11 protective hairstyles for textured hair, that all natural girls swear by

The history of protective hairstyles for textured hair dates back 30,000 years. In fact, according to The Root, even though wigs and weaves seem like a contemporary beauty regimen, archaeologists have documented finding a buried woman in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago with an elaborate design of 70 weave extensions attached to her hair.

Black Women will often choose protective styling for many reasons. Navigating afro hair requires quite a lot of maintenance, due to its complex textures and the fusion of curl patterns. There is probably something to be said about poor accessibility for effective hair care products, which is part of what makes the maintenance process so tedious. However protective hairstyles are also time-saving machines! As complex as our hair is, manipulating it all day every day unnecessarily can often cause more harm than good.

Curly and coily hair is naturally more brittle than other textures and therefore in order to support your length retention journey, over-manipulation is not recommended. Therefore, having a style that reduces day-to-day over-manipulation and processing is key. Lockdown has been/is a great opportunity to dedicate time to grow out your manes, so whether we are choosing to hit up the aunty that does hair, or we are going to DIY it, as we have been the last few months, protective styling will always be a lifeline for a lot of Black women.

Textured hair is also famed for its versatility, and a lot of us curly-haired babes can’t resist switching up our hairstyles, which we adapt according to mood, weather, occasion, or even outfit. The beauty of being able to switch up your hair as and when, also makes something that was often scrutinised by society, an exciting part of the beauty and self-love journey of a Black woman, and that in itself has so much value.