Protective Styles vs. Low Manipulation

Hey guys. Sheesh, this blogging thing is harder than I thought. Only my third post about hair and already I'm slacking off.



Anywho, I'm here to discuss the difference between protective styling and styling which should be labeled as low manipulation. The major difference comes down to this...where are the ends of your hair?



When your hair is in a protective style, the ends of your hair should be completely tucked away. This can be achieved through buns, sew-in weaves, phony ponytails, wigs, etc. protective styling is essential to hair growth. In order to see results in your individual hair growth journeys, you have to preserve the oldest parts of your hair, your ends. See, many people will make statements like "My hair just won't grow" without being properly informed of the actual problem. In most cases, the hair is growing, but you just aren't retaining that length. Why are you not retaining it? Simple, your ends are breaking off.



Low manipulation styles do not keep the ends of your hair protected, but they do allow you to take breaks from handling your hair on a daily basis. As a result, most people will experience very little breakage. Examples include braid outs, twist outs, rod sets, etc.



So, why does my challenge focus on protective rather than low manipulation styling? Because protective styling is the best way to maximize your ability to retain length. Take care of your ends and they will be around much longer.



With that quick lesson, you should understand that my goal is not to GROW my hair, it's to retain my length. Hair grows on average anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1 inch a month. Now I've never been diligent about measuring my hair so I cannot say what's my normal growth rate. However, I will do a length check next month (around February 2nd) and I will let you know what my hair growth for this month was.



On another note, so people have requested pictures and video. I am contemplating whether or not I should start a YouTube page, however, that will happen a little later if at all. Not sure how many people are actually reading and would tune in to my channel.


My next post will talk about moisturizing your hair; this is definitely another key element to hair retention.



Thanks for reading and please drop a comment. Let me know if there are any topics you would like me to address in my next post.


And if anyone's wondering, my protective styles consist mainly of half wigs, buns, and braids :-)