How much is too much manipulation...

when doing a protective style?

Here's my situation. My hair grows and grows fast but you can't see the growth because the ends break off and my length stays the same. I have been wearing buns or cornrows since August and I can tell a slight difference in the length and volume of my hair. However, I am worried about bunning too much, I don't want to experience breakage from when I place my hair band for the bun. Currently, I bun Sunday through Friday.

So now I am debating about if I should put my hair in the bun on Sunday night, take down the bun on Thursday evening and wear twists/cornrows for the remainder of the weekend. Would that be too much manipulation if I am trying to maintain my length and protect my strands :?:

what are you using, as far as accessories to bun your with like hair bands and etc?
I remember when my mom would but my hair in buns she would use a scrunchy to keep it in place instead of rubber bands and items of such.

I use the top of a knee-hi to pull my hair back (I can no longer bun it, but I can still pull it into a little ponytail). It seems like it holds my hair in place with less tension than those elastic bands.

I don't use rubber bands because they would get so tangled I would have to cut them out. I learned my lesson

I am currently using elastic bands. This week I have been taking the elastic bands out at night. I am going to try doing a bun without the band...time to experiment


I use an old knee with I want to wear a puff. I feel like my hair is getting thicker and regular bands are not working for me anymore.

I've never had damage from doing my hair in a bun... Before... I didn't do anything else.... Now I sleep with a bun to remain my curls the next day

I am wondering is there a certain we have to dry our hair after we wash it-Towel drying seems a bit harsh on the hair!!

@shycurl- use a microfiber turban or an old t shirt!

NylaCoils wrote:@shycurl- use a microfiber turban or an old t shirt!

Thanks NylaCoils, I was drying my hair with a towel and I started thinking to myself this can not be good!! LOL

@TIA, HAVE YOU TRIED THE BAGGIE METHOD. SATURATING THE ENDS OF YOUR HAIR WITH OILS THEN BAGGIE THEM OVERNIGHT. THEN YOU CAN BUN IN THE MORNING OR EVEN BETTER GET A FAKE PONYTAIL AND KEEP THE BAGGIE IN ALL DAY LONG FOR UP TO 1 WEEK. THEN WASH AND DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN. YOU ARE BOUND TO SEE SOME GROWTH WITH THAT. JUST BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR EDGES.

Hello ladies, I thought I would give my two cents in how I retain my length. Something I seen/read on Nikki site and I believe it was BrownHoneySugar quoting how she retains her length or something to the matter, that I have applied religiously is that at night I put my hair in a HIGH ponytail, wrapping it w/ a material type ponytail ban not the rubberband fabric type, more like a scrunches but thinner, wrap the first fabric ban twice here, then gently stretch/pull your ponytail outwards and wrap this section of the ponytail w/ another fabric wrap, winding the ban 3 times, very loosely though, and stretch this ban along your ponytail so the there's space between the wrapped ban and hair, then keep wrapping ea area of your ponytail, that is if you have longer hair, you may need to use more than one scrunch type rubberband, then I wrap a silk type band around my hairline to protect edges. Then in the morning I gently remove the bans and shake my head, my hair gently fall downward due to gravity LOL, and there you have it. My style is simliar to Teri LaFlesh styles except I apply about 50 to 60, about a 1/2 inch twist to my hair, instead of shingling, my hair clumps better when I 2-strand twist, never towel dry, just squeeze as much water out of the hair, section hair into 10 section on my head and place two-strain twist to each section. I say 50 to 60 put I have never counted them, I just know there's alot. Then place those twist in a High ponytail as above. It takes 2 days for my hair to dry so the next day I wear my hair in the twists, then that evenning I take all those twist out and apply my favorite condish to the ends and this set really last for 2 week if you put you hair to bed as I states above every night. Some have stated that this style is stringy, put after about 20 min each loc of hair, the individial twist, begains to expand some and each day the hair looks and feels awesome. I have had my best complement on my hair during the second week of my twist out, maybe I should wash my hair every 3 wks instead of every 2 wks. Happy Holiday Tracy

I'm always concerned about that as well. I'm in a protective style regimen right now of updos and scarfing. When I'm scarfing it's fairly simple, my hair is in braids or twists underneath and I don't touch it. But when I'm doing updos, which is basically two flat twists pinned up ala Kimmaytube braid my hair up at night in 4 braids and then take them down in the morning and fix the style. This is all done with my hands. I don't use my comb. But I'm still afraid this is too much manupulation. I wash my hair once a week or so and thats when I do everything - wash, condition, deep condition, moisturize and my whole washing routine usually ends up being a two day process. I end up loving weeks when I'm scarfing more because my hands are out of my hair. But I feel like I have retained some length since I began protective styling in October so I guess the manipulation I do isn't so bad.

tiashauntee wrote:when doing a protective style?

Here's my situation. My hair grows and grows fast but you can't see the growth because the ends break off and my length stays the same. I have been wearing buns or cornrows since August and I can tell a slight difference in the length and volume of my hair. However, I am worried about bunning too much, I don't want to experience breakage from when I place my hair band for the bun. Currently, I bun Sunday through Friday.

So now I am debating about if I should put my hair in the bun on Sunday night, take down the bun on Thursday evening and wear twists/cornrows for the remainder of the weekend. Would that be too much manipulation if I am trying to maintain my length and protect my strands :?:

To eliminate this concern, you might want to use small scrunchies instead of hair bands. I use two black scrunchies to hold my hair. I wrap one scrunchie around my hair twice. I leave a little slack so that it is not tight. I pull my hair out to the end to make a bun. Then I wrap the other scrunchie once around the bun. If there are any loose hairs, I simply tuck them under the second scrunchie. Scrunchies are less taxing on the hair than hair bands. I wear my hair in a bun everyday. I rarely wear it out. My ends never see the light of day, and I keep my hair "lubed' with a heavy butter.