I have never worn wigs and I ditched weaves in 11th grade, this was 8 years ago. Braiding hair itches like crazy, even if soaked in ACV beforehand and washed. Getting braids, even if the braider is gentle (and mine is), gave me split ends : I was doing everything right, to no avail. Now I just wear my natural hair in mini braids or mini twists, sometimes a puff or slicked bun. I have never had thicker, fuller, longer hair. I’d rather people see my hair than promote Asian hair by wearing it. There is nothing wrong with natural hair without added hair and we should normalize this. One of my sisters-in-law has decided to braid her daughter’s hair without extensions because of me and the example I have shown of living and caring for my natural hair. And I show up to events, formal or not, with natural hair. I’ve normalized that for me and I know I will inspire more black women/girls to do the same by just being me.
I got box braids for years and was able to grow my hair from less than an inch after a big chop to mid back length. I feel like alot of peoples hair break off after getting a protective style installed because the stylist braided their hair too tight, they don’t wash their hair, they don’t moisturize their hair when it’s in braids, and they are too rough with their hair when they take their braids out. Also don’t keep your braids in for too long. 2 to 3 months is fine. You have to keep your hair moisturized, scalp cleansed, and take care of your hair especially your ends even when your hair is in a protective style. For me when I got braids, I cleansed my scalp with African Pride’s Black Castor Miracle Braid & Scalp Cleansing Rinse once a week. I also used a spray bottle of water and olive oil and sprayed it on my scalp. I also made sure I got a trim every year and I took breaks in between getting my hair braided. That’s what helped me grow my hair and now I no longer do protective styles as much as I use to. I wear my hair in low manipulation styles and keep my hair stretched now.
When I had extensions, I didn't take care of my hair underneath, and I left the styles up for 3-4 months. I never let a stylist touch my hair. As a child when I got my hair braided, the stylist would always braid too tight. It caused pain, suffering, and tears---and that should never be the norm when getting your hair done.
One thing that doesn't get talked about enough is how parents play a role in protective styles and hair damage. Growing up me and my siblings were not allowed to be regularly washing and conditioning our protective styles because it messes up the style. Additionally I would always tell my mom and stylist to not braid/twist my edges because its sensitive and would rip off in a few weeks but they did it anyways. Sure once you become an adult you can make your own decisions, but it can be challenging to get out of that mindset that you should value your hair health over aesthetics
@@CoffeeCuties777 Awesome thanks. Just to add on. Even in my mid 20s I’m still dealing with a lot of resentment from my mom regarding my natural hair. I decided to give up on relaxers in high school and my mom was so pissed at me. Little did I know hair would now be the main thing we argue about for a lifetime. A few months ago I went to a dermatologist because I noticed balding. The dermatologist told me that I luckily wasn’t permanently balding but my hair was falling out because of the constant braids/twists I was getting and I needed to stop asap. I began freaking out because no one taught me how to deal with my hair out and the natural hair movement gaslit and trashed any 4c girl who wanted to do wash and gos. Luckily I discovered the Anthony Dickey method for hair care (condition everyday, gel/grease hair, and wear hair as is). My hair was doing great but even at my grown age I was scared of my mom figuring out I was wearing my natural hair on a regular basis. So anytime I’d visit her I’d throw on a wig or put my hair in a tight puff. Eventually though my mom wanted me to attend an event with her and her friends and started questioning why I hadn’t gotten my braids in. I proceeded to tell her about the balding and she still kept insisting I get braids done and my natural hair shouldn’t be worn out and isn’t professional. After 20 mins of back and forth I settled with getting a new wig and wearing that. Later on I ended up having an emotional breakdown in tears and spending hours researching how to grow my hair faster. Mind you I already had a foot long of hair. But my mom made me feel so awful over it I wanted to change it fast. I even considered shaving it all off or going back to tight styles. I know other textures may experience this but it truly is hard out here for the 4c girls that have 80% shrinkage and un uniformed coils. If my hair was type 3 my mom wouldn’t care at all since those are the wig styles she wears.
