Naturals who retain length without protective styles

[lucky8502]

Good morning ladies,
I know that protective styles are a staple for hair growth but I was wondering if there are any naturals on here that rock a fro or a puff 90% of the time and still retain length?

 

[Mecca_Goddess]

^^^ this is def. an interesting question. I'm not at all sure if it's possible, but if it is I would think they would have to be wearing it in its "shrunken" state with little to no manipulation.

Hopefully others with chime it....

 

[Tif392002]

good question, this is why i dont wear my hair in a puff... ive only wore it in a puff once to take my siggy pic. i have fine hair and wearing it in a puff everyday would kill my ends , i believe. i guess it depends on your hair, cuz i know is some ladies on the forum who wear their hair in a puff most of the time and still get length.

 

[KnottyGurl]

I'd like to know this as well. Although I'm transitioning, I wear my hair in braidouts, plaits, and puffs, and my hair is retaining its length and growing faster than it has in the past. I'd like to hear more stories though.

 

[Tamster]

Haha, I would like to know too seeing as how I am wearing my hair in a shrunken fro 99% of the time. I transitioned for a year and 'chopped' in April. I am definitely seeing growth, but I also most certainly am struggling with SSKs.

I fear they are chewing up my ends and that I will have to snip snip soon.

I know better (because of LHCF!) but... well... I like the look of the fro on me, and I'm ridiculously low maintenance with my hair (now.. nails, makeup, and other things can be another story

 

[ReeseNicole]

Well, I guess I'm one of those ladies because I am seriously natural style challenged I can't seem to figure out any cute styles on my big ole head besides my puff. Here are some pics of my first time natural. I always wore it in it's shrunken state and I cowashed 2x a day, DC, religiosly and it just grew and grew (it never looked any bigger to me though because of shrinkage ) (sorry for the first extra large pic, I dont know how to resize yet)

My Summer Puff

September/October

December and End of Year Results

My hair straightened

I mostly wore my wash and go puffs during these months. I hope this helps. Currently, I'm still just rocking my cowashed puffs for summer and it appears I'm still keeping my length, so its definitely possible. I'm too lazy to style my hair

 

[loshed]

I do. I'm sure I'm not retaining as much as I could but I'm not in some race against time. As long as it's not staying the same length I'm cool. I've been growing my hair out for two years and just made it to apl. I wore twist for like six months straight in all of that but otherwise it been puff, puff, and more puff. I do have to trim every six months or so because I get single strand knots and as I get more over time they make detangling harder. But other than than that I don't mind them because I rarely wear my hair straight. These days I mostly wear my hair with the sides pinned up in a lazy fro-hawk thing.

Sorry for the really bad pic, the usb cord to my camera is MIA.

 

[Nonie]

Mwedzi retains length and wears her hair out. She doesn't comb it as much as a lot of people and has been keeping it stretched which has helped with minimizing knots and stuff. But yes, she comes to mind as one who retains well w/o protective styling 24/7--but she also manipulates it very little.

 

[anon123]

Hi Nonie and Lucky Nonie is right. I wear my hair out at least 3 or 4 days a week, often more. This is especially true since the beginning of this year when I decided to try a different regimen. I blow dry at least every other wash and this stretches my hair out so it reduces tangles. I only comb once a week max, right before washing. Sometimes I'll even go 2 weeks. I just retwist in big twists once or twice a week. That's it, really. I do wear my hair up sometimes, too. I am retaining length now. I think in order to see how well it really works, I'll have to go a year to be sure, but so far, so good.

 

[lucky8502]

Well, I guess I'm one of those ladies because I am seriously natural style challenged I can't seem to figure out any cute styles on my big ole head besides my puff. Here are some pics of my first time natural. I always wore it in it's shrunken state and I cowashed 2x a day, DC, religiosly and it just grew and grew (it never looked any bigger to me though because of shrinkage ) (sorry for the first extra large pic, I dont know how to resize yet)

My Summer Puff

September/October

December and End of Year Results

My hair straightened

I mostly wore my wash and go puffs during these months. I hope this helps. Currently, I'm still just rocking my cowashed puffs for summer and it appears I'm still keeping my length, so its definitely possible. I'm too lazy to style my hair

Thank you ladies so much for your responses this gives me hope because I want to rock a puff or a fro most of the time but am worried about retaining length. And curlyreese you hair is just gawjus

 

[anon123]

lucky, just so you know, I can't wear my hair shrunken and out. it will knot and tangle like crazy. so an air dried puff or afro is a nono for me.

 

[AimWard]

I wear my hair in a twist out 7 days a week (I twist for setting purposes only and I take them down the moment my hair is dry), I detangle once a week with my fingers only (I don't comb or brush), and I use absolutely no heat including hooded dryers (I use a towel or heat therapy wrap for deep conditioning). I don't pull my hair into puffs or any other type of up dos. I just let it be. Super, super low manipulation. I twist my hair into 4 or more twists and tie a silk or satin scarf around it for bed. The only time I ever put my hair up or pull it back is when I'm cleaning the house or going to the gym. I have no problems retaining length. Actually my hair is better now that I wear it out than when I used to bun (I have fragile edges and they would break).

 

[kmn1980]

In my shorter days, I wore my hair out all the time without any problems. I just made sure to keep it moisturized. I didn't start PSing until it got longer.

 

[chebaby]

ive been natural for a little over a year and ive rarely worn protective styles since ive been natural. i co wash everyday and either wear a puff or a curly fro. my hair is very fine 3c4a and i have no problems retaining. even during the winter i attempted to do protective styles and that never lasted more than a few days because i like my hair out and free. so even during that blizzard we had, i co washed every single day and wore a puff.
if i stretch my hair the back is below my shoulder not quite apl yet.

i plan on doing more twists during this winter but thats only because my schedule will be crazy come that time. other than that i dont plan on ever stopping wearing my hair out 95% of the time.

 

[chebaby]

oh and im not style challenged lol. i can braid and twist and cornrow with the best of them. i just like my hair. my siggie is from when i was relaxed. even then i NEVER protective styled because i like my hair out. before i found this board my hair was damaged, thin and sl. my siggie pic was taken like 10 months after i started really growing my hair so you can retain without protective styles.

and as for knots, well i get a few but not many. i co wash everyday usually after ive slathered on some oil and i never have issues with detangling.
oh and i never braid my hair before bed.

 

[RoundEyedGirl504]

I pretty much only wear my hair in a fro pulled back with a headband and clips and I haven't had any issues. I just detangle with my fingers or use my jilbere shower comb when I co wash (which I do once or twice a week).

 

[Poohbear]

Hi Nonie and Lucky Nonie is right. I wear my hair out at least 3 or 4 days a week, often more. This is especially true since the beginning of this year when I decided to try a different regimen. I blow dry at least every other wash and this stretches my hair out so it reduces tangles. I only comb once a week max, right before washing. Sometimes I'll even go 2 weeks. I just retwist in big twists once or twice a week. That's it, really. I do wear my hair up sometimes, too. I am retaining length now. I think in order to see how well it really works, I'll have to go a year to be sure, but so far, so good.

How often do you moisturize your hair?

 

[UrbainChic]

I wear my hair out or in a puff almost every day. I am really bad at braiding (or hell even just parting my hair straight) so thats all I really can do as far as styling. My hair always seems to grow just fine, pretty fast even, but I think its mostly because I am not brushing it and touching it all day every day and abusing it. Its out but its left alone.

 

[Tamster]

Urbain,Chebaby,Roundeyed..... so ladies who are wearing their air dried hair out everyday no problem, are you not getting SSKs? Or do you get them and just live with them?

Cause... I wear an air dried shrunken fro with a headband everyday and I know my hair is getting longer, but I have SSKs that can sometimes tangle into one big knot before I know it

 

[RoundEyedGirl504]

^^^ I have SSKs I am sure but they don't bother me or cause any major tangling issues, and I haven't found that they stopped me from retaining length. I pretty much just live with them.

 

[Rocky91]

i guess i'm one of these!!
the key for me is to just :
1) minimize manipulation
2) keep my hair pretty stretched out

 

[anon123]

How often do you moisturize your hair?

2-3 times a week.

 

[pookaloo83]

2-3 times a week.

With oil? Or some type of butter?

 

[Soliel185]

I wear my hair in it's "shrunken" state about 99.9% of the time. It's been almost a year since my BC and so far so good. I find that for me low manipulation does more than protective styles. This may change as my hair grows.

Like Mwedzi I am an infrequent comber and that works for me. I have noticed some SSK but they're pretty infrequent.

Then (aug)/Now (apr or may) My "Then" puff was actually stretched, the now one is not.

Then (aug)/Now(june)

 

[chebaby]

Urbain,Chebaby,Roundeyed..... so ladies who are wearing their air dried hair out everyday no problem, are you not getting SSKs? Or do you get them and just live with them?

Cause... I wear an air dried shrunken fro with a headband everyday and I know my hair is getting longer, but I have SSKs that can sometimes tangle into one big knot before I know it

i dont really get those little knots thats only on one strand. sometimes i do get knots on multiple strands stuck together but that was when i neglected to fully detangle my hair all thhe way to the roots. now i always make sure i detangle my hair several times a week in the shower with oil and water and i have no problems.

 

[Shadiyah]

I have retained all my growth wearing my hair out in curls. I do not comb at all unless I am co washing and I cover it every night with silk scarf. But it also is not touching my shoulders either.

 

[MizzBrit]

i wish....

 

[ParagonTresses]

I cowash and wear a WNG daily and my hair is growing well (IMO). I equate my retention to the daily moisture, finger detangling only and wrapping it up with my satin bonnet when I'm lounging around the house.

 

[Shadiyah]

I don't get knots because what I use on my hair everyday which is the jamican mango & lime kind of wet my hair and I can put my fingers through it.

 

[BEAUTYU2U]

I do Granted I only have 6 inches. Usually I wash my hair at night so I put it in twists & braids to keep it stretched as it dries.