Update: Time To Reassess My Long Term Protective Styles

"Despite my huge love of long-term protective styles, I have decided to give them a complete swerve for probably the next 12 months."

I will still be heavily reliant on protective styles throughout the coming year but I plan to use a combination of wigs which I will use in rotation.

As much as I love my kinky twists and crochet braids (that much is evident from the picture below!), I just don’t feel up to installing them nor do I feel my hair is up to taking the level of manipulation involved in installing and taking down these styles. Also, as shedding is a real issue I am constantly having to tackle, I have reassessed whether long-term protective styles are having an adverse impact. It is very easy to get comfortable doing things because that's how you do them every year, but I am really listening to my hair and will change things up to see if matters of the shedding kind improve.

A selection of my long-term protective styles.....

FULL LACE UNIT
I already have my full lace unit which I will dye in order to liven it up a bit as it’s definitely seen better days – I may even ombre it with winter hues! I have another long wig which is a lace front, I'm not so keen on that one as the hair is pretty silky but i think I can probably make it work.

Me wearing my full lace wig which I purchased from eBay almost 2 years ago.

CROPPED UNITS 
I also have my two short cropped units which I love and feel the most comfortable wearing. I have the Ira wig by Aftress and the Mod Mohawk by Sensationnel. My favourite out of the two cropped wigs is the Ira wig. The Ira unit has gone down really well with friends and family.  One of my close friends brought one straight after seeing me wear mine recently and I also brought one for my sister as a birthday present.

My Aftress Ira wig.  I dyed this wig a darker shade of brown but apart from that I've done nothing to this wig.

My Sensationnel Mod Mohawk wig.   'Customised' [i.e. I cut this bad boy up' because I wasn't feeling it in it's original state.

CURLY FRO UNIT 
In addition to the above I have a new addition to my collection. I now (finally) have a Drew wig by Beshe as it arrived earlier this week. Drew is a very popular and gorgeous unit which I think it will give me the appearance of crochet braids.

Below is a review video by the wonderfully animated YouTuber Borderhammer.

I'd love to think that one day I will have the balls to wear Drew in one of the new vibrant colours which were released this year and showcased by the beautifully funky YouTuber ColoredBeautiful. Knowing me getting one with highlights or in the colour 2 or 4 will be as far as my comfort zone allows. I may invest in one of the funky ones if I like the one I have as I've not even opened it yet!

U-PART WIG WITH LACE CLOSURE
I also plan on making another U-part wig but this time with a lace closure. I will be re-using my Virgin Brazilian hair, all I need to do is eeeerrrm learn how to make one of these darn things and buy a virgin hair closure from somewhere!

Underneath these units I will wear my hair in either chunky cornrows or Ceilie braids, I suppose I will use the units as my 'hair hat' during the colder months! I will probably only wear my own hair when I fancy rocking a bun or during the first two weeks following my relaxer so as to protect my edges.

I will still aim to follow my 12 week schedule during the protective styling using wigs as I don’t want to increase breakage by manipulation and having a large amount of new growth to contend with both during wash days and relaxer days.

I'm hoping this new approach will be just the tonic my hair needs to recuperate from its current unhappy state - plus, I really could use a break from my hair.....

Ciao 4 Now

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