Protective Styles vs. Low Manipulation Styles

When I first started my healthy hair journey, there was so much information at my fingertips, I was overwhelmed. It was very easy for me to skip over important details and even easier for me to become confused. One thing that I was often confused about was protective styles and low manipulation styles. I thought they were synonymous. I was sadly mistaken and my hair took the lashings for it in some instances. Thankfully, I know the difference now and hopefully after reading through this you will too.

Protective Styles

A protective style does exactly what it implies. Similar to how a lioness shields her cubs from danger, a protective style protects your hair (more specifically the ends) from the elements of the harsh environment from day to day. Common protective styles are: braids, twists, buns, wigs, weaves (sew-ins), hair pieces (phony ponies), and cornrows just to name a few. Please keep in mind that just because it is a protective style, that doesn't mean that your hair will not break. Without the proper care in these styles, your hair can sustain severe damage! But that is for another post.

Low Manipulation Styles

When we think of manipulation, many often think about their ex, coworkers, family members, etc. It isn't very often that one thinks of hair in terms of manipulation, but, it is very easy to manipulate your hair if you think about it. Anytime you touch, comb, blow-dry, brush, or fiddle with your hair in any way shape or form, you are manipulating it. A low manipulation style is a style that requires very little fuss, touching, combing etc. Most times a person can finger-comb through the style (braid-outs and twist-outs) or it is a style that may take some manipulation in the beginning but then is left alone for days (corn rows). The bottom line is when the low manipulation style is finished being styled it is left alone for at least the rest of the day.

Now here is the confusing part, a protective style can be a low manipulation style but a low manipulation style isn't automatically a protective style. Remember what a protective style does and you should be okay to remember the difference. HHJ

Trial By Error: Some Products Aren't For Everyone.

To buy, or not to buy?

The question many on a healthy hair journey are faced with. We often read blogs and watch videos of products that many rave about. “This gave my hair soooo much slip” or “This keeps my new growth soooo soft”. Without a second thought we are in a line at the checkout waiting for the little old lady on the fixed income to pay for her fiber cereal and get out of the way for us to buy our 6 bottles of whatever product we were just sold on from hours of youtube videos and blog testimonials. There has to be a better answer. Yes and no.

Trial By Error

This is the way almost every person who has been successful on their healthy hair journey, has found their products. Unfortunately, this is also how many of us turn into PJ's (product junkies). If I may offer some advice, it may help you in the long run... Keep a journal, by doing so you can look back at different products you have tried that didn't work and why.

Here is what you will need:

• Journal
• Some sort of writing utensil
• Products you are trying
• Time

Begin keeping a journal of not only the products you buy but how they effect your hair. Begin by writing the product name, what you are intending to use it for, when you bought it, and how much it cost. Yes the price is important.

Now that you have recorded all of this, begin using your product. While using your product, record all the side effects. Who knows, it may work great for you, but, you may have an allergic reaction. It may work wonderful in every sense imaginable; or, it may not work at all.

While you have been using the product and recording results, be sure to give it time. If you are having an allergic reaction stop using it immediately and get your money back if possible! If not, understand that Rome wasn't built in a day and your hair isn't going to grow to your rear end in a day either. I try to give my products about 2 weeks to see how my hair reacts.

What If It Doesn't Work?

There is always the possibility that it may not work. What will work for one person may not work for the next. If it doesn't work it's okay. If you are within the refund or exchange time frame, then take it back! If not, try giving it to someone else who is on a healthy hair journey. They may have a product that didn't work for them that may work miracles for you. Don't give up hope, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Have You Clarified Your Hair Lately?

It's no secret, there are toxins all around us. That's why we wash our face and bodies daily. When you have ethnic hair, you are often told not to wash your hair. This, itself, throws you into a conundrum! To wash or not to wash... And with what? Clarifying! Clarifying is necessary. Without it your hair will be similar to a dry sponge covered in petroleum jelly... Try dropping that sponge into water so that it can absorb what moisture it needs... It wont, because of the build up of petroleum jelly. The only way to get the water immediately into the sponge, is to apply soap to the sponge to break down the petroleum jelly and remove it from the sponge...

I have found, for my own hair, that I must clarify once a week (I can probably go longer than that but, I got myself into a regimen). When I clarify depending on what I am trying to strip out of my hair I either reach for my ORS Uplifting Shampoo or my ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo.

ORS UPLIFTING SHAMPOO

This shampoo tingles when you use it so you may want to do a patch test to be sure you have no allergic reaction. In my personal experience, this shampoo is very good for stripping build up in the way of oils and conditioner has built up. My hair doesn't really get flakes, so I didn't have to worry about getting those.

ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo

This shampoo removes some of the same build up that the ORS Uplifting Shampoo does. Because it is used as the neutralizing shampoo following the no-lye relaxer, it is a chelating shampoo. Chelating shampoos remove the build up of minerals on the hair shaft. This comes in handy when you live in an area with hard water.

Regardless, of if you live in an area with hard water or if you have too much product build up in your hair, clarifying is a way to remove this and you can do the treatment right from home. I hope this helps any questions you have on clarifying your hair. Happy Hair Journeying!

The Moisture Protein Balance

The hair on everyone's head is different. Some straight, some curly. Some soft and silky, others, rough and wiry. But one thing still remains, it's all hair. Hair has to have the correct balance of moisture and protein, if not, breakage will occur.

Moisturizing Conditioners

Moisturizing conditioners will put moisture back into the hair. These conditioners will list water as one of the main ingredients as water is a necessary component to moisturize hair. Be careful when walking down the shampoo and conditioner aisle, there are many “moisturizing” conditioners that have silk proteins that will actually put more protein into your hair.

Moisturizing conditioners are needed when your hair is dry. You hair may snap off at the slightest touch. This is a good indication that your hair may be dry and need some moisture.

Protein Conditioners

Your hair is primarily made up of a specific protein called keratin. The thing about your hair is that it is essentially dead when it comes out of the follicle. Some will disagree, but I will cover that in another post. If you have relaxed hair, you may already know, the bonds in this protein in your hair are weakened in order to straighten your hair.

Protein conditioners will strengthen your hair and will most times list “strengthening” on the label as a characteristic. These types of conditioner are needed when you hair feels mushy or gummy when wet. There are soft protein conditioners and hard protein conditioners. The strength of the conditioner you will need will depend on how mushy your hair is.

In either case, adding or alternating the correct conditioners to your hair regimen is essential for retaining length and having a healthy hair journey.

Getting Much Needed Moisture

If you go onto to just about any hair board, you will find that moisture is essential... Especially when factors like: ethnicity, climate, and texture are taken into account.
When you have dry hair it is never a good thing, your hair becomes coarse, (assuming that isn't part of your overall hair texture to begin with) it becomes brittle, it snaps very easily. To combat dryness, we often condition our hair. There are many conditioners on the market that add moisture to the hair. But, sometimes, just adding conditioning to your hair isn't enough. Sometimes, you need to add a deeply penetrating conditioning treatment to quench your hair's thirst.

This leads me to the steam treatment...

This is an effective way to put moisture back into the hair without spending a fortune... Here is a way that I found to do it at home.

Try this on for size, and let me know how it worked out for you. Happy Hair Journeying.