Winter 4M Challenge/ Hiding your hair- UPDATE END OF CHALLENGE

Winter is fast approaching and most, if not all of us, are thinking of ways to protect our hair. Protective styling can be a bore but what if you had a whole community behind you to help you along and offer tips. Besides when you feel crummy about not looking your flyest you know there is at least one person who looks as plain jane as you

I think it would be fun for us a to do a 4 month hide your hair challenge from October 31 to February 31 to get us past the four coldest months of the year.

Rules:
~tell us what your regimen is and what hairstyle(s) you plan to wear
~post pics of the hairstyles you wear
~help others with the hair problems that will occur due to freezing temps
~take pictures of your current length so at the end we can post our before and after length pics
~update frequently

One style that I plan on rocking is twists with my ends hidden in a bun:

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So reply if your interested and I'll add you to the list.

LIST:
Treece
DerbyDiva
Dajewel
CrAvInG_CuRlZ:)
Afronique
Karameldiva1978
tiashaunteé
nbella
simplysloan
Beautifulyfe
naturalblkbeauty10
ebbz
TiffNotANY
purplec18
letha
Butterfly126
Stephy0306
CurlsofGlory
jazzwife
curl_Gurl
BriaBeauty
vonnluv
belleaenca
Dannibeau24
Sebastain13
rvalent2
natalie24
abradley002
Lovely_Curls
Dannibeau24
The Raw Twinkie
FloridaSunshiny

What do you mean by 'hiding' our hair? like with hats and stuff or by just pinning up our braids and twists? I want to do a wig but I'm so self conscious about it?

Hiding your hair, for me, is protecting the ends so that you retain length. Example: twists by itself is not protective but if you tuck the ends away then voila you see growth.

@HappigocurliJenn,
That is my plan to wear wigs. I wear wigs during the winter as a replacement for hats, caps. Wigs are very warm. Don't be self conscious about it. I used to be that way too. But here's the trick. When you shop for a wig, shop like you would for anything else. Go to several wig stores. Try on lots and lots of wigs, in all different styles, colors, lenghts, etc. Even try on ones you think you would never like. And bam! You will come across one that you won't want to take off and you will know that is the one. After you find your first wig that you adore, each time you purchase another, it will become easier and easier. Before you know it you will have a collection.

Wigs are the best protective style for me. I can keep my natural hair washed, conditioned and braided underneath. Also it gives me a chance to wear different styles, cuts and straight styles without, of course, putting any chemicals in my own beautiful natural hair.

luvluvmynaturalhair wrote:@HappigocurliJenn,
That is my plan to wear wigs. I wear wigs during the winter as a replacement for hats, caps. Wigs are very warm. Don't be self conscious about it. I used to be that way too. But here's the trick. When you shop for a wig, shop like you would for anything else. Go to several wig stores. Try on lots and lots of wigs, in all different styles, colors, lenghts, etc. Even try on ones you think you would never like. And bam! You will come across one that you won't want to take off and you will know that is the one. After you find your first wig that you adore, each time you purchase another, it will become easier and easier. Before you know it you will have a collection.

Wigs are the best protective style for me. I can keep my natural hair washed, conditioned and braided underneath. Also it gives me a chance to wear different styles, cuts and straight styles without, of course, putting any chemicals in my own beautiful natural hair.

I'm thinking about getting a couple of wigs myself, I never thought of it that way though. very good points

@ naturalblkbeauty10, yep my cousin turned me on to how to shop for wigs and I've been wearing them ever since!

I will be here! I did twists last night and so far I'm loving it, I get to let my hair hang down! That will probably be my staple, and then braids, or some curly hair since my hair is still short. It's SL but it shrinks up to about NL, so I don't have much to worry about yet!

Good luck protecting your hair ladies.

WOW ladies I'm loving the ideas and responses. Are you all agreeing to the challenge? Would you like to embark on this journey with me?

I will definitely be here

when we starting the challenge? i have an important event in march and i need my hair to be the hotness for it. plus, my hair goal is grow another foot...and i am seriously thinking to do a protective challenge till the last week of February (the shortest i have worn two strand twists was one week and longest i have worn two strand twists without washing was 6 weeks....yes, six weeks). but this time around i plan on wearing two strand twists for two weeks, washday, untwist and wear for another two weeks . pretty repeat till last week of february with the exception of letting hair out two christmas parties and a couple of social/networking events.

i am so in!! i already have a full sew-in (all my hair in) in. *that was a lot of "ins"* i plan on keeping it in for about 2 months before switching weaves. but this means i wont be able to document growth until i take it down. my hair is very short underneath so i am currently needing to take this hair down and get it re-braided so that it will stay in place. i already have some before pics on my fotki measuring length but when i take this down to put it back up i can take some more. unfortunately, i cannot upload pics directly to CN via my cpu but i still want to participate!!

