Styling Options

Its been known that we black women are suurious (yes, suurious!) about our hair. Often times, we choose not to workout to maintain different styles. (Ok, so I’m the ONLY who’s slept in a chair to “save” a hairstyle?!?!) However, as we strive to become healthier women we must find creative ways to maintain our look without sacrificing our health. We all know that we are the backbone of our communities so if we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t possibly take care of others. Speaking with friends of mine who regularly exercise, often recommend these styles.

1. Natural. This style is great for those of us who don’t want to worry about our hair “reverting” back if we have a relaxer. An afro or twists always keeps this style looking great.

2. Relaxed (Medium Long Lengths). A roller set is a great way to maintain a relaxer style. Roll or pin curl your hair at night to keep the curls. During exercise, you can wrap your hair and secure with booby pins or loosely put your hair up in a jaw clip. Headbands can also be worn to tie the edges down and fly away hairs that were too short to be kept in the jaw clip.

3. Relaxed (Short Lengths). Short cuts are fabulous but take work to maintain especially if you’re a heavy sweater. To stretch your relaxer, tying it down after a workout and curling it tight will be key in maintaining your look. Also, please use a heat protector when curling hair. We don’t want anyone with damaged hair!

4. Extensions. Can really be a great alternative to maintaining a certain look. Not to mention, it’s a great way to transition into a natural style. I personally wear extensions and the maintenance is the same as working with my “real” hair however, the after a workout…its pretty much a shake and go. Since my hair is transitioning, I wear closure pieces to avoid blending issues. Sometime I wear a full sew-in. Lately, I’ve been using waterproof adhesives to create a more realistic look on my lace closures. Since I workout at least 6 days a week, sometimes 2X a day I can usually get about 2-3 day hold from my adhesives.