Well, the first and most important answer is that we can. Luckily, God has given us the type of hair that we can literally change it to any style under the planet – so why not take advantage of that? If I choose (and can afford) to, I would change my hair every month because the styling option are endless. But, why do we?
For me, I have 4a/b type hair and the maintenance and shrinkage is real. If I decide to wear my hair in its natural state, that requires me to co-wash it at least every other morning to ensure that I look the way that I like. That basically adds on an additional 30-40 minutes extra to my already long morning. Once my hair has a little more length to it and the option for twist outs are back into my night routine, protective styles it is for me. I would rather spend that time sleeping and not doing hair, if I can avoid it. Another reason I protective style is because I love the afro-centric styles that I can choose from. Those styles work better with me because I can continue to maintain my hair routine that works for my scalp (like washing it weekly and oiling it 2x a week) and extensions or weave do not allow me to do that. Also, when I have my braids or faux locs I feel like I am more in tune with my roots. A bet dramatic I know, but that is the best way to explain it. I have learned that I am more comfortable with those styles in comparison to others and it works for me.
Outside of my personal reasons, there are also other incentives that causes us to protective style. Growth retention is one of the biggest one. Having our hair in braids, faux locs, or extensions allow us to have our hair braided and oiled, with little manipulation. This allows our hair to be clean and eliminate breakage by improperly combing or styling it. Don’t get me wrong, we still need to wash, condition, deep condition, and oil our hair as if we are not protective styling but you wash day should be significantly easier while you are protective styling.
All in all, we choose to protective styles for multiple reasons but the real reason is that we can. I refuse to let anyone else’s standard of beauty determine how I look, dress, or wear my hair. I have learned that ultimately it is what makes me happy and what I feel comfortable in that really matters. We can all go crazy trying to please everyone, so I chose to do me at all times and allow others to do them.
Love, Brown Girl
“Life is too short to have boring hair” – Unknown