Protective styles are a staple in the Black community. Not only do they add to a person’s ideal aesthetic, but also work effectively in growing and protecting Black hair from forces that damage it.
Keep reading to learn about wearing protective styles.
What is a Protective Style?
A protective style is a type of hair care that protects Black hair from things such as breakage, too much heat or cold exposure, and over manipulation. Over manipulation is the constant use of different hairstyles with the use of gel, moisturizers, or oils. Protective styles combat this by shielding hair, allowing for only a little bit of the products to seep through the hair style.
Effectiveness of Protective Styles
In addition to shielding natural hair from over manipulation, protective styles also encourage growth and moisturization.
They encourage growth by reducing split ends, hair damage that stunts hair growth. A protective style also encourages growth as it disallows the wearer from meddling with their natural hair for about a month.
Moisturizing hair in a protective style is simple. By putting in oil or other products such as leave-in conditioner, the products start to seep into other parts of the hair from the scalp, making for soft and healthy hair.
Types of Protective Styles
The type of protective style a person gets depends on their preference. For example, braids are versatile in themselves. Knotless braids allow the wearer to style their hair freely, as the braids are not attached to the scalp. This makes accessible styles such as a side part, pig tails, or a bun updo. Cornrows, however, do not. Cornrows are a style of brain stuck to the scalp, making for little to no accessible styling. For example, lemonade braids are side parted cornrows that cannot be moved. As opposed to braids, a protective style can also be wearing a wig. By first doing cornrows, the wig can be laid on top of the wig cap with ease.
Protective styles are versatile as well as efficient. They protect the wearer’s natural hair, ensure an ideal style, and moisturize. These Black hairstyles represent the community and encourage a healthy hair relationship.
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