Im in my mid 30s and recently decided to start wearing my hair out because I just got tired of not only the outrageous pricing of black protective styles but I got tired of not truly seeing my hair but every 6 weeks when it’s time to wash and put it back. This has been the routine all my life and at this point I just want to know and love the version of me God intended when he made me. I decided to stop being fearful of breakage and not retaining length in order to see, love and enjoy my hair as much as I can and man had it been such a freeing experience. I do wash and gos every week, moisturize in between and it’s been amazing falling in love with my hair and allowing it to curl and twist the way she wants too instead of my pulling yugii g or keeping her in forms that she doesn’t naturally want to be in and I must say. Just like anything your hair gets used to it and the tangles, and knots everyone fears over time decreases once you’ve mastered how to keep your hair well moisturized and detangled. This is the first time I’ve felt so free with my hair and I enjoy seeing her everyday. I’m not into the extreme manipulation and hold that’s popular these days. I still love the Afro, kinkiness of my hair so I prefer lighter gels to give me the right balance of hold and longevity without forcing my coils to define a certain way. It’s all about supporting my coils and helping them be as healthy as they can so they can coil the way they want! Wishing this freedom on all black women!!
Hi girls, This is the point. Enjoy our Afro. We end up getting use to see ourselves with protective styles and we don’t feel feminine with our hair lose. Blessings
Exactly! I'm tired of long pretty plaits and braids, although natural. So I'm trying no oil, no conditioners, just wash with water only once a week. Keeping wet before I comb it, if I comb it. I cannot believe how happy I am to see the beautiful texture express itself. I do spray with water twice a day. I massage while wet because we have natural oils from our scalp and I hope it will spread thruout my hair. I cut my hair off down to like 1/4 inch but it is growing back now. Length is not what I want now, it is just my natural curls. 😁 I'll see what happens.
I have never and will probably never wear protective styles. I just don’t want to. However, I do participate in protective styling. I style my hair with the goal of preserving as much as I can- I have not flat ironed/straightened my hair since 2015, I thoroughly detangle with my fingers before I use tooks, I am gentle with my hair, I wear the same style all the time, I stay in my box, I have learned and do my own hair, NO COLOR, I moisturize multiple times a week, etc. This is what I call protective STYLING without wearing protective styles. My length retention was very well, until I broke my own rule and let someone talk me into color. I am back on track with my routine. I am 52.
Great video! I'm one of your "more mature" subscribers. I usually wear medium to large twists. I like doing large twists and tuck and roll them. I occasionally wear only the back out. I don't feel less feminine not wearing my hair out. I'm all about preserving my hair length and health. My hydration and moisture levels have been on point since following your advice. I also discovered that my salt and pepper hair loves keratin.
The main thing that has worked for me is not manipulating my hair every day. As long as I'm not wetting/rewetting it and bunning/braiding every single day, the ends seem to do alright. I comb/detangle once a week and generally tend to alternate between 1-2 braids, a braid-out or a bun throughout the week. My scalp can't take more than a week (on the rare occasion two) without getting itchy, and I prefer to use my own hair, so I've found a few simple styles I can do easily and keep in rotation. 😊
The finer the hair strands the more easy it is to break off. My mom has fine hair strands, but she handles her hair so roughly. I be tryna tell her to be gentle lol. I have thick hair strands and I don’t man handle my hair lol.
My protective styles are 2 French braids sometime.I will leave them up, and then I love to wear buns.I try not to do a lot of manipulation in my hair You look very beautiful in your videos.Thank you ever kindly, God bless you❤
Great video. I don’t protective style per se. I wear my hair in a bun with the ends out but away from my neck or clothes. I also leave it in clumps, so I never really pick it into individual curls. However I’m seriously on top of my moisture routine. I’ve been retaining length very well.
Same here. Making sure my hair is moisturized is key. I wear “containment styles” when necessary, keeping my loose hair contained so it’s not being tossed about. I never allow my hair to shrink all the way, and moisturize as soon as I see one dry end. My hair is approaching waist length. I’ve never been adverse to wearing my hair loose, but that means I have to take care of it daily. I’m ok with that.
I’d have to say that although nowadays I love me a good mini twists, my hair grew so much by doing a wash n go. My hair would be rewashed once a week, and even in the winter I’d use the hot shower water as a steamer to make sure my hair had enough moisture. I think the reason my hair really grew from wash n go was because my hair was free from hair ties and was able to just be free. No added hair to weigh it down. The gel was a great sealant until it flaked up on the 7th day.
I'm in the process of growing my hair out and i never use a shower cap when i do my daily shower routine. I love using the steam from my showers. I only use 2 products in my head when i do brush my hair. No protective styles and I use a denman brush and brush threw my hair in sections like you would section the hair to flat iron with the 1 of 2 products once a week. My hair has been thriving. I love it.
Wearing WnG styling is how I retain length. I wear a WnG about 90% of the time. Keeping my hair moisturized has been a key factor in length retention. Since I cleanse and restyle every 4 days that isn't a problem. I wet detangle with my fingers when I have conditioner in my hair all of the time. If my hair isn't in a WnG it is in an updo. Yes, Kayla from What The Kink is a great example. Also, Jalen from NaturalReign grew her hair with WnG styling. Over the last few years, she over-processed with color and thinned her hair out but before that, her hair was long and healthy as well. She is now working through that setback and growing out the color-treated hair.
