Copper tone & kinks... journey by Miss Sizzle: protective styes

HEY PeopLe !

So the other day, (1.6.11) my very own big sista became officially natural! whOOp whOOOp!! She's been growing it out for a while (maybe about a year...she's not sure), but she always wears weaves so I never get to see her hair. She uses the weaves as her "Protective Style". A protective style, for those who don't know, is a hair style that allows your hair to "rest" so you don't manipulate it as much. For example: braids, weaves, twists, wigs...ect. I find that leaving your hair in a protective style allows it to grow in PEACE!

I cut off all her permed ends and took some pics of her virgin hair, and this is how it looked...

Then I put in a full weave for her protective style. I think full weaves are good because all of your hair is braided up and none of it is exposed....anywhooo, here's her full weave...

I also have a protective style right now myself! My sis ^^ did it for me. Its an invisible part weave. It is my first one, and it turned out pretty good. It's a little over a week old. I haven't had a weave since the beginning of 2010. Since I've been natural, I don't weave as much, because I like to wear my natural hair out. My usual protective style is two strand twists. I l<3ve them! :-D... The hair I used is Outre wet and wavy 10 inch :

OMGEE!!! one very important thing i need to point out about protective styles:

Please don't forget about your real hair!!!

Many people get braids and weaves and will keep it in forever, and forget that they have their real hair underneath! You must find a way to moisturize your hair. For braids, you should spray braid spray like African Pride or Sulfur8 Medicated spray. I prefer the African Pride spray because it doesn't have a strong odor like the Sulfur. There was a point in time when i sprayed the African Pride spray on my hair daily when i didn't have braids, and it was an awesome moisturizer! The only reason i stopped is because i made my own spray.

The spray can be sprayed on the actual braid or the scalp. The scalp should also get special attention. Oils or regular scalp moisturizers should be applied weekly, or as often as needed, depending on how dry your hair gets. Moisterized hair will grow! This makes the protective style technique complete!

For a weave, I usually put some kind of moisturizer on my scalp. I don't use oil, only because I personally don't like the combination of oil and weave *yuck face* It makes it look greasy and matted. The oil tends to migrate from the scalp to the weave itself!

Something I learned about natural hair is that, it needs a balance of water and oils. Yes, water! Water that I use to run away from in my relaxed (permed) days! (unless i was washing it of course!!) Turns out water is the ultimate moisturizer! I find my hair is the softest when its wet. I have a spray bottle that I use daily when my hair is not in braids or weaves. It has water and oils in it along with some other good stuff! I'll explain that in another blog...

Other Thoughts...

So this whole natural thing..some people see it as a fad, and others see it as a movement. People have different perspectives on why this fad or movement is happening. To me, its a decision I made for me. I was inspired by people (mainly Youtube) who seemed to have a new kind of success with healthy, long hair. Another thing that attracted me was the attitude that came with it. I felt a "loving yourself"..."confident"..."independent" kind of vibe from these "natural People" and I wanted to feel what they seemed to be feeling. It seemed like a nice addition to having healthy long hair!

Although us naturals may show this non conforming "confidence", it doesn't make us some type of clan! A friend told me the other day that she was talking to her guy friend about the trend of new natural haired women. The guy friend says, "Are these girls going natural because they can't afford weaves? Are they broke?" Then he asked her if she's gonna start advocating for nature and acting weird (my friend is natural). He said other stereotypical comments...I can't remember everything, but I found that conversation rather annoying. But I guess all I can do is --> lol. There will always be people like that. I'm the same person: Permed, natural, bald, whatever! (don't plan on being bald though)

Check out this long haired diva on youtube -->http://www.youtube.com/user/longhairdontcare2011?blend=1&ob=4

Anywhoo, I wanna show you guys a few pics of some pretty ladies you might recognize who are in the lime light, natural, and rocking their kinky crown is clearly not a "fad" to them: