| HAIR | Maintaining Protective Styles

           I first got Senegalese twists back in April of 2016 when I played in Spain, and I must say getting this style professionally done at an African hair salon really showed me the beauty of what I just allowed into my life.

       Whilst I cant copy my twists EXACTLY like the professionals, Ive done a good enough job of installing my own to where I can look cute and keep my hair safe for a good amount of time.. Go me :)
        Now that Ive got my hair in, preserving my look for the maximum affect is a MUST. If you dont know, the term "protective style" is a hair style that keeps your hands out of your hair, and your hair off your neck and clothes. Think of it as a "hair-vacation". This can include weaves/extensions, braids, buns, and low/high ponytails.

WHAT YOU NEED:

The first thing I'm going to have you pick up is a spray bottle. You can choose black, blue, green, pink with flowers. Get it from target, get it from Gucci it doesn't matter but if you want to stretch out the amount of hair products you use you NEED a spray bottle!

Now everyone has staple hair products that they use when on a "hair-vacation"... and I'm sure they all mention coconut oil  first because it is LITERALLY the liquid fountain of youth (not only that, its key ingredients are fatty acids... The good kind!). I'm not going to break down why you need coconut oil in your life because I feel like if you don't know why by now you're just never gonna know, BUT there are more details about why coconut oil should be in every cabinet in your house here. Sydney over at Coconut Curl can also cosign why you should be obsessed with coconut oil in your everyday life... Some one should make a portable bottle of coconut oil to keep on you like they do with hand sanitizer. You know like the ones you can put on your keychain?

Any way I'm babbling.

 So right next to coconut oil is my new favorite: Apricot Oil. I've gotta tell you a little background on this, because I bought it on accident when I mistook it for a bottle of almond oil. But girl when I tell you this baby is going to make your hair and skin soooo soft..  its about $13 at Sprouts, and because it contains oleic acid, its going to make your skin and hair really supple and shiny. The Omega-6 fatty acids in there also stimulate the scalp and promote hair growth, which makes this oil a new found staple to all my hair regimens. Grab a bottle of this, as you're going to add a few drops to your spray bottle mixture. (UPDATE:I've started using coconut oil as a skin moisturizer and moved Apricot Oil as my go to, because I've seen how its changed my hair for the better). Christina from Black Girl Long Hair can give more more of a scientific breakdown of the benefits to Apricot Oil, but if you're like me and you just want to know DOES IT WORK OR NOT, yessss girl, use it on your hair your baby's hair your mans head and watch how soft it gets!

Next thing I'm going to have you add in the hair mix is a leave in conditioner. My absolute favorite leave-in is The Conditioner by Paul Mitchell, and for hair with medium-to-high porosity levels this is the perfect moisturizer for you ;)  I also like to put a dab of Aussie MOIST hair conditioner into the mix because it does such a great job of giving hair that "slip" for easy detangling, so I know it will keep my hair quenched while in my twists. Plus it smells great :)

If you're interested in getting any of these products, you can find most of them between Sprouts and Target, or click my Amazon link at the bottom of this post and get it shipped straight to you.

MIXING THE PRODUCTS TOGETHER

All my products together make up about 25% of the spray bottle.
 The rest is made up of water.

   I use the spray bottle to apply everything because adding each product individually to your hair will have you out of products super quick, and I like to stretch my usage for the longest I can. About a dab of each I'd say, a little bit larger than a quarter-sized amount of each product is enough to last your hair about a week of spraying. The rest of the bottle I fill with water to dilute and mix everything together. You can use regular tap water in the spray bottle, but I use bottled water and apply it to my hair. I mean were on a hair vacation, that means a break from everyday stresses that our hair goes through, I think that should include the chemicals that come in the shower as well don't you think? Trust me, your hair will thank you. Just make sure you shake everything up before you use it, and add more water before product when it starts to run low.

Just a little over a quarter-sized amount of each
 product, including the oil

WRAPPING YOUR HAIR AT NIGHT

I spray the mixture down the length of my natural hair until its slightly damp. I don't like to saturate my hair with this because it takes so long for my hair to air dry at night, and I don't want to get that dewy smell that happens when your hair stays wet for too long. Afterward I pineapple my hair into a high bun and put my scarf on from behind my head going towards the front. Being as my hair is so heavy at this point ill hold the bun in place with an elastic band so that it doesn't come loose during the night when I turn in my sleep. If my roots feel dry in the morning ill give it a few sprays to freshen up, otherwise in the morning I let my bun down and I continue with preparing for my day. Here's a little snippet of me wrapping it at night:

CLICK MY AMAZON LINKS BELOW TO TRY ALLLL THE GOODS FOR YOURSELF:

WORKING OUT AND WASHING

          I play professional basketball, so working out for me is a lifestyle more so than a the occasional exercise. I'm sweating everyday, so the sweat builds up in my hair which causes for frequent cleaning. While I'm working out I keep my twists in a low ponytail, mainly because it reduces the stress on my roots and edges, and I need ALL OF THAT and then some when the time does come to take my twists out. Every week I co wash my hair with the Aussie Moist hair conditioner, mainly focusing my attention on the roots and letting the rest of the conditioner wash its way down when I'm rinsing it out my hair. When its time to wash it's better to use a spray bottle full of water to wet your roots directly, instead of wetting all of the twists/ braids under the shower, then you just use your fingertips to massage the conditioner in until it feels that its had a good cleanse. So the goal when co-washing isn't to see suds forming or to scrub intensely, the goal here is to gently remove some of the build-up in your roots while trying not to ruin your style.  We dont want you scrubbing your roots out your braids, just a little rub is fine because the rinsing is what will get most of the thorough cleansing done. You can also just rinse your braids/ twists mid-week in the shower with plain water from the shower, and towel dry it a bit afterwards, then spray down your twists with your spray bottle mixture as it air dries.

HOW LONG TO LEAVE IN PROTECTIVE STLYES

         The only caution I'd put out there about protective styles is that you don't want to keep your style in for too long. Braids/twists should be up for about a month to let your hair relax, but give your hair time to breathe freely in between installations. This coming winter is a perfect time to put your hair up, I mean our hair is one of our best accessories, this is definitely another way to protect our crowns and experiment with cute styles!

Let me know what products work for you, and if you do decide to buy from my Amazon link, tell everyone where you got it okay? okay. [: