Shiver Styles

So here on the east coast, the weather is finally starting to break and winter is approaching. This means we've got to pack up our summer wash-n-goes and carefree hair days to trade in for some shiver styles: styles that come in handy while we're shivering in the winter months! This is my first winter being fully natural so I'm learning every day what works and doesn't work for me. First, I tried wetting it at night and hoping that my hair was fully dried by morning; before I had to go out into 30 something degree weather. Well, that didn't work. Since my bed is right next to my window, the draft got to me in my sleep and I was waking up with sore throats which just simply would not do. Next, I tried bantu knots. Bantu knot outs were my signature style all throughout my transition but I'm learning that I do not like the look on my fully natural self. I find that my hair, for reasons unbeknownst to me, feels very dry and tangled/matted after the first day of the style. So again, wouldn't do. My very last resort was to return to my micro twist sets. Last night I spend the latter of my day installing the twists, and surprisingly it didn't take as long as it usually does. My regular 8 hours turned into a little under 7, a very small and unexpected victory. I plan to keep these in for at least a month (four weeks) to a month and a half (six weeks). The weather wasn't the only reason I chose this style though. I also needed a protective style as my ultimate goal is to see how long I can grow my hair. Protective styles prevent split and broken ends which is the main cause for lack of length retention. More than likely, once my four to six weeks are up, I'll just take them out, wash my hair and reinstall within the week. I mean, what else am I going to do with my hair? If you have any suggestions on what to do with natural hair during the winter months, please let us know! Just because we're shivering, doesn't mean that we can't be stylish! Pictures of my twists will probably be up within the week! Stay tuned!