Category: Uncategorized

Easy Protective Styles For Short Natural Hair

Short natural hair is beyond just a style; it’s a statement of confidence and authenticity. There’s something so refreshing about rocking your natural texture, and with the right care, it shines bright. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been owning your look for years, embracing your curls can be empowering.

Every head of hair tells a unique story. With natural hair, understanding your specific curl pattern and texture is key. Maybe you’re a coil enthusiast, or perhaps your curls are looser, or even a mix. Knowing this helps tailor how you care for and style your hair, making the day-to-day management smoother and more enjoyable.

Short hair needs love just like long tresses. It’s about enhancing your natural beauty and working with what you got. Adding definition to your curls with lightweight gel or mousse, or showing off volume by teasing your fro just right—these little tricks elevate your style instantly. And let’s not forget, sometimes simplicity shines the brightest. A clean, freshly washed ‘do can be incredibly sophisticated.

Building a routine that works for you is half the battle. Regular cleansing, conditioning, and a bit of styling work wonders. Short hair can sometimes show the results of poor health more readily, so keeping it nourished and moisturized is crucial. Look for products that hydrate, protecting your strands from everyday wear and tear.

Benefits of Protective Styles for Short Natural Hair

Protective styles aren’t just for fashion—they’re a lifesaver for maintaining short natural hair. With less fuss and more focus on keeping your hair healthy, these styles offer both flair and function. They help in preserving those precious inches and taking a break from daily hair management.

When you’re aiming to reduce breakage, protective styles work wonders. These styles shield delicate ends from environmental stressors, keeping your hair healthier and stronger. No more worrying about frizz and flyaways from that unexpected rain shower! Plus, who doesn’t want to save time on styling in the morning?

Imagine starting your day with minimal styling time. Protective styles give you that luxury. Once you set your hair, you’re usually good to go for days, sometimes weeks. It’s all about maximizing your time without sacrificing your style.

Another bonus is moisture retention. Natural hair thrives on moisture, and with protective styles, your hair retains more of its natural oils. This can mean a softer texture and enhanced curl pattern. Check your hair and feel the difference yourself!

Ultimately, giving your hair a bit of a rest is key to maintaining its health and strength. Taking breaks between styling routines can help your hair breathe and grow without being constantly tugged or manipulated.

Top 5 Easy Protective Styles for Short Naturals

Twist-outs are a fabulous go-to for showcasing curls. This technique involves twisting sections of your hair and letting them set into defined curls. Once dry, unravel them gently for a look that can easily last a few days. It’s a style that’s easy to achieve and maintain.

Bantu knots bring both style and cultural heritage to the forefront. These small coiled buns not only protect your hair but also offer a striking look. They’re perfect for turning heads and having a bit of fun with your style without much hassle.

Box braids aren’t just for long hair. Short natural hair looks chic and polished with the right size of braids. They offer a classic look without weighing down your strands, are versatile, and can even be dressed up or down depending on your outfit or event.

Cornrows and flat twists are timeless. They keep the hair close to the scalp, reducing tension while looking sophisticated. For an added twist, combine different patterns or part designs to create something uniquely yours.

Wigs and extensions are a safe bet for variety. If you’re craving a longer style or simply want to switch things up, wigs allow you to experiment without making permanent changes. Just make sure to keep your natural hair moisture-locked beneath to maintain its health.

Tips for Maintaining and Transitioning Between Styles

Keeping your scalp healthy while wearing protective styles is crucial. A clean and moisturized scalp makes all the difference. Try using a scalp serum or oil to soothe any itchiness and keep your skin hydrated.

Choosing products tailored to your hair type can make or break your styling efforts. Lightweight moisturizers or leave-in conditioners are ideal for maintaining softness and avoiding buildup that could weigh down your curls.

Managing time between styles ensures longevity in hair health. Take short breaks between protective styles to allow your hair and scalp to breathe. These rest periods are perfect to pamper your hair with a deep conditioning treatment.

Regular trims are often overlooked but are essential. Even in protective styles, keeping your ends clipped helps prevent split ends from creeping up the strand, keeping your hair looking fresh and healthy.

Switching styles should be fun, not stressful. Experiment with new looks but maintain a balance. Listen to your hair and give it what it needs—a mix of styling and rest can make your journey more enjoyable.

February 18, 2025
Living each moment as it comes

When this year began, nobody expected it to be the way it has. When you think of 2020 it should represent perfect vision, this is the time when all you had been hoping for, would come to pass. However, what happens when plans must change and you must take another direction? It’s just like our afro hair sometimes. You want it a certain way you saw it but it just doesn’t want to act that way. This year has been a very revealing year socially, firstly hygiene has not been so spoken of like it has this year. You would think that washing hands is something that people would do, and not take for granted, however it can help in minimizing infections. But instead of focusing on all the things that have gone wrong, how about focus on all the things that have gone well.

Family
This year, I have spent more quality time with family than I have ever done at any other time in my life. It has made me appreciate them even more. Do they get annoying, yes they do but the focus should be on the quality and the little quirks that you get to discover on a daily basis

Working from home
There are those that are fortunate to work from home, that means less time commuting to the office and more time getting specific projects completed. It been a time to really assess do I really love what I do?

Less is more
Now this is one which will make more sense as I write. More individuals this year have saved more money because they are not buying unnecessary items. Additionally, some are even getting rid of some items that they have. What are you doing with those funds, are you using it to assist others or gaining some investments?

Appreciate your surrounding
During the days of the normal hustle and bustle when you only spent time sleeping in your house, you realize that you did not spend much time appreciating your surroundings. It could be a park that you never really spent much time going to, or the pictures that you took a while back when social distancing was not on your mind. It’s just appreciating the little things you may have taken for granted back in those times.

More patience
This year I can say that I have learnt patience, waiting in line and not complaining about that. Life is so fragile that a 20 min wait means nothing if you still have a privilege to be alive in this time. I am a lot more understanding of my son although now he get’s me to hurry up and not the other way round.

More focus
You can’t deny that 2020 has really got many people thinking, some about what they want to do with their life. Others, want to change their life in a major way and this year has really brought that change for individuals into perspective.

More time
I cannot forget the fact that this year has actually given me a little more time to do other things that can help me improve. Since the beginning of this year I actually decided to focus on really looking after my hair, making sure that it was well moisturized, now that I have a little more time. Less manipulation and heat. More water and a healthier diet. It had been great to have that time not to try and please others by presenting yourself often.

Discover
It has been a time of discovery, what am I really doing, working on free courses, just like I did this year. It was completely unexpected and it was something I was not really worried about. If anything I had many other projects in mind.

Time to plan
This it a time to plan and prepare yourself, what are you feeding yourself with. Are you constantly on social media and watching things that don’t really improve your life? Even though this year I have had to be less social physically, I have learnt to be more intentional with my social media. I actually allot a time to view it and once that time is over, I continue to do other things. I actually also realized that I had many incomplete projects because I was constantly starting new ones without seeing one through. It has really been an eye opener for me.

Time to get more spiritual
Now for me, prayer is extremely important in my life and when this pandemic hit, I asked myself many questions, am I ready for any future uncertainties? it got me on a moment of pure reflection and urgency to read my bible and ensure that I was actually doing what God wants me to do. I had to change quite a few things in my life and I am still working on other things.

Fitness time
I can’t emphasize this enough, but when you take time to look after your body, you will also look after your health and productivity. Do not neglect a walk on a daily basis. I have some light weights in the house that I use, every second day and it has actually been very useful. Don’t be afraid of the sweat you can always shower. When I first cut off the chemical from my hair, many years ago, I was a lot more relaxed about activities in the water. The only thing that I did not like was when say for example you have just blow-dried your hair and someone comes and says, “hey let’s go swimming” there’s nothing as bad as that and you can’t even get a swimming cap that will help you.

Helping time
Even though you make time to look after yourself, this is a great opportunity to help others. We cannot afford to look the other way when we see a brother or a sister struggle. It’s also a time to be selfless and help where you can.

This is why I would love to inform you about Wealthy affiliate, you can learn about affiliate marketing for free.

Despite the sad news what has been at least one good thing this year, it does not have to do with goal setting it could be a little thing even doing some cooking from scratch it can be anything? would love to hear from you.

January 15, 2025
How to figure out your hair type

Afro hair care and curl patterns

Afro’s come in different textures, volumes, shapes and sizes. The only thing that is consistent with them is that they are all curly. To identify how well to look after your afro, there are 2 things you must identify. The first thing you must do to is identify your curl pattern. Identifying your curl pattern helps you in knowing which products are better for your hair. There are various curl patterns and you can check them out on a few websites. The loose type of curl pattern is identified from 3A. This type of curl pattern is loose and tends to form ringlets on the head of an individual that has this type of hair. Type 3 hair ranges from 3A – 3C.

3A tends to look like this below:

The most common type of curl pattern for more coily hair is type 4 hair. It also ranges from 4A- 4C. This hair get’s extremely dry and can be deemed hard to maintain. It also tends to shrink when washed, therefore it’s hard to tell how long the hair is until you stretch it out.

You can easily identify that hair type when you see it anywhere. Here is an example of a look below:

Hair Porosity in afro hair

The second thing to identify is the hair porosity. This took me a while to identify, however it is extremely important to know what your hair porosity is because if you don’t know again you can use the wrong type of products and get the wrong results. As mentioned earlier in this piece, maintaining natural hair does not have to be expensive and I am not a product junkie, therefore if you want to save yourself the heartache of spending on products you don’t need, make sure you know these 2 things. Hair porosity is important because it determines how much moisture your hair can maintain. little hair porosity means that if you pulled a strand off your hair and put it in a glass of water, it would float. This means that it would take longer for any products to get on your hair. For my hair I realized that shea butter and coconut oil work best as they moisturise it easily. But remember you must rub the oils in your hand otherwise the products can sit on your hair. more hair porosity, means that if you take a sample of your hair and put it in water it will sink. This means that you can use lighter oils and your hair will take in the product.

Therefore to make sure that your afro is well looked after, know the type of curl pattern and porosity as these items will help in determining the type of products you can use.

Below is a quick demonstration of hair porosity types:

Hair porosity is low and therefore the hair does not get water easily.

Here is an example of hair that has higher porosity and therefore easily get’s moisturized.

It’s not really clear to see at it has sunk to the bottom of the glass, however the hair is straighter and obviously has higher hair porosity.

Therefore you would think what would you do with hair that has low hair porosity. The secret is to make water your friend. In winter that is a challenge, but it does not hurt to moisturize as often as you can. However protective styles, which I shall cover later can assist during the colder periods.

During summer have a water spray with some light oil. My preference, water mixed with jojoba oil.

GELS

I find that it is harder for me to use gels on my hair because they always leave some type of residue and I have used most of them. Aloe vera is gentler, however gels just don’t seem to work very well for me at all. Therefore I don’t use them.

For those with high porosity hair, some gels tend to work really well and minimize frizz. Nowadays there are so many gel types around like Camille rose, Cantu, Shea moisture, curly custard e.t.c just to name a few.

I find that they look amazing on high porosity hair and low porosity. But if you have low porosity, you know that you will get white residue on your hair which does not look great. Spraying with water works but the struggle to maintain less frizzy hair is very real.

The main goal of this article was to assist in helping you identify your hair type to make sure that you know the best products for your hair. Do you know your hair type and if you have low porosity or high porosity?

May 28, 2019