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Curly Nikki

The Importance of Protective Styling

By January 27th, 20219 Comments
NikG of BeadsBraidsBeyond dishes on ways to keep baby girl’s natural hair healthy and beautiful, without pulling yours out!

I, like many other mothers, absolutely love hair accessories. Beads, barrettes, ballies, bows etc. Sometimes, all of those extra hair accessories are unnecessary and if not used properly can cause damage. I think a lot of mothers may feel pressured to use all the cute hair accessories but I think sometimes it’s important to take a step back and love your child’s hair for what it is. Let your child see that they do not need a hundred beads or a couple of bows to make their hair look beautiful.

I am going to be doing more styles that require little to no hair accessories a lot more often. I wanted to share some tips for those of you (including myself!) who still want to use the beads and barrettes and other accessories every now and then.

  • Soak your rubberbands/elastics in oil! (I have used melted virgin coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil) Rubberbands tend to be on the dry side, the last thing you want to do is wrap a dry rubberband around the hair which can lead to breakage.
  • The hair should already be well moisturized, but make sure you moisturize the hair a little more where you are placing the rubberband/elastic. Are you putting a rubberband at the base? Moisturize that area more. Are you putting a rubberband on the ends? The ends are the oldest part of the hair, therefore the weakest, so definitely focus moisturizing the ends more.
  • Try not to overdo it with accessories. I love beads, but I know sometimes I have gotten a little bead happy. I don’t suggest covering the entire braid with beads. Beads can be pretty heavy and we don’t want all that extra weight on our children’s scalps. Try covering less than half of the braid.
  • Instead of using a rubberband on the ends, try snaps. Snaps are tiny barrettes. You wrap the (well moisturized) ends around the barrette and snap it closed.
  • If you use rubberbands/elastics/ponytail holders, please do not wrap these too tight. Rubberbands will hold, you do not have to wrap them 10+ times for them to stay put. A tight rubberband around the hair is just asking for breakage. When I use rubberbands, I usually wrap them only 5 times, depending on the section I’m working with. The larger the section, the less you will need to wrap the rubberband. I have never wrapped a rubberband more than 6 times.
  • Always cut the rubberbands out. You can use small scissors or nail clippers. Just be sure not the cut your childs hair in the process. I actually take the end of the metal rat tail comb, put it through one piece of the rubberband, gently pull it out away from the hair, then I cut with the scissors or nail clippers.
  • Be mindful of your childs scalp. If you see little white bumps, or redness, take the style down immediately. If this happens, I suggest using a little oil (I like coconut oil) and doing a gentle scalp massage.
  • Try curling the ends of twists or braids instead of using a bunch of accessories. Curlformers work great on braids but I’m sure you can use another type of curler that work just as good.
  • Try going accessory free every now and then! Or something as simple as one bow or a headband.

I am going to share a few styles that require little to no hair accessories.

Box braids. Since doing this challenge I have discovered how much I truly love box braids! They are very versatile.

The Importance of Protective Styling

Twists

The Importance of Protective Styling

Cornrows

The Importance of Protective Styling

Twist out/braid out/all natural

The Importance of Protective Styling
I would like to end this post by quoting one of the mother’s (Angela) who participated in our protective styling challenge:

“Sometimes, less is more and I’m finding that with this challenge I can truly appreciate her hair without any added extras :)”

9 Comments

  • SimplyDebra says:

    beautiful styles!

  • Anonymous says:

    i got a relaxer three years ago but im starting to go natural will it look as curly as the little girls.or will it just be nappy?zakiyathornton@yahoo.com

  • Anonymous says:

    Hello. My daughter has length hair for a 1 year old but I noticed today baldness on the left side of her head behind her ear. I assume it's from the rubberbands. Do you know if her hair will grow back? I am very disgusted. What can I do? I have removed the rubberbands. She also sleeps on that side of her head.

  • Karli K. says:

    Great post, NikG! I loved following along during the challenge, maybe I can actually get in before the deadline on the next one! ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Anonymous says:

    I totally agree and I am glad this info is out. I use to dress my daughter's hair up in barretts until I found she was not retaining length. Then I stopped using them(only for VERY special occations)and her hair is retaining like crazy(thriving) not to mention I moisterize her hair like no other.

    Like Maria said, she is my hair idol. In fact, she sparked my desire to go natural and she motivates me to keep it that way ๐Ÿ™‚ I love my daughter's hair.

  • Loveleemama says:

    My baby hair is starting to grow and I need to step my hair game up. Her bald spot has finally grown in and is a similar hair type to your baby girl. Its very soft and even with aloe vera gel it doesnt hold braids more than a day. I can see myself trying to do these styles in the next couple of year. I also love A's outfits.

  • Maria says:

    My hair idol is 4 years old!

  • Novemberlady13 says:

    I am so jealous of her hair. I wish my mom had done my hair in such creative style when I was younger. If I have children (I really don't have the patients for them..lol) my daughters hair is gonna be super fly!

  • Tiffany says:

    Awe, I wish I had a little girl. I don't think my son will let me do any of this to his hair.

    Peace, Love and Chocolate
    Tiffany

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