How To Prep Your Hair For A Protective Style

Hey naturalistas✨ So, I recently decided to try out a new protective style, considering I haven't had one in over a year, and I took a lot of time and consideration into prepping my hair for it. I know that a lot of times women (or men) seek protective styling to keep their hair put away for hopes of growth and nourishment. Too many times I have seen the total opposite. When taking out the protective style, their hair is dry, brittle, broken off, and damaged. The "protective" part of the style is YOUR job, boo! And it comes BEFORE you put the kanekalon in your head! So, I'm here to educate you on how to properly protect your hair for your acquired style. 

The day that I made the decision to do my protective style was a Monday, and I usually wash my hair on Friday's, so that's when I decided to do the protective style. I made the decision to prep my hair that whole week leading up to Friday to be sure that my hair was properly moisturized and cared for. 

All I did was moisturize it with some deep conditioner and oil and plop it in some Felicia braids. Throughout the week when I noticed my hair was getting dry, I would put some more deep conditioner, leave in, or oil in it to keep it hydrated. Keeping the hair hydrated is key because if it's dry when you go to style, it will just break off when being braided/twisted/combed etc.

I followed through with this process until Friday. This day, I took out my braids and washed my hair. I used shampoo because as I want my hair to be moisturized, I DO NOT want my roots to be all gross with build up. (For details on how I shampoo/cleanse my hair read "My Wash N Go Routine") My hair is going to be untouched for a couple of weeks, so I want a clean slate. 

After shampooing (ONLY MY SCALP) I apply my conditioner. This new conditioner I bought (OGX Instensly Invigorating Eucalyptus Mint Conditioner) also gets massaged into my scalp. I do this because 1- mint and eucalyptus are amazing for stimulating hair follicles to encourage growth and reduce inflammation of the scalp and even cleansing hair and 2- nothing else will be placed on my roots and I'm going to wash out all of the conditioner anyway.

All of our moisturizing is done, my hair is super soft and has been deep conditioning untouched for about two days, so it's super hydrated. The next step is to seal and protect. On dripping wet hair I apply CURLS Blueberry Bliss Reparative Leave In Conditioner from about mid shaft down. After combing that through and applying more as needed, I need to seal the deal with an oil. Y'all know I usually use my almond oil but since I'm not going to be touching my hair for a couple of weeks, I need guaranteed moisture and protection, so I grab my Peppermint Jamaican Black Castor Oil. I apply this also mid shift down, being sure to seal my ends as well. 

I use a t-shirt to remove excess water and wait about thirty minutes before drying. After splitting my hair into quadrants, I attach the comb attachement onto my blow dryer and start to comb through my hair whilst drying on low power, low heat, occasionally pushing the cool button. You want to keep the blow dryer pointing down while drying to avoid tangles and breakage. 

When my hair is about 80% dry, I apply a little bit more JBCO to each section, twist them, and put them up into a clip. It took my hair a couple of more hours to dry while twisted up but once it was done, I took the sections down and put them back into two braids to avoid tangles and further manipulation. That's another thing, if you're about to do a protective style that will last anywhere from two to eight weeks, you don't want to constantly manipulate your hair before that time comes. Let your hair relax, chill, tend to her and show her some extra love so she won't hate you when you see her again.

That's basically everything I did to prep my hair before I did my protective style! I hope this helped anyone who was lost about how to prep their hair before getting goddess locs, box braids, wig installation, what have you. And also HUGE shoutout to my sister, April Hugie, for making this style possible for me! I swore I was gonna do this all by myself (knowing damn well I can't braid) but of course she came to the rescue and SLAYYEDDDDD my hair. She is also a lot like me, and loves natural remedies/ingredients and holistic health over all. She actually sells amazing products for skin and body and even weight loss that are all natural! Click her name above for the link to her website❤️

Don't forget to keep up with my social media @PeachyMulatto to stay updated on postings and to give feedback/suggestions on my content. Thanks so much for reading 😍🍑

xx