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Summer Protective Style



This summer, I've decided to get Senegalese Twists as my protective style for the summer. As mentioned in the Protective Styling post, protective styling is a great way to protect your ends from breaking and splitting. It promotes and maintains the overall health of your hair and it also aids in length retention. 

When I want to put my hair away for a while, I usually go for box braids. This time I opted for Senegalese twists. I've been seeing a lot of ladies rocking Senegalese twists lately and I've never had them before, so I decided to give them a try. I decided to do a protective style this summer for a few reasons:

To Prevent Breakage
When my hair was out, I started to experience some breakage. I was in my hair every day styling it and  experimenting with different styles. I was re-twisting my hair every night, and on lazy nights I just threw my bonnet over my fro. Constant manipulation is what caused my hair to break. I wasn't putting my natural hair in any protective styles (up do's, mini twists, etc...), rocking twist outs and puffs every day, so my hair was open to damage from the environment (wind, sun, etc...).  My hair also felt dry every day, so I decided it was time to put it up.

I Needed a Break!
Besides, I needed a break from doing my hair. Don't get me wrong, I love my hair, but sometimes it's a bit time consuming and I just don't feel like doing it. I wasn't keeping up with my weekly washes and deep conditioning treatments because I was too tired. I just needed a break from doing my hair. Also, I haven't mastered the wash n' go yet, and my twist outs were not going to last in this NYC heat.

Length Retention & Growth
I wanted a low manipulation hair style that would allow me to still moisturize my hair and retain my length. Since my hair was breaking, I didn't want my daily manipulation to cause more breakage. I did a protein treatment before installing the Senegalese twists followed by a moisturizing conditioner and did a light trim to get rid of single strand knots and any split ends. My hair has grown a lot since I decided to wear it out. I want it to continue to grow even longer (I'm hoping to reach full shoulder length by next summer for my wedding). I may do protective styles for the rest of the year just so my ends are protected and to get as much growth as possible.

So far my Senegalese twists are holding up pretty well. Last weekend I washed just my scalp. The front of my hair is a little frizzy, while the back is extremely frizzy.  I used the method that Jenell of Kinky Curly Coily Me used when her hair was in Senegalese twists. Check out her video How to Wash Senegalese Twists (LOW FRIZZ!) to see how she washed her hair with Senegalese twists. I followed that method exactly. I used the Shea Moisture Yucca and Baobab Shampoo for Thin, Fine Hair. I used Shea Moistuure Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner to condition my hair and my oil mix to seal in the moisture and to oil my scalp (the oil mix contains sweet almond oil, castor oil, and peppermint oil).

I'm hoping to keep these twists in for another three weeks. I could probably go a bit longer, but that all depends on the state of my hair.

I encourage you ladies to try a protective style for the summer, or to begin making protective styling part of your hair care regimen. You're hair will love you for it!

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