Natural hair doesn’t have to be all two-strand twist-outs and wash-and-gos. The beauty of having natural hair lies in the ability to bend and morph your mane into a bevy of styles: bantu knots, cornrows, braided updos, high-puff ponytails, you name it. And when you find yourself in a styling rut, there’s no better way to refresh your look than with a protective style.
Humidity can put a damper on natural hair and honestly, who even has the time to focus on styling hair between fighting the sweltering summer heat, traveling, maintaining a social life, and work/school. Protective styles are a sure-fire way to shield hair from excessive tugging and manipulation, heat, and other environmental terrors to keep it healthy and strong all summer long. If you need more convincing that protective styles are the way to go this summer, allow me to show you nine beautiful styles that deserve all the love on your ‘gram.