To wash OR not wash your hair in a protective style

 

It’s vacation season and naturalistas are going for protective styles because who really wants to deal with hair maintenance while trying to relax. Not me! No matter the season, protective styles can be a lifesaver for many, but the question has always been: Do you wash your hair while protective styling? This has always been so taboo. Well, I recently installed some crotchet faux locs and wanted to share what I learned about scalp care.

 

 

Clean scalp

A clean scalp is a healthy scalp, which will keep the hair underneath your protective style thriving. If your scalp isn’t clean it can lead to dandruff, oily hair, or more serious issues such as eczema. Sometimes an unhealthy scalp can cause scabs within the hairline that can even result in psoriasis, which can lead to breakage or thinning hair.

Moisturize

Moisture is even more important while protective styling.   Look for a product with Glycerin which is an ingredient that’ll help moisturize and/or eucalyptus/peppermint oil to soothe. There’s many leave-ins that help with both moisture and itching. Head & Shoulders Clinical Solutions Leave-in treatment is a new line specifically for protective styles and aids in moisturizing the scalp while protective styling.  While protecting my hair, I used the Shea Moisture 100% Virgin Coconut Oil Leave-in Treatment, this leave-in is amazing! Also, used Mielle Organics Mint Almond Oil on a daily basis. This combination helped my scalp to remain healthy throughout my protective style, but I know ya’ll really want to know if I washed my hair, right?

 

Washing or NOT washing

Like I stated earlier, cleansing your scalp is very important in maintaining healthy hair, this is no different while protective styling. I’ve washed my hair on multiple occasions while it was protected, except this time. This time around as you can see I installed faux locs and it became a personal choice to NOT wash my hair. I found that I was able to get to my natural hair more easily with crochet and the leave-ins/oils that I chose gave me the moisture needed. This doesn’t mean that my hair didn’t need to be washed, it  means that my hair was hydrated enough with my daily regimen while protective styling. Every night I used the Coconut Oil Leave-in and followed up with the almond oil to lock that moisture in. This worked for me, but it’s not to say it’ll work for everyone. In this case, if still wanting to wash your hair, try using an applicator bottle (controls the liquid). Then, dilute your shampoo with water, place on your scalp, massage gently, and then use that same applicator with warm water to wash your scalp. This technique will work great for those who choose to wash their hair within a protective style. It’ll take a judgement call on whether or not to wash but your scalp will show you what needs to be done, so be observant.

Bonus

Make sure whatever protective style you choose isn’t too tight because we want our edges! Protective styles should only be left in about 4 weeks, if choosing to keep in longer be mindful of the healthiness of your scalp. Lastly, be ready for the “great shed” to occur after taking your protective style down! Seriously, it’ll be a lot but it’s normal with the average rate of your natural hair shedding 100-150 hairs a day.

 

Let me know what protective style you’re choosing this Summer! How do you keep your scalp clean?