Understanding Protective Hairstyles. The Dos, Don’ts and Everything in between.
Do you suffer from a receding hairline, thinning, or hair breakage, or is your hair growth at a complete standstill? You might want to give protective hairstyles a chance.
Protect your natural hair from unfavourable weather, tugging, heat damage and breakage. Popular protective hairstyles are the likes of box braids, twists, straight-back, wigs and faux-locs.
Benefits of Protective Hairstyles
Besides having an extra 30 minutes in the morning not dedicated to tugging and pulling your locs, they offer a variety of benefits to your overall hair and scalp health.
- They are the perfect option regardless of the weather
- They create the perfect environment for hair growth
- Promotes and maintains hairline growth
- Improved length and volume with fewer split ends
- Moisture retention
- Affordable and also relatively painless to have done
Too Much of a Bad Thing
The benefits of protective hairstyles can not be contested, the pros outweigh the cons, however in that same breath keeping them in for too long can do more harm than good. The general consensus among experts is keeping them for no longer than 8 weeks for optimal results.
Anything after that comes with nasty consequences like the buildup of product on the scalp and roots which could leave you with a combination of mould and fungus.
Breakage from trapped shedding hair results in knots and split ends; additionally and undeniably the worst outcome is the tension on your edges, the repercussion of this is gaining a longer forehead because your edges have left the chat.
Neglecting Upkeep
It’s very easy to fall into the rabbit hole of not maintaining your hair when wearing protective hairstyles, DON’T! Continue the wash days, moisturizing, satin bonnets or pillowcases.
Boiled Down
Protective hairstyles offer a plethora of benefits to both natural and relaxed hair. If you are looking to grow and maintain length, hydration and volume; getting one done is your best option. If maintained well and installed correctly it is possible to reverse most if not all of your current haircare issues.
When considering the products to use for optimal upkeep, you’ll need affordable and convenient products to find formulated with restorative natural ingredients like our Sheer Elegance Deep Cleansing Shampoo specially formulated to deep cleanse and remove product build-up on the scalp. Additionally, Sheer Elegance Braids & Afro Hydrating Spray will ensure moisturization and hydration to avoid breakage and dryness.
