Protective styles like box braids, cornrows, and even buns can benefit your hair; If they are properly worn and managed, they may help you keep the length, preserve your ends, and give your hair an interval from regular wear and strain. On the other hand, protective styles might cause thinning, breakage, and specific scalp concerns if you don’t take care of your hair correctly. Fortunately, there are several viable options for preserving healthy hair while wearing your favorite protective styles. You can achieve the best hairstyles with braids, but there are few downfalls of breakage if they are not taken care of properly. Following tips can help you avoid breaking your braids and help you protect them.
Tip 1: Avoid Straining Your Hair
Protective hairstyles tug on your hair tightly, causing stress and strain. Because your follicles are strained as the hair is pushed into position, this will damage your hair over time. To avoid this, don’t use too much tension or grip when styling your hair. If you have a headache day after doing your hair, it’s a sign that there’s too much stress and strain in your hair.
Your edges are one area of your hair that you should pay extra attention to. This section if your hair often refuses to be tamed. They can easily shatter if they are pushed back too tightly. By letting your edge alone, you can avoid breaking it.
Tip 2: Prepare your hair
Preparing your hair correctly is crucial to preventing damage. Because your strands will be hidden away for a while, you’ll want to make sure they’re in the finest possible condition. This entails deep conditioning, moisturizing, protein treatment, and thorough washing before styling. Your stylish hairstyle will also stay longer if you properly prepare it. It would be simpler to take down your protective style if you lightly treat it with the most refined Castor Oil when braiding. It will keep moisture sealed while you wear the style, resulting in a fewer breakage.
Tip 3: Skip the extensions
Protective hairstyles frequently involve the use of hair extensions. Protective styles that employ extensions include box braids, Marley twists, Senegalese twists, wigs, and sew-ins. Extensions may appear attractive, but friction on your hair’s cuticle layer can create split ends. This happens whether you’re using genuine or synthetic hair. Avoid getting extensions if you have the choice.
Tip 4: Shampoo and Condition Regularly
Dirt, oil, and product build-up can accumulate. So, before performing a protective hairstyle, be sure to start with a clean base to maintain your scalp healthy. Dryness is also a problem with box braids and other protective hairstyles.
Tip 5: Oiling Your Hair And Scalp
Washing your hair every two weeks may appear to be effective, but your hair is most likely dehydrated. If you want to avoid breakage in your braids, use hair oil once a week to provide hydration. It will keep the scalp damp and moisturized.
Tip 6. Do not wear it regularly; mix it up
After a hard day, everyone enjoys pulling their hair back. Even if you’re wearing your hair in a protective style, putting it in a braided ponytail or other updos regularly might harm it. This is because it tugs at the baby’s hair and your hairline even harder, resulting in loose ends over time, implying that it won’t stay as long. Change up your hairstyles and only wear your hair one or two times each week.
7. Wrap your hair at night
One of the simplest methods to maintain a protective style is to wrap your hair in a silk scarf at night. It will protect your hair from frizz, seal in moisture, and maintain your style and shape. Silk or satin pillows can also provide more friction for your hair when you’re tossing and turning at night.
8. Use your protective style for not longer than two weeks
It’s all too easy to put your hair in a protective style and then forget about it. This, however, frequently results in dryness, tangling, and breaking. Changing up your protective style and allowing your hair to breathe is a good idea.
Now that you have known how to take care of your protective style. Below, you will understand how to properly take down your protective style properly and prevent them from breakage.
The Take-Down Process
Taking down our braids to your naturally straight hair for wavy hair can be challenging; here are tips for you to make the procedure easier.
Tip 1. Dampen And Detangle
While you’re taking your hair down, dampening it to keep it wet is an intelligent method to prevent knots and damage to a minimum. A leave-in conditioner or a spray bottle filled with water and a regular conditioner is an excellent option. Because your hair is in its most sensitive state while wet, it will be delicate and prone to breakage. Coat the braids generously with conditioner and rub it in, then move slowly.
3. Loosen Those Locs Carefully
Braids and other protective hairstyles are much easier to remove than locs. While it is possible, some people prefer to cut their locs rather than comb them out because the process might take days. If you want to preserve the length of your locs, be aware that it will take some time. It’s possible, but it’ll be challenging. Consider seeing a professional if you’ve had your locs for a long time to avoid hair breakage and damage.
4. Practice After-Care Routine
Regardless of how cautious and gentle you are when removing your protective style, your naturally straight hair or wavy hair will certainly be damaged once the style is removed. Frizz and hair disruption are common symptoms. After-care can help you get through this phase and restore your curls to their former glory.
Use a clarifying wash and a deep conditioning treatment after removing your protective style. This will assist you in starting the process of regaining your natural hair.
5. Avoid getting the same style repeatedly
You may be the one who braids hair more than the others but avoid the desire to do so regularly. Changing your hairstyle protects the same sections of your hair from being subjected to recurrent strain and pressure. When people remove their protective style, they often notice that certain areas of their hair grow “faster” than others. This is most likely because they style their hair in the same way, every time, tugging on particular parts and causing breakage/damage in others.
When your braids are released, you may notice more significant hair loss than when your hair is natural and not braided. Don’t panic; they are only fallen hairs from average hair loss. They’ve been stuck in the braids and haven’t been able to untangle themselves completely. Braids do not harm natural hair, but the trim is necessary to stimulate healthy development and maintain hair appearing well-groomed after being freed. It is advisable to do a hair treatment regularly, as well as a rejuvenating shampoo and conditioner from the same brand of hair care products.
Remember, you are protecting your natural hair. Be mindful of what causes breakage as you do a protective style and take the style out slowly and carefully. Rushing through it will ultimately damage your hair and set you back on your healthy hair journey. Always keep in mind,
- Moisture is key
- Keep your scalp clean
- Oil your braids
- Gently take it down
