How to Take Down Your Protective Style With Minimal Damage

A protective style is supposed to do exactly as the name suggests: protect hair from damage and breakage. But when done incorrectly, it can actually do the opposite. Too much tugging, using the wrong braiding hair, and not properly detangling both before and after are all factors that can cause damage when doing a style install. But the way you take these styles out can be just as bad. After weeks of wear, you may be eager to get a fresh style going, but the key to taking down braids, twists, and yes, even locs, is patience. In most cases, it’s going to require a few hours, but with the right lineup of products, you can get them out without compromising on the benefits that are supposed to come with doing a protective style to begin with.

You can get a head start on making your takedown a lot easier before you even braid the hair in. "Lightly coat your hair with Jamaican Black Castor Oil. When you're ready to take out the style, it makes removal so much easier," says Annagjid "Kee" Taylor, hairstylist and author of All Hair Is Good Hair. It will also help keep moisture sealed in as you wear your style, ultimately resulting in less breakage.

Gather The Right Tools

The way you take out your style depends on how it was installed. For braids, twists, and locs done without added hair, you’ll need two types of combs: a rat-tail comb and one with medium-sized teeth. "The best tool to use is a nice tail comb like the one in The Y By Yusef 6 Piece Carbon Comb Set," says New York-based hairstylist, Yusef. (We here at Allure also like the Diane Ionic Anti-Static Rat Tail Comb.) Whether your braids are chunky or micro, you’ll want to use one. The skinny tip will help you easily unravel the ends of your style without excess tugging. While most rat-tail combs have fine teeth on the head of the tool, don't comb through your hair with them. Instead, use the tail to gently pick out the ends of the braids or twists and then a thicker, medium-sized tooth tool to further unravel and comb through.

If you don't have a comb, that's OK.Yene Damtew, hairstylist to Michelle Obama and owner of Aesthetics Salon in Arlington, VA, says that in her opinion, the best tool you can use for a takedown is your fingers.

If you installed your braids or twists with added hair, Taylor recommends cutting the ends before you unravel. It’ll help speed up the process. "You'll want to cut at least two to three inches below where your hair stops so you don't accidentally cut your own hair," says Taylor. If you’re not sure where your hair starts, skip the scissors, be patient, and just comb out from the ends until you get to the root.

Dampen and Detangle

Yusef suggests moistening your hair prior to taking down the protective style to keep tangles and damage at a minimum. Remember, even if you’re wearing extensions, your natural hair that’s woven in is still growing and going through its regular phases as you wear your braids. "There will be some shedding when you take out a protective style since hair has been in the style for a while," says Yusef. Be extremely careful when taking down braids and twists at the hairline. This hair is very delicate and breaks easily.

Go slow and use a hydrating product to reduce breakage and tangling. Ensuring that your hair is good and slippery beforehand helps. You can hydrate with a leave-in conditioner or a mixture of water and regular conditioner in a spray bottle. "Slip is important to aid in taking down a protective style. My go-to product is the Creme of Nature Pure Honey Break-up Breakage Leave-In Conditioner. It not only gives me slip but it conditions the hair as I am taking down the protective style," says Patricia G. Williams, Revlon educator and author of Natural Hair: Hairversations: The Guide to Natural Hair. (Revlon is Creme of Nature's parent company.) We like the Soultanicals Knot Sauce detangler, which also works brilliantly as a leave-in. Generously coat and massage conditioner into the braids or twists before beginning. "The tighter the curl in the hair, the more fragile it is when dry," says Williams. As you take each braid or twist extension out, detangle and separate. Williams recommends finger detangling and says absolutely do not brush. This can break your hair. "Use your fingers as much as possible to detangle. Hair is in its weakest state when wet — avoid stretching and over manipulation of the tresses," Williams adds. .

Taylor prefers a wider tooth comb for detangling. "Use a medium-tooth comb to detangle as you go and get any debris off. This process is important — you don't want your hair getting matted," she says. If some pieces dry out as you work, re-spritz before combing through.

How you detangle is equally as important. "You need to work in a downward motion and let your fingers detangle and unbraid at the same time," Damtew notes. "I have seen many people just untwist or unbraid and not in a downward motion, which causes more work. The detangling process will also break up any buildup that has formed."

The smaller sections that you use to create two-strand and even flat twists make those styles a lot easier to undo with your fingers than braids. You just take them out the way they are installed simply by untwisting them. It helps to keep your twists damp and comb through to detangle as you go along. This will save time and will be easier on your hair once you wash it.

Loosen Locs Carefully

If it’s locs that you’re looking to remove, it can be done, but it’s quite involved. "There are products on the market to help you take down your locs at home, but most people end up cutting [their] locs off since it is such a long process to undo without cutting," says Yusef. It also depends on the length of your locs. Shorter locs might be easier to take out at home. "If you’ve had them for years and you have longer ones, you should see a professional," Yusef adds. Some people like to comb their locs out instead of cutting them to keep the length, but it's a really involved process that can take days.

Though she’s only seen it done three times in her career, Taylor says that if you have patience, you can do a loc removal yourself. "You'll need your locs to be well moisturized with an oil like Jamaican Black Castor Oil. Use the end of a rat-tail comb to start to break out the loc, then very gently work to loosen and detangle one by one. This process will take a few days, so you may want to consider professional help," she says.

Practice Proper After-Care

Both Taylor and Yusef agree that no matter how gentle your removal, there’s bound to be some temporary disruption to your curl pattern once you take the style out. It may also mean frizz, but frizz and temporary curl disruption are all part of the process. You'll want to cleanse and condition your hair after taking the style out anyway, and that's where you'll get your curls back.

"After taking out a protective style, use a clarifying shampoo and a deep conditioning treatment to get your hair back to where it needs to be," says Yusef. Williams recommends using a sulfate-free shampoo such as the Creme of Nature with Argan Oil from Morocco Sulfate-Free Moisture and Shine Shampoo, followed by the Creme of Nature with Argan Oil from Morocco Intensive Conditioning Treatment. We're into the Ouidad Water Works Clarifying Shampoo and the Kristin Ess Curl Repair Mask to deep condition.

Just remember that the point of your braids, twists, and locs is to keep your hair strong, breakage-free, and growing. Be patient when taking it out. If you don't think you'll have enough time to do it all in one sitting, instead of rushing, start from the back and work your way to the front. That way, if your arms get tired or if you have to pick back up later, you can camouflage it with the front half by pulling it all onto a pony until you can resume.

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