As the new year approaches, we all take a little time out to reflect and set our new goals and resolutions. If we can do that for everything else, why can’t we do it for our hair? Natural hair challenges are fun because they make us do the extra hair care steps in our regimen that we normally forget. Here are a few popular natural hair challenges that you may want to try in the new year for healthy and moisturized hair:
No Heat Challenge
Most No Heat ‘challenges’ last around 6 months. Depending on how often you use heat in your regimen, this challenge can either be extremely easy or extremely hard for you.
The truth is that heat can be very detrimental to natural hair, especially if it is used often. Many naturals that constantly use heat experience heat damage and notice that their curls are a lot looser, if not completely straight. The bad thing about heat damage is that hair cannot bounce back from it after a certain point, and you have to either cut the damage or grow it out.
You can probably find a blogger hosting a no heat challenge, or you can start one yourself. Try to stop using heat altogether for six months. Instead, opt for heatless hair styles like rod sets (perm/ flexi/ etc), along with low manipulation styles like braid outs, twist outs, and bantu knots.
Spend more time cowashing and deep condition at least once per week. At the end of the six months, you will notice that your curls are moisturized, more defined, and much stronger. You may even decide to extend your no heat challenge a little longer (I know I did!).
Protective Style Challenge
A protective style challenge can be done in increments of months, depending on how often you change or refresh your protective style. Some protective style challenges can last up to six months, with short breaks to let your hair ‘breathe’.
Protective styling basically means protecting your ends and not manipulating your hair every day. There are a variety of protective styles that you can do. If you don’t want to use extension hair of any kind, here are a few protective styles that you can try:
Mini twists
Buns
Flat twists
Halo braids
If you are up for using extension hair (whether it’s Marley hair, natural hair extensions*, bundles*, etc), here are a few other protective styles that you can try:
Updos (with Marley hair)
Havana Twists/Senegalese Twists
Box braids
Crochet Wig*/Crochet Braids
Wig* (lace closure*, u part, etc)
Weave
Whatever protective style you decide to try, make sure that you care for your hair the entire time you have it. At the end of your protective style challenge you can notice that your hair has grown and retained length without constant manipulation.
Trying no heat challenge
Almost one year no heat for me
Protective styling
No mention of the GHE challenge. That’s rather disheartening. Even still all four mentioned are great challenges to try
No mention of the GHE challenge. That’s rather disheartening. Even still all four mentioned are great challenges to try
Well I’ve gone no heat since May, I’ll try water or protective style challenges
Yes the green house effect is nice
I always do a protective style challenge but the no heat challenge isn’t realistic for me in the wintertime. My parents keep it too cold to be going to sleep on wet hair.
You gonna do thus with me?
yeah i wanna try the no heat and i guess the protective style one
Alicia Archer… 2015 here we come
I like it
I’m straightening my hair for new yr I do it like once every 3 n a half months it doesn’t mess up my curls…
Hillary Perkins we gotta do it
Ayana Penn-Price I still don’t know what a cowash is… but I haven’t used heat on my hair in months 🙂
it’s when you wash your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo…or were you just being funny..because i didn’t know what it was for the longest time.
Kenni Green, that when you wash your hair only using conditioner. i love it. i do it all the time.
How does it get clean Ayana Penn-Price 0_o
The conditioner cleans your hair, without striping all the natural oils off your scalp.
no heat & water intake!
No heat is easy for me, the protective styling is going to be my challenge!!! Send me strength!!!
Robin Thompson let’s try one
I’m currently doing the protective style challenge!! I’ve been natural since May 2014!!! I use Itworks hair, skin, and nail vitamins and mainly Cantu products!!!
I don’t use heat directly on my hair but sometimes when I deep condition as I don’t have a steam cap, I would use the blow dryer to get some heat, with my deep condition cap on. Is that ok?
I have already increased my water in take to 3 Liters a day. Not just for my health but my hair and skin. Plus I started taking Biotin again so I need all the water I can get..I wash my hair at least once a week and co wash once a week as well and I do the LOC method.I’m not using heat on my hair until like April(or the first of March if I decide to blow dry my hair when I trim my ends) and the last time I used it was in like Sept. or October. I would love to do a protective style but I don’t have anyone readily available to do it for me when I need it. I use coconut oil in my LOC and castor oil in my hot oil treatments. I think I will start doing Oil rinses tho…sounds interesting
And by protective style I mean braids or Marley twist
I have been doing protective styling challenge without even knowing it lmao . I have been wearing cornrows with just my real hair . I have been doing this for two months so far now . I will continue untill I’m 5 years natural then I’ll do low manipulation styles . I drink alot of water everyday as well .
I’m doing a protective style challenge also known as I’m tired of trying to deal with my hair in this heat and humidity