Curlies, How Do You Do Your Protective Styles?

[CurlyGirly]

I have 3b hair. I have never been able to get good 2nd day hair, so I either wash everyday or put it up in a ponytail/messy bun and leave it until I wash it again.

I'd love to try the different protective styles but the only way I could bun or braid everyday would be to do something like braid my wet hair and then brush it out when it dries (it gets fairly straight that way). Then, I would have to gently brush/comb it everyday in order to make the style look remotely decent. My hair gets very tangled even after only a day of being worn down when curly so restyling in a curly updo is not an option.

An alternative would be to wash everyday and then style wet hair but my hair won't dry in a bun so I'd have wet scalp all day which is itchy for me and eventually smells bad if I do it for weeks at a time.

What are other curlies who primarily wear protective styles doing? Do you brush your curls out? Do you wash daily?

[Athena's Owl]

when people ask me how I managed to grow my hair so long, my answer was "Put it in a bun for five years." I have fine hair so it is very prone to tangling. this is how my routine goes:

Day 1: air-dried loose curls. that night, I peacock twist it to hide a lot of the length and spritz the loose curls on top with an H2O/gel/epsom salt mix (1 cup distilled water, 1 tsp gel, 1/8 tsp epsom salt is the base recipe. you can also infuse the water with rosemary, mint, lavender flowers. I do very small batches so I can use it quickly.)

Day 2: peacock twist and revitalized ends with a spray bottle.

Day 3: takedown. I finger comb my hair to gently work out snarls and then oil the ends heavily, as my last 6 inches of hair are fragile and old. I will wear buns and braids until it's time to wash (I wash more frequently in the summer than in the winter. in summer, I'm washing my hair on the night of day 3. in winter I'm wearing my hair in buns and braids for the rest of the week.

[CurlyCap]

I prefer to just condition every night than worry about "second day hair". It takes like an extra two minutes and gets rid of a lot of fashion stress.

BUT

When I was little, my mom was very afraid of my hair and tried to wash it as little as possible (ie, about once a week).
Route 1:
Day 1: Wear out. Let it curl. Rock it.
Day 2. Pull back into a braid or ponytail (depending on how the curls look).
Day 3+: Pretty updo land. Braids-->Buns-->Updos.

Route 2:
Day 1: Brush while damp, braid when nearly dry. Slick the top with oily so it doesn't get fuzzy.
Day 2+: How many days do you want to wear a braid? Throw in updos/buns for variation.
Prewash days: Wear it down. At this point, it's been sort of artifically straightened and should lie flattish with a thick leave-in. When I was older I did a headband and a big flower and rocked the volume.

As an adult, I'm also starting to embrace the gorgeousness of an updo wrapped with a silk scarf ( semi '50s style). It's so much fun, protects your hair, and for once the state of your curls is taken out of the question. You can get a lock wet and curl it around your finger if you want to remind people your an awesome curly.

HTH.

[CTH3989]

I keep my hair in twists as a protective style.

[Pierre]

I braid it after washing, then put it up, then leave it up for the next several days until I wash it again. I leave it braided and up, with the Flexis still in it, while sleeping, and wrap it all in a Buff.

[CurlyGirly]

Last night I water washed, used a little coconut oil out of the shower and then out my hair into a loose ponytail and braided it and then kind of rolled it into a bun thing. Today my hair is surprisingly silky and very straight so I was able to easily style it into a bun and even used a brush! *gasp* lol... So, now I will be able to go for days doing different styles of buns and braids without having to rewash. I think this is going to be my method. I may only wash 1x a week since my hair tends to be dry.

[gthlvrmx]

The moment it's dry, i put it up straight in a bun. For now, im braiding my hair at the top fo my head and bunning that. I don't have super curly hair though, that makes it easier to just separate and braid. Then i just leave it in that bun until the next wash day.

[Kiwiwi]

I am a 3b too.
I basicly put it up in a bun all the time (because I want it to grow longlonglong). I also make it wet every day (CO wash or just WO). I put it in the bun wet so there are no curls. It looks pretty much straight on my head.

When I want to wear my hair out, thus curly I do The Curly Girl method.
I have only achieved good second day hair when I scrunch gel in my hair after washing (in the morning 1st day) and if I sleep with two pigtail braids (being careful braiding my curly hair).
And when I wake up I unbraid, spray some water on my hair so I can form the unruly curls again (the spraying makes the gel a bit wet again so I can form the curls) and it looks great! Never tried 3d day hair that way but it might be possible ^_^

[ElusiveMuse]

I mostly do loosely twisted nautilus buns with wood forks as my protective style. Generally it doesn't mess up the curls too much. I wash about 3 times per week and my hair is best on the second day. I never brush my hair, only detangle with a yak's horn comb before washing, with my hair soaked in coconut oil.

[Quixii]

I either do styles that don't require separations (just twists and such), gently separate without detangling for braids and such, or brush it out. I hardly ever do the last one. And I always let my curls air dry the first 1-2 days.

[Mythica]

French braid. It's not long enough for a bun yet (cue my "impatient face").
I actually just braid it up while damp, adding conditioner and then coconut oil; I know this is a bit not-so-good regarding braiding it damp, but I'm pretty gentle and have never had any issues with hair breaking because of it.

[tinateeni]

I'm still trying to find protective hair styles for my hair. Right now i just wear it down, which is bad.

[Aidin]

bump!

What are your current protective styles, curlies?

[proo]

Satin scrunchie topknot bun with addition of satin lined buff for outside

[ExpectoPatronum]

I'm lazy and usually throw it up in a bun if I want to wear it up. If I'm not lazy, I'll braid it.

[raemarthe]

Mostly braids and sometimes buns. Braids save my texture better.

[Hairkay]

Mostly I put it in braids/plaits to last the week. Hair gets rinsed daily in plaits then the plaits can be put in a bun or woven into a big plait with hair doubled up to make it short enough to not touch my shoulders. I'll have a few weekends in the spring/summer when I'll let my hair out but mostly plaits/braids are my world.

[likelikepenny]

Damp double buns, I call them minnie mouse buns :)

[Simsy]

bump!

What are your current protective styles, curlies?

If I'm traveling or working, braids either pulled back into a bun or wrapped around my head. If I'm just around home, a bun of some description, usually secured with a stick or fork.

I'm not one for encouraging my natural texture, just because it tends to get out of control fairly quickly. That being said, if I want loose curls, I will be much more gentle with the styles and much looser with securing them. I generally avoid Dutch or French braids since they are hard on my hair with sectioning. Straight English braids most of the time since they don't shed as bad for me.

[spirals]

On wash day I let mine air dry and usually leave it down all day, although today it was bugging me so went in a bun when it was almost dry. I detangle that night with a tangle-teezer type thing and silicone spray on the brush. If I'm careful I can do it in about 10 minutes. I braid overnight and for the rest of the days until washing I wear it up. I use a boar/nylon combo brush every morning and night. Sometimes I spray the brush with oil or moisturizing stuff. I'm a curly, but not in practice, I guess.

[luxurioushair]

My hair isn't curly, but I read a tip where you can re-twist or re-plait your hair every night. That way your braidouts and twistouts will look just as awesome on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th day etc.

[likelikepenny]

My hair isn't curly, but I read a tip where you can re-twist or re-plait your hair every night. That way your braidouts and twistouts will look just as awesome on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th day etc.

I did this for a long time over a winter, before I knew about protective styling. Each day you do it, it looks better and better.