Protective Styling, "Wiggin" it to win it! Eeeps!... :-)

Hey there!

Yep I'm in protective styling mode, vibin ;-)

I've been wearing braids, as I've said before since last year January, at least in free braids as a style all on its own. But to be fair I had forgotten that it was in braids (larger ones) for the month of November 2103 when I went through my experimental phase with wigs... WIGS!!! Oooooooo!!!

Say What Now??!!

LOL

Now, for those who know me, this will definitely come as a Big Shock, because I've never in my life worn a wig before. If I did it was probably for a costume party or a play or something.

So what was it that convinced me to even try it? well I was browsing Nadege's hair blog (like as in I do this on a regular, the girl has some boss hair tips and really fun and informative hair-care interviews) when I saw this interview with a girl who goes by the name "pre_medicalrulz". She had managed to achieve thick and healthy waist length hair after a year of wearing... you guessed it! WIGS!

"I'm really excited about sharing this post today.  From the moment LHCF member, "pre_medicalrulz," shared pics of her progress in our email communications, I just knew she had to be featured on the blog.  Not too long ago, I wrote a post about caring for the hair while protective styling under weaves/wigs.  That entry was inspired by several emails I'd received from readers who struggled to retain length with protective styling with extensions.  I'm happy to say that miss "pre_med" was doing just fine with her length retaining strategy.  Her only concern was regarding her ends which seemed to struggle more than the rest of her hair.  We talked about doing a blunt cut trim before her next install as a possible solution to her concern.  By the time she shared her next update with me I was elated!  Then she contacted me to share her most recent update and I knew for sure that I had to share her story with the world..."

To see the rest of the article and interview click here: http://relaxedhairhealth.blogspot.com/2012/04/protective-styling-powerful-progress.html

It made sense.

Now before I jump on a bandwagon I like to think things through, establish exactly how and why a certain technique works. Then if I'm convinced I'll try to figure out how to make it work for me. Following things to a T is next to near impossible and it will drive me nuts. If the basics are covered then it should work! nuh so?! :-)

I was between jobs and after reading the article above, I decided: what the heck why not give it a try!

wig

wig :-O Looks real huh? lol

And this was my hair underneath:

Why (I believe) "wigging" works is:

1. Your hair underneath is in a protective style all on its own, wig or not. Its either in cornrows or braids which by themselves are considered protective because you can tuck away the ends and you don't brush the hair too often, thus reducing mechanical trauma to each strand. Your strands get a well deserved rest :-)
2. You still have easy access to YOUR hair and scalp! big big BIG plus for me, because I co-wash often during the week because of my regular exercise routine. This is very different from weaves where it can be difficult to treat your own hair underneath.
3. Your hair isn't exposed to the elements!!! All that UV radiation, dust, air pollution etc can do a number on your hair. Air conditioning at work can be drying, worse yet if you live in a dry cold climate I can imagine that can definitely dry out your hair and make it weaker. Under a wig your strands are protected from all of the above, nestled and kept warm and close to you like a little baby, lol, you get my point
4.  The wig hair is not yours, so It doesn't require the Diva care that you give your own hair. I think it was a nice break from having to do every thing I normally did for my hair on a daily basis.
5. Its an automatic hassle-free instant hair style - a big plus for all those who have uber busy schedules

Cons of Wigging it?

1. Your boyfriend LOL!! Yeah not all guys are supportive of all the new techniques we try in our journey to healthy hair! Shout out to Chris though for being sooo supportive of my HHJ in general!! (Hugz)
2. A good one can be very expensive (300-400USD on average, not including shipping and customs duty charges)
3. If you have a sensitive hairline the comb pieces or constant rubbing of the sides of the wig can sometimes cause a bit of hair loss at the hairline/edges. I suspect this happens after long term wear because this can happen to people who wear their own hair in one a lot or wear tight headbands very often.

My advice if you are gonna try it:

1. Don't use the stoking cap alone, a silk or satin hair wrap is best because the stoking cap can be very drying to your strands
2. Be careful with the combs inside because they can snag on the hair and tear it, defeating the purpose of your protective styling in the first place.
3. If you don't like the fake look, be ready to invest the big bucks, at least in the some of the smaller Caribbean islands, where choices can be a lot more limited than if you're in the US for example

Would I do it again?

I'll start off by saying, Its always good to try new things! :-)

That being said, I'm not sure I'd do it again anytime soon. Reason being, I cant say I absolutely loved it, I preferred my own hair to the wigs (that I did get). I won't say that I'll never ever wear one again, but I think if I were to try it again I'd definitely want to get one that looks more "realistic", the good quality ones cost a pretty penny..

BUT I am grateful to the "wiggin it" experiment, because it DID help save my hair when I was going through a bit of a rough patch with breakage. I did a protein treatment prior to the wigging and after 3-4 weeks of the Wig wearing, my hair did feel tonnes and tonnes softer, with minimal breakage because there was minimal manipulation.

So I figured if the braids themselves were protective why not try that instead for a while and see how it goes.

They have been fantastic with helping me stretch my relaxer to 14 weeks as of today!!!! Queue "Chariots of Fire" background music, LOL!

happy dance :-D

Other Protective styles I'd like to try:

Though I will be continuing with the present braids as is, no extensions, for a few more weeks,

I would like to try:

1. Clip in extensions: Namely, Kurly Klips - very excited about this one! Ill be doing a post on Kurly Klips this weekend, stay tuned!! :-D
2. Braid Extensions - My sister is the one that has convinced me to try the braid extension for a bit. Yay Alli!!
    luv this pic!

Yeppers! So you've now been caught up on my protective styling past present and future ;-)
If you guys have any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave them below!
Have a fantastic Friday!

Xoxo,
Rachie :-)