Esskay.P

I've gotten a bit more carefree with the styling these days though. Instead of meticulously parting my hair every morning, I just run my fingers through it and push it all back. So in the past two or three years, I've been experimenting a bit more with protective styles. I really like them because even though I'm not natural, a protective style gives me the opportunity to completely change up my look and my hair grows like crazy whenever I do one. The most recent ones I've tried are Havana twists, super jumbo Poetic Justice box braids, a sew-in weave and crochet braids, which I currently have in. My two favorites have been the Poetic Justice braids and the crochet braids, for very different reasons, but I'll get to that.

These are the Poetic Justice braids. I love them because they're super long, relatively big (for box braids) and extremely versatile. It's also ideal for summer because you have basically full access to your scalp and its a pretty low maintenance style. I didn't have to do anything to it. BUT I did a whole helluva lot with it because it was so fun to style.

My second favorite has been the crochet braids. In my experience, it hasn't been very versatile at all but I love it because there's absolutely no leave out and it still looks so natural. My friend who crocheted it for me gave me a middle part and two side parts so I can sort of flip it any which way I want but that's as far as the versatility goes. It's perfect for me this winter though because it keeps my head so warm (mine is on the longer side) but again, unlike with a sew-in, I still have acces to my scalp.

The other thing I love about this is that the longer you have it in, the bigger it gets. Not huge and unmanageable but the curls get a bit looser and softer and it looks so pretty. I've never gotten more complements on a hairstyle before, which surprised me because up until I had this installed, I really didn't think I could pull off big hair.

Next would be the sew-in. And while it looks really pretty, especially because my hair can usually blend flawlessly with a nice Brazilian remy, I really like being able to see/feel/itch my scalp whenever I want to and it's just not possible with a sew-in. Which is why (for those of you who are blissfully unaware) you often see women beating themselves over the head. It's because they can't itch their scalps.

Nonetheless, other than that small complaint, it is very pretty and when I get it done, I usually have a lot of leave out so I can part it any way I like and put it in a ponytail or pig tails or whatever I feel like at the moment. It's as versatile as my real hair which is funny because whenever I have a sew-in, people think it is my real hair, as opposed to when I wear my real hair, I.E. the following...

...perfect strangers approach me in the street to find out what kind of hair is in my head. I'm always tempted to tell them it's a really nice Grenadian remy but...*shrug*

Last but not least would be the Havana twists. I really like them because before those faux dreads were a thing (also, the next style I'm trying out), it was sort of the closest I would get to being a dread head. I've been flirting with he idea of actually going dread for the longest but I still don't think I'm brave enough to do it. It seems so permanent. So Havana twists were the next best thing. And they were really cute.

So that's my hair story, thus far. Hopefully, it didn't bore you to tears. As for the lovely people responsible for making these hairstyles possible, I only let three people near this head: my sister Wanda, my best friend Casandra and a lovely Dominican woman named Viviana. Honorable mention to those ladies, they are the shit. If you're interested in more posts like this one, I'll be sure to document the next protective style I try. Happy styling, ladies!