I came to that realization recently. I do think originally they were meant to protect our hair but overtime it morphed into covering our hair because we don't really want to deal with it our hair. It is going to take time but I do see a future where seeing a girl rocking her natural 4c hair on any occasion will be norm (There is soooo much versatility in our hair!!) . BTW thank you for spreading the word. It is important and inspiring and something we've been needing for sometime now.
I'm so glad you made this video. I don't understand why it's called " protective styling". I personally feel that it's just ways to disguise or completely cover up our natural hair and texture of our hair. I feel that black folks with CLEAN AND MOISTURIZED hair regardless of length/texture/type or curl pattern is beautiful! We were blessed with hair of THE MOST HIGH which is why our hair is so AWESOME! I think it's blasphemous to God to change or make our hair do things it shouldn't be doing. Our roots are meant to be puffy or raised to give glory to God at all times. One would think that it's just hair and as long as it's neat it's fine.... Yeah right. Our hair has to have all these rules and regulations just to be growing out of our heads , which is what makes our hair DIVINE! Our hair is one with nature. Everytime I look at trees I see our hair. I LOVE MY/ OUR NATURAL HAIR AS IT GROWS FROM OUR SCALPS IT'S AMAZING!!
@@asiaroderick3006 They had to do braids since there was no other way to care for their crowns. Slavery is over. The reality is that braids are not good for hair health due to the neglect it promotes, over manipulation to install, tension, and chemicals.
This is a hair channel, not a christian channel. If I said satan made my hair beautiful, everyone would gang up on me. But if people talk about the most high god, it's acceptable...and I'm sick of it. Can you go proselytize somewhere else?
I think the biggest issue with these styles is that we're intertwining our soft curls and coils with corse synthetic hair made of plastic. So of course it's gonna cause some sort of physical damage to the strands. This is why i exclusively do crochets (on myself). My hair is always tucked away in cornrows or plaits and then I braid, wrap or feed in the synthetic hair, that way there is no individual strand of hair that's rubbing against the synthetic fibers. I went from being bald (by choice cause of my rebellious phase lol) to having my hair reaching past my shoulder blades in just a couple years. Not only have i been able to retain length but my hair is also very healthy. When i go for haircuts my stylist has to search for split ends and she always just ends up doing a light dusting because theres no real damage to cut off
Please consider hosting regular seminars to educate our women about natural hair care. Due to a lack of knowledge, many women follow trends without understanding the impact on their health.
@@CoffeeCuties777I believe that virtual events are the most convenient way to reach a large audience, but other methods could be incorporated in the future. Although I'm not an expert in social media networking, I think it could be a great way to expand your reach. How you choose to monetize this knowledge is entirely up to you. The need is out there for the knowledge you have.
I started wearing my hair without extensions after noticing how fungus would grow on the front of my scalp. I guess it was inflamed. Sometimes dry skin or “dandruff” is really a fungus growing when you haven’t washed your hair after awhile. I feel comfortable wearing my hair by itself
0:32 Synthetic hair is the culprit. The chemicals used to make synthetic hair arent good. Lancet lab wrote an article about it. There are no laws regulating synthetic hair and there are cancer causing agents. I suggest using real human hair for braiding or banana leaves fibre derived braiding fibre for those who can't let go of braids.
Or better yet, learn to do them yourself. I usually use my own hair but sometimes use afro extensions. I cornrow loosely and make sure to use a small amount to prevent heaviness and traction alopecia.
I started doing two strand twists on my own hair and I love it! It feels so much better when the hair is bouncy and free and it’s coming from your own scalp. I rarely get braids/twists done unless it’s a special occasion. I want to get more into styling headwraps.
I wear just my hair too. I'm getting to where i don't like seeing braids either. I guess it's been ran into the ground, along with weaves, and I'm tired of seeing them.
I've wanted long hair for decades, but my hair never got past my shoulders. In 2013, I shaved my head, and my hair grew back super fast. However, I still had a growth plateau once my hair hit my shoulders. I big chopped in 2015, and wore (fortunately glueless) wigs constantly for 2-3 years. When I got a few inches, I was like, I want extensions, and my hair will grow faster! Pssht, no! First of all, I always do my own hair. I don't want anyone to touch my hair! With extensions, my scalp was irritated, so itchy, the build-up was gross, and my hair broke off every time I took down the style. I never had traction alopecia because I never had my extensions tight, and I never swooped my edges. My hair grew more when I wore wigs every day than it did when I wore extensions. I've had enough! Last month I took out my extensions, and suddenly, my hair thrived, and my scalp got happier. Protective styles are a myth. They do more harm than good.
I remember when I got fulani braids .... terrible time : its too tight, and when I took it out my edges were flying away. I recently did the big chop and I soberly realized that my favorite style: knotless braids really don't protect anything at all. It has given me excessive shedding and split ends no matter how many times you wash it ! I slowly see black women getting tired of all these wigs, prtiective styles because they are expensive and time consuming.
During the pandemic when we couldn’t go out, I couldn’t get my hair braided with extensions. I learned how to take care of my natural hair and it thrived without extensions but after everything opened up and I went back to extensions, I realized it was bad for my hair. It would make my hair soooo dry. I have stopped doing extensions now. If I really want to box braid look I might explore Brazilian wool but I probably won’t. Great video!
people been sayin', "jesus is coming back" for a thousand years, and it still hasn't happened yet. Hmmm.... Is jesus working on colored people time? Or he does not exist.
Also a great tip is to soak your braiding hair in some apple cider vinegar solution before installing it. This removes the preservative chemicals that they spray on the hair, which is what tends to cause the itching and irritation you get from braiding hair (you can actually see the stuff floating in the water after you leave the hair soaking)
I got knotless braids for the first time last year. I definitely had to wash twice with the braids on because of itching and build up. I only kept them in for 2 months. Never again! My hair is just too fine and my scalp too sensitive to have added hair. Lately I’ve been doing flat twist styles with my own hair. Due to skin/scalp issues I can only keep my hair like this for 1 week maybe a week and a half. But it’s been nice to give daily styling a break!
Thought I was the only natural who doesn’t really care for hair weave all these years however I’ve felt left out with the braiding hairstyles. Will admit lately I have been incorporating easy big braids nothing too tight just for fun thanks to RU-vid videos.
In regards to braids , it’s not only about the clients having to apply by the rules by not putting product in their hair but it’s also due to the fact that the only way for the stylist to achieve the look that most of these girls want ? They can’t have oil or grease in their hair before hand!
I never understood the concept of protective styling. What are you protecting your hair from. Because I've seen black men grow thier hair from short fades to very long afros. I do two strand twist on my own hair.
I think "protective styles" are a myth. They say it's for growing your hair, but it just keeps people from dealing with their hair. The hair ain't growin', cuz the scalp isn't getting a thorough cleansing, even if you wash your hair when wearing extensions. The scalp will never get really clean unless you remove those extensions and comb out the gross looking build-up.
Before I got locks a couple months ago best decision of my life, I loved box braids etc but I only kept it in for a month or so (wore my natural hair mostly) but I don't think ppl should keep it in for a year.
That’s so unfortunate…have you found a routine to grow your hairline back yet? If so what is it…maybe your routine can help other women suffering from this as well🤎🤎🤎
Any tension or stress to the scalp stops blood circulation in the scalp. Which means no oxygen, minerals or vitamins being pumped to that section of the hair, which will cause no hair growth. I cringe every time I see thise real tight hair styles. Especially when some of these women already don't have any edges
I don’t think so either and that’s okay as long as you properly educate yourself on how to install them without damage I don’t see the issue…I think braids are so cute…I just dont personally wear them🤎
I always did my own hair no way i would let someone else do my hair because people don't care how they put it in i never had a problem weave or anything in i wear a hair style for 2. Weeks that's all
I wear my natural hair in two strand twists & occasionally do a twist out if I’m going out somewhere. I do want to experiment with mini braids & braid outs. I don’t experience tension with twists. I honestly wish I would’ve known this years ago 😩😩😫😫😞😔.