Going to turn my old wigs into headband wigs to wear! You can retain length without pro styling, however you need to keep the ends away from friction so off clothes and body. Pinapple hairdos, pin ups etc with ends out can all work however moisture and hydration needs to be on lock or it will just break when touched. Clumping styles would be best l8ke twist, braid, or bantu knot outs can work nicely though i highly recommend to pin up the hair so the ends aren't touching anything.
My hair doesn’t like traditional protective style. Like twist or braids. My hair loves a low manipulation style with the ends tucked away. I keep it in 2 space buns with the ends tucked. This way I can keep my hair moisturized and scalp massaged.
does it even get that cold in the southern hemisphere? I would assume you don't need to do much it's not like you have freezing temperatures, ice, and snow.
Thanks a lot for the infos! I was looking for soleone who does wash and goes all the time to see...and just so U know, "Miss Camaelle" does let her hair out all the time. She's French (from Guadeloupe) and it appears to work. Sandra Cerise same origin) was wearing her hair only straightening for years. Both says the same as you. All depend on manipulation. We think our hair is the problem but it's not...I always say it's not the knife who hurts, it's the person who have the knife in hand...I actually think we can do everything with our hair. Each video that I watch from influencers for black hair, the same point is "manipulation" and how we handle and love our hair. Products come after...
@@CoilyDiaries i just started veiling recently and I want to know how I can grow my hair under a veil I'm christian but i just started loving it Reason is I feel like I may loose my edges and it worries me a little
Sometimes I want to give up. My hair’s been at APL for a year. I’ve been mostly protective styling for the past 5 months. 😩 Went to a stylist for trim at the start, then recently - same length. It’s so frustrating. I prefer to wear my hair in chunky twist outs but do it infrequently. My hair is in twists and a loose bun mostly and always kept moisturized. It’s so frustrating!!! I can’t wear my hair how I want and had so much discipline with protective styling with nothing to show for it. My stylist said my scalp is “tight” due to stress even though I massage my scalp weekly. Idk if stress is causing slower growth. I’m at a loss… All that work and consistency for nothing..🤷🏾♀️
So frustrating sis!!! Am so sorry… Is it breaking then? Anything in your routine that may be lucking? Protein? Detangling? Synthetic hair drying it out?
@@CoilyDiaries Thanks for your concern! First 3 years of my journey were exclusively synthetic extensions and I had no issues + lots of growth. This past year though, I took a break from extensions to focus on caring for my own hair. I wonder if I need to return?? But I don’t want to. I increased my protein last couple months when I saw your video. I don’t have issues with detangling - I use fingers and wide tooth comb sparingly and carefully. I did blow dry once 3 weeks ago (b4 my salon visit) with a comb attachment and had some issues with tangling there, but I don’t think that was enough to undo 5 months of work?? I can’t tell if my hair is breaking or growing slower.
Blow drying with a comb extension can cause a lot of breakage, unless your stylist is super careful. Did you notice how much hair was on the floor after? If not that, then maybe you’re not retaining length. I was the same, my hair grew very well until I hit collar bone and then just stopped. I had to really switch things up to see growth beyond that. My main game changers were to start washing only once a month. And moisturising my hair before it gets dry, especially the tips.
@@abioni6092 thanks! Sadly I didn’t look to see how much hair was lost during the salon visit. 😔They used a dangling brush and blow dryer with comb attachment. I didn’t think to check since I had great salon experiences throughout my journey. I wash every 3-4 weeks, moisturize 2x/week and protein treatment. My hair feels fine normally. The only culprits I can think off are A) This salon was too rough with my hair this time, B) They didn’t trim enough 5 months ago when I had a lot of split ends and knots, or C) Stress (specifically elevated cortisol) is inhibiting hair growth..sighs..
Hi Am a student and my hair as being in the same length for three years and this year my hair will be four years and it is till in the same length and also as a student I change my hair style every two weeks but it's not growing please what can I do to let it grow please help me am open to an advice please
Hey there, I hope this channel helps you see some progress with your hair. Changing a style that often is probably not working in your favour. I have length retention challenge going on this year. Check it out.
Yes you can grow your hair out without protective styling.a perfect example is the mixed race girls;they don't protective style and wear hair out and it still grows.an example is youtuber named Swirly Curly.Personally iv grown my natural hair over 9 months wearing it out.i did flat twist out with hair gel.i did it every 7-10 days.so I wash my hair, condition or oil wash and then flat twist with diy Xanthan Gum hair gel, Vaseline, Olive oil and then air dry (u can use hair dryer). Then next day it'll b dry and then I loosen the flat twist.the style lasted over a week and my hair grew without tangles/knots at the ends of my hair.I REALISED THE SECRET WAS THE HAIR GEL and stretched dry hair. Because d gel offered a hold and prevented knots and the same goes for stretched hair. My hairstyle looked like afro n d look changed over d 7 days and it was beautiful. One can also use hair spray to offer more hold but i noticed the hair gel was enough to prevent tangles.this method is similar to twist outs,braid outs, bantu knot out, cornrow outs,wash n go.in d 70s, I learnt the afro hairstyles they wore had hair sprays to offer hold and prevent shrinkage.....I loved my afro❤