what is everyone doing to maintain length?

I am currently wearing two strand twist...I am running out of ideas so I figured I would see what others were doing to maintain length!!

I am in the twists most of the time. They bore me but they are so convenient. I have been pulling them back with cute little clipls with jewels on them or I will some beads on a couple of strands. My hair loves being twisted and it grwos best that way. I will not change it up until I notice some stunted growth or something.

I have been wearing mini twist lately.

I wear twists and twist pinups for a week. Protective styling is the key to retaining length!

I have been wearing braids, and I TRY to moisturize my ends every two days with shea butter

I've been wearing twists since May and each week I untwist wash and detangle then retwist. I've seen an inch of growth in the back of my head, but I feel like the front is still the same

Protective Styling, I wear twists during the week and a twistout on the weekends.

any other protective styles besides twists? I've been wearing twists for a while and its getting kinda boring. In fact I just put some in my hair yesterday and I'm already bored with them. My hair is only 4.5 inches long. I've done twisted updos, flat twists on the left side w/ the right side in twists, micro twists set on perm rods, flat twists up the back and sides w/ the top in a twist out (influenced by TIa's Hairstyle)...

I'm running out of good, professional ideas

Maybe you ladies could try an "out" style (twist-out, braid-out etc..) but tuck the ends away with bobby pins. I like the fuller look you get without actually cutting you hair and the protective part isn't bad either

Yeah I agree with Krissyc39... most of the time I don't do twists because my hair is fine and they look pretty scalpy. Also pinning up a twist out into something cute tends to be easier (for me).

what about braids? cornrows or single braids? or what about trying straw sets or rod sets? I will be playing with all this this winter

Kimmaytube has a video (actually her 1st one) of a protective style called the tuck and roll. Check it out. I plan on trying it really soon.

Also check out MotorCityMoxie and Sultry1231 on youtube. There is a style called the cinnabun.

Currently I am wearing a straw set. I can't really do a twist out cause my hair is very fine and thin so for me a straw set that I have slept on is great for me.

So I never really wear my hair out... this past weekend I let her loose... it was looking good In the morning by mid afternoon the front just got poofy with no definition at all (the front of my hair hates me...lol) how are you guys able to maintain wearing your hair out? I don't prefer to wear my hair wet cause I can't stand the water dripping everywhere!

I wear my hair in a WnG in warmer weather. The key I think is ensuring I seal my ends with oils and/or butters. I do so twice a day.

When I wear my hair out, I usually plop for a few minutes using a flour sack. My hair is no longer dripping wet just wet. You could always sit under the dryer or diffuse to dry hair.

I haven't worn a protective style since I went natural in February of this year and my hair has grown like crazy...two of my non-naturals co-workers today even said my hair got really long....but I do have to admit it's really really really hard to keep my hands out of my hair....it's became a horrible habit and I can't stop. To keep my curls popping, I wet my hair and spray my oil/conditioner mix every morning to wake up the curls and use a lil bit of gel &oil on my fingertips to maintain the hold. Althought it takes my hair forever to dry, my hair really responds to this method.

I am going to try a braid and twist style for am upcoming wedding in October and rock it for awhile....so I am looking forward to that

Buns and any style of updo with the ends hidden have worked great for me.

Twists, twists, twists, twist-outs, braids, buns, updo's and twists!!

you can do rope twists(also called sister twists or Senegalese twists). curly twists, box braids, curly braids. i get a lot of ideas from http://beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.com/

these are curly twists
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i just twisted and braided them & took the braids out once they were dry. i love twists but i get bored with regular, straight twists. they make a great twist out style too.

for "out" styles,
you can also try strawllers, use the smallest ones to make coils
http://www.strawllers.com/

they're not that expensive, i can't wait to try them myself. . .

JazmineB wrote:you can do rope twists(also called sister twists or Senegalese twists). curly twists, box braids, curly braids. i get a lot of ideas from http://beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.com/

these are curly twists
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

i just twisted and braided them & took the braids out once they were dry. i love twists but i get bored with regular, straight twists. they make a great twist out style too.

for "out" styles,
you can also try strawllers, use the smallest ones to make coils
http://www.strawllers.com/

they're not that expensive, i can't wait to try them myself. . .

I am loving that! I can't believe I never thought to do that. I will be trying it soon.

sooo, straw sets and rod/roller/flexirod sets are protective styles??

You know, I started to look at http://beadsbraidsbeyond.blogspot.com/ yesterday but I didn't look. I've been lacking inspiration. This site has more ideas than a little bit!