Kinky Hair 101: Protective and low-manipulation styling

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Most people reading this will already familiar with the concept of protective styling, what it entails and how you can benefit from it, but I feel it is my Corporate Social Responsibility to carry on with all the basics for any newbies who might happen to stumble across this blog. Hi there! *waves*


Anyway, I mentioned in one of my last few posts that I have benefited from not doing much with my hair recently. Time constraints have meant that I have not really had a chance to fuss with it much. I wash every 7-10 days as usual (sometimes stretching to 14 days). I then put them in fat twists, which I wear for a couple of days pinned up.

If I'm going anywhere where I need to look slightly decent, I distract with a nice scarf or other accessory.

When the weekend rolls around, I either undo and braid for a braidout, as illustrated in previous post, or undo and re-twist with product for a twistout, allow it to set at least overnight and then wear the twist/braidout for a couple of days until humidity has completely taken its toll. Then I put it in some sort of updo, like a bun or flat twists, for a couple of days until the next wash day rolls around.


Why have I benefited from this?

Essentially, what I have been doing is protective or low-manipulation styling. Most naturals with tighter, kinkier textures tend to benefit from leaving their hair alone. And the ones who have managed any significant amount of length retention tend to be in protective styles about 99% of the time. (Yes, I just employed a knack I have for pulling statistics out of thin air, but for example, check out Cipriana from Urban Bush Babes, or Mwedzi on Youtube)

This is because kinky hair is so fragile, that every time it is handled is an opportunity to damage it. Our hair therefore tends to thrive if put away, as you are preventing it rubbing on clothing or other articles. It is particularly helpful if your ends are tucked away as this helps minimize splits and knots, which would eventually need to be chopped out of your hair. 

Forms of low-manipulation or protective styling

As I mentioned, updos and buns are protective styles as they keep your ends tucked away and free from damage. Strictly speaking, twists on long hair are not strictly "protective" if worn down and allowed to rub on your clothing, however you do benefit from the fact that once the twists are in, you will not have to keep re-doing your hair and risk over-manipulation. 

Twistouts and braidouts even when worn loose are, in my opinion semi-protective styles, because from stretching your hair by twisting and braiding, you are minimizing tangles and also locking in moisture (which travels much more easily down a stretched strand of hair than a tightly coiled one), reducing possible breakage. (Although watch out for shrinkage in this humidity!)

For ideas on protective styling, look back at this post on youtube links. And take some time out to look through other videos for tutorials.

Protective styling may not suit everyone

As with everything, not all rules apply 100%. Some people, particularly those with looser curls, may not find protective styling necessary, and can wash and go to their hearts content. 

Others may have tightly curled hair, but for them retaining length is not a priority, and this is fine. 

I was much more strict about protective styling when I first embarked on this healthy hair journey, but have recently been far more relaxed about my hair in general. Sometime last year, I reached the conclusion that there is no point having all this hair if I can't show it off once in a while. So if I have time to play with my hair, I do tend to wear it out more often (my recent protective styling frenzy has, as I mentioned, mainly been for convenience). 

However I was very aware that this would be to the detriment of my length retention, and I definitely weathered a lot more damage than usual last year and had to trim more often, but I was o.k. with that. I draw the line at frequent wash and go's, however. 

So whether you protective style or not is your choice: it is just important to be aware of the trade-off, for most people, between wearing your hair out all the time and growing your hair long.

A couple of important things to think about when protective styling
1/ Again, I repeat: no two things work exactly the same for 2 people. So watch Youtube tutorials to get ideas, but at the end of the day, you have to figure out a routine that best suits YOU. For e.g. some people leave their twists in for up to 6 weeks. I have never dared to attempt going more than 3! 

Another example: when I began attempting protective styles, I would watch people with a looser texture on Youtube bun their hair wet, and I would try and mimic it. This didn't work well at all for my texture, and I have since found that for me, it is best to bun my hair when it is in twists, or when it is already stretched, e.g. an old twistout.

2/ As I mentioned in my braids post, there is no point in doing a protective style if any process of that style causes damage to your hair. For e.g. there is no point in blowdrying if you’re breaking it along the way, not moisturizing while it is in the style, or leaving the style in so long that your hair will knot, tangle and break as you’re taking it out.

Incidentally, Miss Fizz from Leave In The Kinks (protective styler extraordinaire) just did this post with notes on protective styling. Make sure to check it out.


Until next time!