19 Protective Styles To Slay All Summer
Spring may have come in a little late this year and proved to be more cold than warm, but that's okay because summer is officially on the way to (hopefully) give you all the hot temps and sunny skies you can handle.
Whether you are a member of #TeamNatural or simply want to give your strands a break this summer, protective hairstyles are definitely the way to go. Obviously, protective styles take the stress off of your real hair and promote its long-term health, but they are also good because a protective hairstyle allows you to experiment with your hair as frequently as you like.
If you've always wanted to try out a drastic hair color, length, style, or texture, a protective style allows you the freedom to make your hair dreams a reality—while giving your real hair a break in the process. Since summer is made for fun, we rounded up some of the hottest protective hairstyles, so you don't have to! Check out our picks and let us know some of the hairstyles on your summer must-try list in the comments.
1.Side Braids
Getty Images
Empire star Serayah McNeill ditches her signature curly locks for a sleek protective style that proves less is more. Hair extensions are added into hair that has been equally parted and braided off to one side. Tip: you can also do this with any individually braided hairstyle.
*Featured image by Delmaine Donson/Getty Images
- Pretty Protective Styles to Try | StyleCaster ›
- EASY Protective Style for Natural Hair|Elegant, Classy Protective ... ›
- Taliah Waajid - Protective Styles Collection – Taliah Waajid Brand ›
- What Are Protective Hairstyles? | NaturallyCurly.com ›
- Protective Styles Hair ›
- PROTECTIVE STYLING FOR HAIR GROWTH? - YouTube ›
- 20 Protective Styles You'll Want to Wear Through Spring ›
- Protective Style Ideas For Natural Hair | POPSUGAR Beauty ›
- ProtectiveStyles (@protectivestyles) • Instagram photos and videos ›
- 21 Best Protective Hairstyles for Black Women | Page 2 of 2 | StayGlam ›
Danielle Jennings is an Atlanta-based Style Writer/Editor, Tastemaker, Girl About Town, Fashion & Music Obsessed Long-Lost Huxtable Kid who is coming for everything they told her she couldn't have...one article at a time. Twitter: @daniellej416 IG: @prettyaries16
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Bianca Belair Opens Up About Her Mental Health And Self-Care Practices As A WWE Star
Bianca Belair has earned her title as a SmackDown superstar within the WWE. Now, the wrestling champion is opening up about how she stays on top of her mental and physical health.
In conversation with ESSENCE, the former RAW Women’s Champion discussed the importance of prioritizing her mental health and how she maintains her mental well-being overall.
“Mental health is everything,” Belair told the publication. “I think everybody focuses so much on the physical. You go in the gym and you’re training and you’re working hard and you’re sore. You feel good about yourself. But mental health is just as important.”
For Belair, prioritizing moments of rest is a key component of her mental health practices, due in part to her demanding schedule that keeps her “on the go.” She shares how her career, coupled with the expectation to focus on performing and pleasing fans, can lead to mental exhaustion from giving so much to others.
“I’m constantly so focused, grinding, I’m constantly performing; where you go out there and you’re smiling and you’re meeting fans and you’re putting smiles on fans’ faces, sometimes you tend to forget about yourself and you become mentally exhausted or you give so much of yourself to the world,” she says.
She adds, “When you get to your home life where you have your loved ones, the ones that truly matter and that are going to be there, even when everything’s said and done, you don’t have anything for them. You don’t have anything for yourself. So I get mentally exhausted just from being physically exhausted.”
In April, Bianca Belair spoke at WWE World on how she plans to stay ahead of the competition amid her many career achievements within the wrestling industry.
“My work speaks for itself. I’ve done a lot of things that no one can ever take from me. I’ve main-evented WrestleMania, I’ve made history,” she said. “I only want to step in the ring with who thinks they are the best because that’s the only way I can be pushed to be even better.”
Belair, 35, concluded by dispelling the misconception that self-care requires extravagant activities like spa treatments, highlighting the simplicity of activities like resting and watching favorite shows in bed as valuable forms of self-care.
“I have to remember to do things that I enjoy,” she says. “I think that mental health and self-care sometimes has a misconception when people think that it’s this extravagant thing where you have to go to the spa, you have to get cucumbers and put them on your eyes and get massages. Sometimes I just need to sit down and decompress, lay in my bed and do my guilty pleasure and eat in my bed and watch all my shows.”
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Featured image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images