Protective Hairstyles
Keeping hair in protective style prevents tangles and retains moisture.
If you follow natural hair blogs or vlogs, you know that protective hair styling is a must! Â These are our current favorite five protective hairstyles that we rotate through for Giana and Misha’s hair.
If there is a special occasion or it is the end of  wash week, I may have the girls wear their hair down or partially styled down.  However, most of the time we dry their hair in a protective style.  We maintain a form of that protetive style over the school week, morphing it slightly as needed.  Protective styling is even more vital during the dry winter months in Wisconsin.
Natural Hair Inspiration
I was motivated to go natural by my first daughter Giana’s gorgeous curly hair.   I wanted to learn how to best care for her hair.  Have you ever got sucked into watching vlogs about hair?  Those videso are fascinating.
The more I watched, the more I learned. Â Due to my research, I was inspired by vloggers like Natural85 and Mahoganycurls to start my own natural hair journey. Â I have been natural now for 7 years.
I hoped to teach Giana to love her hair. Â Along the way, I learn to embrace my own natural curls.
I Â enjoyed learning techniques. Â I watched my hair transform. Â Deciding what routine to follow overwhelmed me. Â Constantly having to reference videos to find styles was time consuming. Â Once I found a few staple styles and started rotating them, it took a lot less time.
Hair Type & Length
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• Giana- 3a/3b, problem spot edges
• Misha 3a/2c, touch spot nape of neck
Giana’s hair is waist length while Misha’s has just grown past her shoulders.
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Benefits of Protective Styling
Protective styles help retain moisture. Â They prevent curls from getting snagged. Â These protective techniques are even more important for young kids that play hard, nap and put things on top of their heads.
Here are five of our go to protective hairstyles you can use to get through the dry winter months.
5 Protective Styles for Mixed Kid’s Hair
Style #1
The simplest style we use is a protective bun. Anyone can do this one and it’s perfect for limited time styling, read about it here.  Along with products we used.
Giana has a problem area in the front of her hair. Â She typically gets frizz by the end of the day. Stressing over edge control is not a priority for me and my kids. Â Thankfully, I have found the braided bang to be our savior.
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Style #2
Single Braided Bang
1.Detangle/Pre-poo
2. Wash Routine
3. Leave-in Conditioner
4. Oil
5. Cream
6. Divide the hair into two sections
7. Section off bangs across the front problem area.
8. Braid the bangs
9. Style the remaining hair into two pigtails
                           Style #3
Double Braided Bang
1. Detangle/Pre-poo
2. Wash Routine
3. Leave-in Conditioner
4. Oil
5. Cream
6. Divide the hair into two sections
7. Section off bangs across the front problem area.
8. Divide again and braid two braids in opposite directions
9. Style the remaining hair into two pigtails
Elsa and Ana are still popular Disney characters four years after the movie was released.  Both of my daughters have asked for the Elsa French braid hairystyle.  Rather its the tightness of their curls or my lack of talent, the style doesn’t work for us.
A french braid requires side smoothing and thus, as I braid back tangles develop.  I have successfully made two French braids going back, but the style doesn’t last more than a day or two.
Now I choose protective styles that can morph into a second, third and fourth style. For instance, we often go from two braids to pigtails, to buns and stretch out our wash day from Sunday-Wednesday.
If you find that French braids don’t work for you, try this trendy hairstyle instead.  Not only will you be on trend like a Kardashian, it has longevity. We had very little frizz over the 3 days we rocked these ponytail frenchies.
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Duel Ponytail Frenchies
1. Detangle/Pre-poo
2. Wash Routine
3. Leave-in Conditioner
4. Oil
5. Cream
6. Divide the hair into two sections
7. Make perpendicular parts to divide one half of the hair into smaller horizontal segments.
8. Place the top section into a ponytail, feed that ponytail into the next one.
9. Continue back until all the hair is secure.
Style #5
Classic Braided Pigtails
1. Detangle/Pre-poo
2. Wash Routine
3. Leave-in Conditioner
4. Oil
5. Cream
6. Divide the hair into two sections
7. Place in two ponytails
8. Braid each section down
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