Recap: January '10 Protective Style

During most of January (5th-30th) I wore two strand twists. It was great not having to worry constantly about styling but it was a struggle to fight through the boredom. I am used to changing my hair every week. When I finally took the twists out, I had a TON of shedding. This was expected since I did not comb or detangle my hair for nearly one month. I knew they were shed hairs because they we long and I could see the white bulbs on top. I didn't look at all of them but I did examine a good number of them just to make sure I was suffering from a ton a breakage. I feel like I retained a lot of length from wearing the twists all month but I didn't think to do before and after pics so I have no way of checking that assumption.

I learned that tea tree and aloe vera are GREAT for the itches. The first two weeks of January I used a water/conditioner mix for moisturizing and my scalp was itching like crazy. The last two weeks I used the aloe vera spray with some tea tree oil and my scalp felt sooooo much better. I also learned that my hair LOVES getting moisturized and sealed nightly. The shaft of my hair feels stronger but yet softer than it did in December. When my scalp felt a little too dry I used some coconut oil and that absorbed right in with no problem.

My routine with the two strand twists was fairly simple. Moisturize & seal nightly, co-wash (while twisted) in the middle of the month, and oiling the scalp when needed. I continued to wear my twists up because most of my length retention would have been lost if I would have allowed my twist to brush against my clothing or constant exposure to the dry winter hair.