All Night Week Long - How to Make Your Protective Style Last

Naturals have been doing it since forever. Many of them set their style on wash day and maintain it until the next wash rolls around. It is bomb for length retention since it allows you to both protective style and reduce manipulation.

protective styles

I love long-term protective styling! I really do. It's a great way to take care of your hair with ease and it's awesome when you just need a break. But I decided to forego the wig as a means of protective styling and there is no way for me to get braids (with extensions) or a weave installed in these parts, so my next best is to utilize styles that last in the mid-range time frame, i.e. 1-2 weeks at a time.

You may have already encountered my HOTW posts. This is where I create a style at the beginning of the week and wear it throughout. There is no restyling and especially NO combing. Therefore, these styles are great for both increasing protection and reducing manipulation, result? super duper length retention! Below the Waist length here I come lol

I admit, finding a decent style that will hold up through a week's worth of...life, may not be the easiest. So, here are a few tips to help you accomplish this task:

1. Since this style should last the whole week, there is no co-washing involved (unless the style can be co-washed without being ruined). Therefore moisture and hydration should be maximised on wash day. Prepooing, deep conditioning and moisturizing and sealing (or perhaps LOCing) are essential for this process. Sidenote: I don't take down my style to M&S. Instead I apply water, moisturizer and oil to my hair WHILE in the current style. This means only the exposed parts receive product. However, I am almost always amazed at how moisturized the inner part of my hair is when I take down the style when the week is out.

2. Use taut styles which won't unravel during the week. Braids, cornrows, buns, ponytails all make a great base for your weekly styles. Loose puffs, twists, and rolls (those sound delish, am I hungry?) are cute, but they probably won't make it to the end of the week. Make them as taut as possible or skip them completely. Now taut doesn't mean tight. We all love our hairline and want to keep it, right?!.

3. Switch it up. Protective styling has a rep of being boring. But it's quite the opposite in my opinion. There are so many ways to have fun while PSing. Watch a few videos, read a few blog posts, glance at a few pictorials and try out new styles ever so often. Sidenote: I aim to try a different style each week from Jan to March to make it interesting and to keep me on the wagon. Check out the ones I've done here.

4. Start simple. Choose styles you feel are achievable so you don't become frustrated. If you are like me, you may will have a few misses. No sweat, unravel and start again, perhaps with something simplier if the style just isn't coming together.

5. Finally, wrap that ish up err night. Even if you are sleeping on a silky pillowcase, a head scarf is the best way to keep the style in tact and keep you looking polished all week long.

Have you ever used mid-term protective styles for length retention?