Are two braids a good protective style?

[Leslieslsa]

I like wearing my hair in two braids. Is that style a pretty good protective style?

[Firefox7275]

The most common definition of a protective style is one that protects the ends, braids do not unless bunned or otherwise secured on the head tucking the ends.

[PerkyCurlz]

The main thing wearing braids (two or one) did for me was stop the breakage I had due to wearing ponytails. I still have to worry about breakage at my ends, either from the elastic or from friction. Now that my hair is long enough, I have figured out a few buns that holds up to a 12-hour shift in the ER.

[PerkyCurlz]

double post

[leslissocool]

I wear braids exclusively (they are easy to bun, and if a kid snag the stick it's still good) and I have no damage from it .

[Naiadryade]

Well, braids certainly keep tangles at bay for the most part--provided you don't wear the same braids for days on end--so they are protective in the sense that you won't have the damage from knots and detangling that you might if your hair were worn down. As has been said, braids don't exactly protect the ends... but they aren't the worst, either. Certainly most of the people I know IRL who have hip+ hair wear 1 or 2 braids as their most common styles, so that's a pretty good sign to me!

I would caution against wearing the same style every day, though. I'm also a 2-braid enthusiast, especially in the summer when I'm working outside with kids all the time and it's hot. I have fallen into the trap of wearing 2 braids every day, and because of it I have some shorter hairs in a vertical line at the back of my head, where the part between the 2 braids is made, because the day to day wear and tear of being exposed so much ended up damaging them and they broke off. It's not the worst thing, though, again... you can't tell at all when my hair is down, and because of the placement, they end up inside buns and single braids too. I'd rather have damage there than the kind of canopy damage folks get from wearing a ponytail every day.

[Kimberly]

This is one of my favorite styles, when I can get my hair to part at all evenly. Keeps my hair from getting into everything, and if I am doing something where they might get into my way I tie them together in the back with a ribbon.

[Naiadryade]

This is one of my favorite styles, when I can get my hair to part at all evenly. Keeps my hair from getting into everything, and if I am doing something where they might get into my way I tie them together in the back with a ribbon.

Oh yes, I do this too! Not with a ribbon though; I just use the 2 hair ties from the ends of the braids. One of them goes where a low ponytail would sit, and the other goes around the ends of both braids. It actually looks really cool with them bound together... almost like a square braid. I've gotten comments on it.

[PerkyCurlz]

Oh yes, I do this too! Not with a ribbon though; I just use the 2 hair ties from the ends of the braids. One of them goes where a low ponytail would sit, and the other goes around the ends of both braids. It actually looks really cool with them bound together... almost like a square braid. I've gotten comments on it.

I do this with Flexi-8s. I wear a large at the nape of my neck, and a small at the end.

[Madora]

As someone who has been wearing braids for a good many years, I'd say they were very protective, provided you do not pull them tightly and change the way you wear them. Also be careful of how you remove the end fasteners (elastics). Just don't pull them off. I've found wearing braids up keeps them more tidy and easier to unbraid after many hours than a braid that has been flopping around for hours. The loose braids to be a little more persnickety when combing out time comes.