I've learned for me I can do a protective style all I want but everything else (DC, gentle detangling, M&S, dusting ends) has to be on point in order for me to retain length and maintain healthy ends.
 
Anybody have any tips on bunning almost shoulder length hair? I usually use a donut and Bobby pins but ive found that I always get broken hairs when doing this. Is there another method that is cute? Also for those of you who do bun do you redo your bun daily?
 
I wore braids for two years and I went from barely cbl to bsl. :) But the important thing I did was cowash/dc weekly and I had someone put my braids in correctly. :)
 
DayDreamist is definitely on point with her reply. Protective styling along with proper conditioning, detangling, and moisturization of the hair is necessary for retention.

What was your regi with that PS?/How long/often did you wear it?
I have worn braids and weaves almost exclusively for the past 17 months. (17 months ago was my last relaxer) For braids, I kept them in for a month at a time. Juiced them daily (braid spray). Cowashed on average 3 times while they were in. (These were yarn braids during the summer/warm months.)

For my BELOVED wigs (lol), I wear my hear in about 8 cornrows underneath. I cowash the cornrows every week and moisturize (liquid, cream, oil). Take cornrows out every 2 weeks and wash/deep condition, redo. (I just need to feel my fingers all over my scalp at least every two weeks LOL)

What length did you start with and how many inches did you retain?
I started with nada and I am past shoulder length now, 17 months post-perm. I'm supposed to put my 15 month length check up today or tomorrow, so I'll come back when I do. :yep:
 
I forgot to say that I love wigs because I can snatch that bad boy off any time and have total access to my hair. LOL :D
 
I put my hair in twists and let it sit for 5 days and then I do a twist out for 2 days. This has allowed me to retain length
 
I've been wearing cornrows under wigs/turbans consistently for the last 18 months, and it's been great for my retention. I'm sure I could retain with another PS, although I don't believe I'd be retaining as much as I do now.

I wear my cornrows for 4 weeks at a time, and I do EVERYTHING in them- weekly DCs, light-medium PTs, daily moisturizing and sealing, the works.

I've gone from NL to BSB in about 18 months.
 
What was your regi with that PS? wigs, plaits underneath. deep condition every week.

How long/often did you wear it? 24/7

What length did you start with and how many inches did you retain? check out siggie. i retained every inch.
 
I voted wigs...love em...when im not being lazy I make my own which is super cheap but kinda time consuming.

My hair is in four flat twists underneath and I use hair pins to keep them in place. I spray the twists daily or nightly w/scurl mixed with water and conditioner. Every few days i undo the twists one at a time, spray the section until its somewhat damp and seal w/my castor oil hair moisturizer. I then retwist the sections and pin it back in place. I was above sl when i started this method and I am now apl....took close to a year.
 
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