When Protective Styling Breaks Your Hair

The same styles that nurture fragile  hair to longer lengths can break your strands before they reach their terminal  length.

This winter, be on the lookout for common mistakes that can turn your  protective styling into a destructive force.

Protective styling for winter

As the mercury drops, the idea of putting your hair away in a protective style seems an increasingly alluring option. After  all, you just don't have the energy to play around with it like you did in the summer, and the cold air is already biting away at your ends.  
 
Protective styling has certainly earned its reputation as a hair saver. When it's done right, it helps your hair in two main ways. First, it reduces manipulation. Since you don't have to style every day, the inevitable damage caused by even the most painstaking, low-impact grooming simply doesn't happen.  

Without being pulled, combed, rubbed or twisted, your strands are free to flourish; sans microscopic and  not-so-microscopic pieces being broken off by styling stress.

Then there's the exposure factor: In the colder, less humid months, the amount of moisture in the air can actually be lower than the amount in your hair. 

When that happens, your hair loses precious  hydration to the air around it, leaving it weaker, more brittle and prone to  damage. The dry, hot air from central heating systems inside only makes bad  matters  worse. 

With protective styling, your hair is less exposed, so moisture is less able to diffuse or be rubbed away.

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With all that going for it, it's little wonder that a good round of protective styling can yield serious length for many a head of  tightly-curled hair – as evidenced by several natural hair inspirations with  long, natural, odds-defying hair. Many of whom struggled to get their hair to “grow”, or maintain length before going the protective route.  

Typically, the more fragile your strands, the  more you stand to gain lengthwise
from protective styling. If you get it right, that is. Here are some of the  ways people get it wrong. Ignore them at your peril.

Overtwisting your protective style

The main mechanical ways hair breaks are  through torsion, tension and  friction.

Torsion is the twisting force. Overtwist your hair and it  will simply break off – right at the point that  took the brunt  of the  force.

Given that it's so easy to overtwist hair, the breakage it causes often goes unnoticed or gets attributed to some other source. 

If you're wearing a twisted protective style and notice a lot of short hairs by the roots (and you haven’t recently singed them off with a blow-dryer or flat iron), you're probably twisting your  hair too much. 

The styles most vulnerable to this sort of breakage are bunning, coiling, Bantu  knots and, of course, twists (the flat and Senegalese varieties). Try limiting the  number of times you wind your hair to the absolute minimum required for the style. Watch how tightly you twist as well. Which brings us to. . .

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Letting your protective style get too dry

Here's the mistake most people make when wearing a protective style. They put their hair away and simply forget about it. But your hair's not going to take care of  itself. Even if you're not actively styling it, actively maintaining your mane's moisture levels is a must.  

Start by lavishing your hair with  moisture before you style. Layer your products to seal in moisture –  the maximum amount  of moisture – then style. Not only will your hair stay moisturised for longer,  it will also be more flexible and easy to style if it's well-hydrated. During the life of the style, be sure to reinsulate your hair, too, though be careful with the amount to prevent buildup.  

And don't be tempted to leave a style in beyond the
point of dryness just because it still looks good. After a certain amount of time, your hair will need to be cleansed and rehydrated, no matter how well the style is holding up. 

Adequate moisture levels are the decisive factor in  your hair's strength and resiliency. No amount of leave in or  spray can make up for that.

 If you can't wash and deep condition your hair in the style,  it's best to take it down, wash, deep condition, moisturise and seal, and then put it back in again.

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Making your protective style too tight

Twisting, wrapping, braiding or simply ponytailing your hair with too much 
 tension causes damage. So much so that it's a leading cause of hair 
loss, let alone breakage.  Styling your hair too tightly, too often can lead to alopecia areata, a condition that is all too common among women with curly hair – especially those with the tightest curls – trained to smooth their hair to extremes in the name of beauty.

If you want your protective style to actually protect – rather than destroy your
hair – then you need to ease up the tension. Your natural curl doesn't need to be  yanked till it snaps to be beautiful – it already is, naturally. And no style is worth losing hair over – smoothness is no exception – so  there's precious little to gain from pulling too tightly.

Forgetting to protect your  protective style

Yes, even protectively styled hair needs protection.  While much of your hair may be  tucked away in buns, twists  or braids, the outer strands are still vulnerable to dryness and friction.

To keep them safe (and to help your  style last longer), remember to cover your hair with satin at night and under hats and coarse-textured headscarves. 

Keep it under wraps when outside in the cold for lengthy periods, too: low temperatures can cause moisture to freeze inside your hair, swelling and damaging your  strands. You can opt for satin scarves and bonnets or stitch a satin lining into your favourite hat.

The best results from protective styling

Steer clear of these faux pas, and you'll maximise the benefits of your protective style. Enjoy the break  from styling stress – for both you and your hair – just don't
neglect  your hair in the process. Your strands will thank you with longer length, health and strength.

Image credits:

Daniel Dutkowski | Daniel Dutkowski | Malik M L Williams I Lydia Brooks