I'm sooooooooooo in this is my first challenge......so im so excited
I plan to do braids and twists my hair isnt long enough to pin in a bun but,i do have a few wigs that i will pull out of the closet lol and few more more i would like to buy lol.............. My routine i do a carmel treatment every four wks........i co wash 1x's a week .....moisturized wiith a leave in condition or shea butter and seal with coconut or jojoba oil. I also deep condition wkly............i will try to post pics soon if i can but will certainly keep everything posted

I would really like to do this challenge but I have a question. My braids twists and bantu knots will not stay without a rubber band or a bobby pin on the ends. THey unravel. Does the rubber band affect it being a protective style? Does it harm my ends? I wear WNGs ALL the time but I would really like to see what kinda growth I can get by doing some protective styles

@ afronique and crazing I'm happy that you guys are onboard

Well as long as the bobby pins have the ball tips at the end it should be fine. As for the rubber bands try soaking them in olive oil before using them. This will reduce snags.

Count me in! I have ordered three lacefront wigs to get me through winter. I MIGHT add one more that I really love, but want it in another shade of highlights. I'm twisting my hair and rocking my wigs through winter. Actually, I'm rotating between twists and cornrows so that I may still wash and deep condition my hair weekly! I'm tenderheaded and cornrows cause me grief, so the twists have been working out just fine for me. On the GROW!

I'm in!!
This is perfect because I had already planned to start bunning or twisting on Dec 31 until Spring 2011.

Yahh 2 more divas!!!! karamel can't wait to see those wigs and tia I myself need some twisting ideas so expect alot of questions

Hey Ladies,

I would love to join this challenge.I have already started my own hair growth challenge at the beginning of Oct by protective styling. The first 3 weeks I wore mini 2 strand twist and bunned it. Now I am rocking my first wig. I am loving this wig. I never thought I would be an wig person but there are so many options now. I only will wear and curly wig so that it looks more natural. Today I am cornrowing my hair under the wig. I will post pictures of my current state. I am so excited...

Oh I am going this challenge until May. Which is when I get married. I want to rock the largest hair for that day.

OMG congratulations nbella on the nuptuals. You go gurl with the big hair thang and be sure to submit your wedding story to curlynikki. Also I think I might end up joining you because I don't plan to cut until may/june and by then I'll have so much natch hair I won't be able to do much but protective styles.

Welcome and of course we will be waiting patiently for those pics.

I was wondering...I decided that I'm gonna do wigs/half wigs for this challenge but do I have to wear cornrows or something like that under the wig or can i just slick my hair back under a wig cap?

Well the cornrows do serve a purpose. It keeps your hair clumped under there for maximum moisture retention. So you could slick or cornrow. Why don't you try it both ways and observe how your hair responds to the two styles. HTH

Im in!!

Im going to be making some quick weave wigs (maybe 2 a month) to change up my hair styles and give my ends a break.

I just worry about my edges. They're there, but I've had trouble with them in the past.

Im down!!! But I will start mid November. I have had my hair in protective styles since August and I want to straighten my hair this weekend. I will be able to show my starting length. My plan will be to rock mini braids for about a month which is a challenge in itself lol. After that twist twists and more twists. My goal is to grow at least an inch and a half by summer that shouldnt be to hard (I think).

Hello ladies today is the 31st and the official start day of our challenge. At this moment my hair is in twists. As promised I will post my reggie and repost if it changes:
-cowash with HEHH
-wash with HE
-leave in Aussie or HEHH
-sealant Shea and a variety of oils such as castor, olive, and jojoba.

Can you tell I like to keep it simple.

I plan to twist on Sunday and leave them in until Friday. Then wash or cowash and put my hair in a pony for church. Rewet and retwist on Sunday to begin this process again.

I also plan to rotate protective styles with out styles like simple ponys. The benefit for me is that I can wet and moisturise my hair more easily which aids in growth.

So there you have it ladies. What are your winter challenge hair plans?

I forgot to mention, I want in on this challenge!!

shampoo with loreal sulfate free shampoo
co-wash and condition with aussie moist
garnier fructis for leave-in
shea butter or coconut oil mixed with olive oil to seal
smooth and shine curl activator gel for alittle definition and smooth down the edges
DC- trying to do every 2 weeks, trying different stuff

protective styles- brush the front back with a beret to keep my ends protected( love it so far, i have 5 already), keep the front braided with the back twist. i dont have too many options my hair is only 3-4 inches. most likely will be wearing hats, berets, or beanies for the next couple months